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Neil Jordan's Golden Rules of Moviemaking
Films used to be about sex, violence and cigarette smoking. Smoking is no longer permissible and sex is barely permissible, so you’d better get good at violence.
The word “fuck” in an actor’s mouth is hardly worth the effort. You’ll be asked to cut it or be given the wrong rating. If you win the fight and manage to keep it, you’ll have to overdub it for the television versions with “freak,” “frig,” etc. Try getting an actor to say “motherfrigger.”
Prepare everything and you’ll be amazed at how much of it ends up on the screen. Write it, draw it, note it, talk it out. Then keep shooting until you make sure you get it—even down to the weather and the available light.
You’ll be held responsible for everything that ends up in the finished film. So if people tell you it doesn’t matter, don’t believe them.
There is no longer any difference between the independents and the studios. That was eliminated sometime in the 1980s. Most independent movies now are put through the same grindhouse as the studio projects.
To entertain an audience is never a crime.
To challenge an audience is never a crime.
To bore an audience is a crime punishable by extremely low figures in the top two boxes.
Work with good actors and make sure you like them. If they are good, their instincts about the script you’ve written are often better than yours.
Remember what a good time you’re having. Making a film is the greatest antidote to boredom yet invented.
Always tell the truth on the set.
Never tell the truth on a junket.
Before finding success as a moviemaker, Neil Jordan rose to great acclaim as a writer, winning The Guardian Fiction Prize in 1978 for Night in Tunisia, his collection of short stories, and since then publishing three novels. Jordan made his debut as a writer-director with 1982’s Angel, for which he was given The London Evening Standard’s Most Promising Newcomer Award. The Company of Wolves (1984), Mona Lisa (1986), High Spirits (1988), We’re No Angels (1989) and The Miracle (1991) quickly followed. In 1992, Jordan’s legendary gender-bender tale, The Crying Game, won the Irish auteur his first Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (the film was nominated for six Academy Awards altogether, including Best Picture and Best Director). Jordan further cemented his reputation as a true cinematic visionary with Interview with the Vampire (1994), Michael Collins (1996), The Butcher Boy (1997), In Dreams (1999), The End of the Affair (1999), The Good Thief (2002) and Breakfast on Pluto (2005). In September 2007, Warner Bros. released Jordan’s latest film, The Brave One, starring Jodie Foster as a NYC radio host on a dark pursuit of justice. It will be released on DVD February 5, 2008.
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This story was published in the Summer 2007 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
My Golden Rules
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