Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

by Fred Murphy | Published February 3, 2007

Richard Gere in The Mothman Prophecies.

There are only two questions you need to ask yourself.

The first is: What are you going to do? The second is: How are you going to do it?

Relating to material is gut level

Scripts are funny. Sometimes you read a script and you know right away that you want to do it—you see how to do it almost immediately.

Deepen your reservoir.

Everything you do relates to your culture and everything you work out of relates to all the things you've learned in your life, from the very start. All the things your parents taught you, all the things that you've taught yourself, all the movies you've seen, all the paintings you've looked at, all the ideas you've had... they all sort of slowly add up and that becomes the reservoir you work out of. And I think the most important thing is to make sure that reservoir is as deep as possible.

Filmography for Fred Murphy
Secret Window (2004)
Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)
Cheats (2002)
Auto Focus (2002)
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
Soul Survivors (2001)
The Fantasticks (2000)
Stir of Echoes (1999)
October Sky (1999)
Dance with Me (1998)
Metro (1997)
Faithful (1996)
A Family Thing (1996)
Murder in the First (1995)
The Pickle (1993)
Jack the Bear (1993)
Scenes from a Mall (1991)
Funny About Love (1990)
Enemies: A Love Story (1989)
Night Game (1989)
Full Moon in Blue Water (1988)
Fresh Horses (1988)
The Dead (1987)
Best Seller (1987)
Five Corners (1987)
Winners Take All (1986)
Hoosiers (1986)
Death of an Angel (1985)
The Trip to Bountiful (1985)
Key Exchange (1985)
Touched (1983)
Eddie and the Cruisers (1983)
The State of Things (1983)
Q (1982)
The Ghost Dance (1980)
Impostors (1980)
Tell Me a Riddle (1980)
Heartland (1980)
The Scenic Route (1978)
Girlfriends (1978)
Local Color (1977)
The Strangest Voyage (1976)
Sweet Sounds (1976)
Not a Pretty Picture (1975)