Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker

by E. Elias Merhige | Published February 3, 2007

On Learning There is no greater thing than to keep learning, and you do that when you have the opportunity to work with the most creative people in the world, as you do in the movie business.

On Being Serious
Taking yourself too seriously is the silliest thing you can do.

On Being a Director
It looks great from the outside, but, from the inside it's quite intense. Be prepared to work very hard and sometimes under brutal conditions.

On Succeeding
If you really are going to be a director, the only thing that's going to make you succeed is your passion and your absolute need to tell stories.

On Being a Struggling Moviemaker
I've learned how to live on next to nothing, so my wife and I have learned to live and be totally happy with not a lot of money, and the best thing about having some money is that you feel rich. Next to most people in Hollywood you wouldn't even consider me close to rich, but I feel lucky to have what I have.

On Wealth
I've learned my sense of wealth comes from my satisfaction with the work I do.

On the Oscars
Don't walk or drive after you find out that your film has gotten a couple of Academy Award nominations.

On Conceiving and Making a Movie
It's so amazing how something in your head can draw millions of dollars to it, and incredible talent. All of sudden you can share something that's in your head with millions of people. That's incredibly bizarre and silly.

On the Job of a Director
A director's job is 90 percent tenacity and 10 percent talent. There is no way that without the tenacity anything going to work.

On Hollywood
Everybody in Hollywood talks a lot, but very little seems to be happening, especially in the beginning. I spent years developing my ideas, shepherding projects along, and then all of a sudden a studio head gets fired and everything you worked on for the last two years gets lost, like a castle in the sand. It's a miracle to get a movie made.