As a producer, I probably am a little stronger than most, since I was a director originally.
Roger CormanYou learn, of course, when you're working with something good, but you also can learn when you're working with things that are not good. You can see the reasons they're not good. I would sometimes suggest what could be done, but essentially say "It isn't worth the bother." So I learned from that process.
Roger CormanA great director, first, is highly intelligent. And he is also a dedicated and willing to work hard. Now those are easy things to identify. The third is the creativity, and that is very difficult to identify in advance. This is why so many of the directors who have started with me were my assistant - the first one was Francis Ford Coppola.
Roger CormanOne of the worst things you can do is have a limited budget and try to do some big looking film. That's when you end up with very bad work.
Roger Corman