I mean I think one of the larger problems going on right now is, debate has replaced discussion. As I say you can't lump Wall Street into one category. That doesn't mean anything. Every firm has a different attitude and does different things and puts their cherries in certain places and their money in others. Some are vicious, nasty, I will cut you down at all costs to make a buck, some have a much higher moral standard.
John Buffalo MailerI mean the price of our technology may very well end up being our humanity, so I think you got to have that balance. Personally I try to do one for one if I can. Do a movie, do a play, do a movie, do a play - while at the same time writing and being in that cycle.
John Buffalo MailerCinema and theater - it's apples and oranges. You can't really beat movies. Yeah, when you're on an Oliver Stone set everybody brings their A game. Everybody brings their A game, from the top to the bottom and in between. In terms of theater you know there is no way to really duplicate that rush you get when you take an audience that is live and right there in front of you through the journey of a great play and you go through these emotions so that they can experience them without having to go through them themselves.
John Buffalo MailerMy father probably taught me everything I know, aside from dialogue, which I think I get from my mom a lot more. He certainly didn't teach me everything he knew, but you know he has got this book out called "The Spooky Art," which is essentially an advanced book on writing and it's not... You know it's not ABC, but it's for people who feel that bug and know that they're writers and are willing to put in that time alone. Pretty much the vast majority of what he taught me you can find in that book.
John Buffalo MailerI was about 20 when my mom got sick with cancer and it was bad. It was very scary and at the time I was doing my first screenplay and I was on deadline and was alone with my father in Massachusetts. I said, "Pop, you know, I don't how I'm going to work. I don't know how I can get this done. You know, I got to hand this script in and I can't think about anything but Mom." He said, "Well, you know, now is the time when you're going to learn what it means to compartmentalize." And those words really had an impact on me.
John Buffalo MailerA company that was I think the one I learned the most from in Wall Street 2, just in terms of my own character in and the kind of firm he worked in, was John Thomas Financial. There it's like warriors in an arena getting ready for battle. Thomas Belesis just fires these guys up like there is no tomorrow, and I absolutely got addicted to that optimism and adrenaline and that "We're going to do it, we're going to do it, buddy" kind of attitude that he had.
John Buffalo Mailer