Hollywood is the only industry, even taking in soup companies, which does not have laboratories for the purpose of experimentation.

My mother and father were both much more remarkable than any story of mine can make them. They seem to me just mythically wonderful.

As a producer, sitting on the other side of the desk, I have never once had an agent go out on a limb for his client and fight for him. I've never heard one say, 'No, just a minute! This is the actor you should use.' They will always say, 'You don't like him? I've got somebody else.' They're totally spineless.

A good artist should be isolated. If he isn't isolated, something is wrong.

In attempting to explain F For Fake's state-side failure, it has occurred to me that perhaps the subject matter was at least partially to blame, and that this country is so blissfully enslaved by the notion of the special sanctity of the expert that an overtly anti-expert film was bound to go too much against the national grain.

Movie directing is a perfect refuge for the mediocre.

The only reason for doing a play is to make a statement about it, and by that I don't mean a conceit of the producer.