Marketing has supplanted story as the primary force behind the worthiness of making a film, and that's a very sad thing. It's film only as a function of consumerism rather than as an important component of our culture, and that's everywhere around the world.
Alexander PayneA book suggests a whole world and story that I could have never thought of in a million years.
Alexander PayneMy editor and I remain very disciplined. It's just sometimes when you're making a film, you get into the cutting room and you see a scene that's slowing you down in a certain section, but if you remove that scene then, emotionally or story-wise, another scene a half-hour later won't have the same impact. You just get stuck with it.
Alexander PayneThere is an audience out there for literate films - slower, more observant, more human films, and they deserve to be made.
Alexander Payne