You could make the most beautiful film, and that weekend it's raining too hard on the East Coast, and no one goes out. Artists should have a chance to do it again. That's the challenge: Women artists don't get a second chance. People-of-color artists don't get a second chance. You're put in director's jail, and that's a wrap.
Ava DuVernay
Related For artists of my caliber, we're not played on the radio, so we don't really get a chance to... BOY GEORGE Are you taking us to the beach?" - Dan Cahill JUDE WATSON I can tell you that you will have your hearts broken more by the people you love than by the people ... MARGARET PETERSON HADDIX It looks ancient," - Amy Cahill JUDE WATSON It's not that people don't like classical music. It's that they don't have the chanc... GUSTAVO DUDAMEL Let's head out to the ruins." - Dan Cahill ROLAND SMITH I'm still a big 'Grey's Anatomy' fan. BROOKE ELLIOTT I used to watch 'Grey's Anatomy' pretty religiously. ERINN HAYES It SMELLS ancient," - Dan Cahill JUDE WATSON Palm trees were fanned by a warm, light breeze, and they rolled down their windows to smell the sea. JUDE WATSON Artists, musicians, scientists - if you have any kind of visionary aptitude, it's often somethin... PATTI SMITH I would direct TV. That's a little different. It's more of a contained world as a director. ... CHERYL HINES It's hard to get people at a record company to talk about music. They don't seem to want to ... HENRY ROLLINS People sometimes get a little extra criticism when they try something that they don't normally d... KRISTEN WIIG The one mistake you must never make is to agree to make a film or sign on to film that you don't... PAUL GREENGRASS If there's a good screenplay, there's a chance that something good is going to happen. If yo... AYELET ZURER No one shows love. There's no unity between the artists and the streets. There's none of tha... SHY GLIZZY If you don't love the Dodgers, there's a good chance you may not get into Heaven. TOMMY LASORDA It's not how you start the season, it's how you finish. If you wind up helping the team make... ALBERT PUJOLS You don't know how much artists go through to make it look so easy. It's all in the practice... LAURYN HILL Don't ever doubt yourselves or waste a second of your life. It's too short, and you're t... ARIANA GRANDE I don't like the process of meeting someone and you make a film and that's it. You think you... RYAN GOSLING Playing characters who are wonderful and beautiful is hard because you don't feel like that most... HANS MATHESON When you let those defensive backs know that you're a physical player, they don't really wan... EZEKIEL ELLIOTT The one thing I've learned in the last ten years is that successful artists don't get paid t... ENRIQUE IGLESIAS It's such a stressful environment, I find, being an actor, being put in the chair and 'Touch... PADDY CONSIDINE I always find Victoria's Secret models a bit weird. EDIE CAMPBELL There's not a lot of pretty, young female artists that's out. It's a lot of talent out t... TYGA I guess people don't think that young girls or young artists have opinions, but I'm so glad ... ALESSIA CARA My favorite role is mommy. I know that sounds cheesy to people who don't have kids, or there are... VANESSA LACHEY If it's stage, the two most important artists are the actor and the playwright. If it's film... BRAD DOURIF You have to really want it, and don't take it personally if you don't get a job. Because som... CAROL BURNETT Every film is hard work, and a few lucky people do get Oscars for what they do, and it's recogni... WALTER MURCH The worst part about being married is when you're not connecting. Your partner is going out the ... PATRICK DEMPSEY I love TV, don't get me wrong. But with film, you're just banging out this one product, and ... DAVID ANDERS There's no second chance on stage, and I was trained to make the most of my first chance. KATE SMITH You don't even need the director's judgement. It's too much. CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG Many artists who don't go off to art school come to New York. It's about what you learn when... URS FISCHER As animation directors, you're the first one on the film; you're the last one off, and you g... BYRON HOWARD It's unfortunate that a lot of people think African-American female artists are monolithically R... JANELLE MONAE About f-f-ace!" she said to the horse, flailing with her boots. "Into the barn, please. It's time fo... PETER LERANGIS You see?" Damien leaned over his desk and spread out half a dozen charcoal sketches. "These are only... RICK RIORDAN You can repeat things because it's on a set and there are actors. But if it's a great moment... LARRY CHARLES There's no question that you can explore aspects of yourself through roles that you play, and yo... ANNETTE BENING I internalize everything, keep everything inside. I'm not used to spilling my guts, and when you... DAVE BAUTISTA In 'The Force Awakens,' women as well as men are in positions of authority. And you don'... CASS SUNSTEIN Most of the time, I don't really give people a chance. I have a wall up. I'm always protecti... CAM NEWTON Fear is one of the elements of nonlethal weaponry. You're going to get hurt, and you don't w... GREG RUCKA My hat's off to documentary filmmakers. I don't know if I'm ever going back to it. You... TERRY ZWIGOFF True artists are prophets. I don't want to be that prophetic in that sense because it's so l... YOKO ONO It's hard to bury your head in Los Angeles. People come up to you and say, 'Hey, I saw your ... CHELSEA PERETTI There's no greatest moment in the arts. It's a life, it's a continuity thing. You can... LEROY NEIMAN If you're engaged more than a year, there's something up. There's lot of debate as to wh... NICHOLAS STOLLER I love TV, don't get me wrong. But with film, you're just banging out this one product and y... DAVID ANDERS I don't care what color the parents are. I don't care if it's a giraffe and a fish livin... PATRICIA POLACCO What I don't like so much is people who - how do you say this? - who make judgments over the gen... JOHN DE MOL, JR. No matter how fast or how slow you get to the quarterback, it all goes to slow motion when you get t... MARIO WILLIAMS Film-making is not liberating. It drains a lot out of you, and it's fulfilling only temporarily.... XAVIER DOLAN It's not that I don't want to be famous. It's just that I don't feel like the burden... BILLY CRUDUP Before 'Grey's Anatomy,' I was doing musicals, plays, commercials, you name it. CHANDRA WILSON I do come across people who don't like me, don't like my comedy, don't think it's fu... DEMETRI MARTIN But don't get caught out there looking goofy. It's weird. When you do something that stinks,... JAMIE FOXX I urge younger artists to know that you don't have to be anything you don't want. You can do... TREY SONGZ I think of other artists as generous when I get inspired by their work. That's why I like curati... NATE LOWMAN The 'American Idol' and 'X Factor' shows, they're great shows. But I think I nee... SNOOP DOGG I don't think you can be successful in television without appealing to women. I don't think ... MAGGIE Q I'm aware of the decisions I make and the responsibility I have as a role model. I wouldn't ... NAOMI SCOTT I don't be remembering women that I've met before. I don't remember people as a whole. I... WALE It's a great advantage to be able to play people off against each other, isn't it? You go to... DAMIEN HIRST You could get a cheer by saying: 'Let's withdraw from Afghanistan', but I don't thin... ED BALLS 'Somnia' is a story about loss and, I guess, what you're willing to do to have closure a... KATEE SACKHOFF A lot of times, when you're the leading lady, you get to sing heartwarming songs and that's ... LAURA BENANTI I'm proud to say that I was that guy playing the character of Dr. Burke on 'Grey's Anato... ISAIAH WASHINGTON You walk on a set, and you have no idea - that's why I don't storyboard. It's all possib... BARRY JENKINS In tennis, you can have a bad set and still win. The part of track cycling that is difficult to find... VICTORIA PENDLETON I'm my own artist, and I see artists as movies. No one should try to change them for anything. I... ZEDD It's incredibly fun to play someone that you don't like. It exorcises your own demons in a w... ED HELMS A film like 'Good Night And Good Luck,' you make that for $7 million because you know it'... GRANT HESLOV The one thing that I'm always gonna promote is, 'Don't look at a fellow black man as an ... DEMETRIUS SHIPP, JR. If you don't have a refinery operating, it's hard to use oil that's available. T. BOONE PICKENS I think it's really important that I'm not the only model in the world that goes through per... GIGI HADID There are so few roles out there. And even if it is a film that could be led by a black actress, how... OCTAVIA SPENCER If I get lucky and I can choose, I would always choose a really good story and screenplay, even if I... AYELET ZURER Theater is where you go to find out something new that you don't know. It goes through somebody&... D. A. PENNEBAKER You can either hope and pray you don't get picked on, or you can, in a way, almost make yourself... JAMES CORDEN It's like being at the kids' table at Thanksgiving - you can put your elbows on it, you don&... JOHN HUGHES When you pick up a book, everyone knows it's imaginary. You don't have to pretend it's n... PAUL AUSTER It's hard to tell with these Internet startups if they're really interested in building comp... STEVE JOBS You're allowed to make things for women on television, and there's not like... you don't... CALLIE KHOURI 'The Help' sheds light on a certain truth in America, but the tragedy is if we don't get... DAVID OYELOWO Greatness and fiasco is the same. You're reaching for something just out of your grasp, and if y... NOAH HAWLEY It's fascinating that people, there's so many people now who will make judgments based on wh... CLARENCE THOMAS When you're a guest star on a movie or a TV show, I always say it's like being invited to a ... ATO ESSANDOH There's lots of things that can't make it in the world that are worth making. There are lots... DANA SPIOTTA When I hear other artists talk, they talk about 'How come radio's not playing my song?' ... BLAKE SHELTON When you do a first movie, you're contractually supposed to do the second one and then you don... LOUIS LETERRIER This is my chance to get out there and appease the fans of my music as well as show people that I do... NICK CANNON There are people who have energy that say 'don't come near me, don't get too close.'... NATHAN FILLION When you're young, you don't know what you don't know, so it's easier to get into th... GREG RUSEDSKI And unless you think there is a serious chance you're going to jail, don't listen to your la... BARNEY FRANK
More Ava DuVernay
I want to be an old lady, with my cane, shouting, 'Action!' and 'Cut!' AVA DUVERNAY Filmmakers need to realize that their job isn't done when they lock picture. We must see our fil... AVA DUVERNAY We know there needs to be diversity in storytellers telling their own stories. I think there's a... AVA DUVERNAY The way that we're consuming what we watch. Netflix, binge-watching, destination agnostic were n... AVA DUVERNAY I am honored to be one of this year's Urbanworld ambassadors for the festival's 20th anniver... AVA DUVERNAY When we're talking about diversity, it's not a box to check. It is a reality that should be ... AVA DUVERNAY In documentaries, there's a truth that unfolds unnaturally, and you get to chronicle it. In narr... AVA DUVERNAY There's really no precedent for someone like me gaining clout in the space that I'm in - a b... AVA DUVERNAY I usually make films with $2 and a paper clip. AVA DUVERNAY I don't even really see sit-ins and marches as passive. I see them as quite assertive. I see tho... AVA DUVERNAY I think any black woman is a queen. It's just, do you know it? Do you see it in yourself? Do you... AVA DUVERNAY You gotta follow the white guys. Truly. They've got this thing wired. Too often, we live within ... AVA DUVERNAY For female directors, there's a whole other set of things we have to think about, particularly w... AVA DUVERNAY The consumer is deciding what they want to see and when and how, and filmmakers are more aware and a... AVA DUVERNAY When we say there's a dearth of women directors, it's not that there's a lack of women w... AVA DUVERNAY I'm a big people watcher and a people talker. The beautiful thing about being an artist and a cr... AVA DUVERNAY Creativity is an energy. It's a precious energy, and it's something to be protected. A lot o... AVA DUVERNAY There can be a progression to the dream; there can be steps to it. When you dissect any successful p... AVA DUVERNAY With the Black Lives Matter movement, a lot of the focus is on the protest and dissent. I'm hopi... AVA DUVERNAY Oh, Diane Nash deserves her own film. Diane Nash is a freedom fighter who is still alive and kicking... AVA DUVERNAY To win Best Director at Sundance was beyond anything I could have imagined for myself. It's stil... AVA DUVERNAY Today, when you look at social media, you see that the narrative can be overtaken by people just fro... AVA DUVERNAY Art morphs with what's going on in the world. We say 'Ferguson'; we don't say 'M... AVA DUVERNAY I love community, I love to be around other people. I love to be around other people when everyone... AVA DUVERNAY Film is a mirror. I want to see more filmmakers. We all want to see ourselves. AVA DUVERNAY Every filmmaker imbues a movie with their own point of view. AVA DUVERNAY There's a big difference between the independent film world and the Hollywood film world, and I ... AVA DUVERNAY Film school was a privilege I could not afford. AVA DUVERNAY I didn't go to film school. I got my education on the set as a niche publicist in the film indus... AVA DUVERNAY I financed and made my own films from the start. My path has been autonomous and independent, so I d... AVA DUVERNAY There was a time when I was knocking on doors and concerned with being recognized in dominant cultur... AVA DUVERNAY We're told that independent film lovers... folks that are used to watching art house films, won&... AVA DUVERNAY 'Queen Sugar' is a drama about family. It's something that allows us to be ourselves and... AVA DUVERNAY Oprah Winfrey is a big role model for me from a business capacity and a creative capacity. She is an... AVA DUVERNAY Why do we always have to see black people in hindsight? Why are the Hollywood movies always historic... AVA DUVERNAY Be passionate and move forward with gusto every single hour of every single day until you reach your... AVA DUVERNAY There's been no major motion picture released by a studio, no independent motion picture, in the... AVA DUVERNAY A black woman making art is a disruptive act. Every story that I tell as a woman is a political act,... AVA DUVERNAY As long as you're in an environment where the worth of the project isn't based on the projec... AVA DUVERNAY All the traditional models for doing things are collapsing; from music to publishing to film, and it... AVA DUVERNAY I spent a whole 12 years helping other people tell their stories as a publicist, so just to be able ... AVA DUVERNAY I've been to Sundance eight times as a publicist and thought I was very prepared. I mean, who co... AVA DUVERNAY The best art is realized when you can share the experience of making of it and not just the presenta... AVA DUVERNAY The studios aren't lining up to make films about black protagonists, black people being autonomo... AVA DUVERNAY I think that if we really want to break it down, that non-black filmmakers have had many, many years... AVA DUVERNAY My interest as an artist is to illuminate the lives of black folks. I definitely am focused on films... AVA DUVERNAY Oh gosh, I'm completely allergic to historical dramas. Particularly those around the civil-right... AVA DUVERNAY Women have been trained in our culture and society to ask for what we want instead of taking what we... AVA DUVERNAY My next project is 'Venus Vs,' which is a documentary that follows tennis star Venus William... AVA DUVERNAY Artists should be free to create what we want. I believe there's a special value in work that is... AVA DUVERNAY Nonviolence is pretty ballsy, pretty advanced weaponry. AVA DUVERNAY I wish I could be the black woman Soderbergh, and put the camera on my shoulder and shoot beautifull... AVA DUVERNAY I like silence. Aesthetically, I feel strangled by the fast cutting and a wall of sound. And I think... AVA DUVERNAY I really admire Werner Herzog and Spike Lee. They're amazing documentarians. If you took away al... AVA DUVERNAY All black women aren't sassy, loud, difficult, or subservient. We are, in fact, very complex and... AVA DUVERNAY I want more girls to be able to see themselves behind the camera creating images we all enjoy, and I... AVA DUVERNAY If your dream is only about you, it's too small. AVA DUVERNAY There's something very important about films about black women and girls being made by black wom... AVA DUVERNAY It's not enough even to have one black Barbie... because black women are not a monolith. AVA DUVERNAY I made my first film when I was 35, so I firmly believe that you don't have to be one thing in l... AVA DUVERNAY I make films about black women and it doesn't mean that you can't see them as a black man, d... AVA DUVERNAY If you're doing something outside of dominant culture, there's not an easy place for you. Yo... AVA DUVERNAY oh, the heartbreakingly beautiful tender weight of being human. AVA. remember you are capable of the most powerful thing in the universe. you are capable of l... AVA. i swallowed the syllables of your name and i was full. AVA. i just want to be honest about my feelings without destroying everything. AVA. i am changing and i am loving change. AVA i am awake and alive and swollen and heavy with love. AVA i am changing and i am loving change. AVA. no one needs love from you more than you need love from you. love yourself first, AVA. i am soft again. there is water and it surrounds me. there is feeling and i can feel it. AVA. love yourself first, and you will always be in love. AVA. every choice i have ever made after you existed has been dependent on exactly how close i ... AVA. there's always been a little sadness inside my happiness. i've never been able to separat... AVA. and sadness clung to me because she did not know how to be alone. AVA. i'm so hooked on how your mind works, on what you notice, on everything that excites ... AVA you giver of light. you lover of love. you beautiful beautiful human being... AVA. do not let anyone in until they love you so fiercely, you have no defense against their lo... AVA. i am soft again. there is water and it surrounds me. there is feeling and i can feel it. AVA you have outgrown this skin. stop trying to hold it in. stop trying to hold it together. AVA. you wanted it all to make sense and you wanted the most complicated answer, but the answer... AVA. i am awake and alive and swollen and heavy with love. AVA. hold company with yourself so sacred that even when you are alone, you are whole. AVA. i'm so hooked on how your mind works, on what you notice, on everything that excites ... AVA. some people are so deep you fall into them and you never stop falling. AVA. you came in slowly like the fog and consumed me. AVA. i want so much to touch you where my hands cannot. AVA. we get brave. we move. we believe. we keep going. AVA. you giver of light. you lover of love. you beautiful beautiful human being... AVA everything i know about love is that it hurts and is almost always never returned the... AVA. we get brave. we move. we believe. we keep going. AVA i can't hold onto love. i'm not gentle enough. i always end up crushing the thi... AVA. the opening, the breaking, the falling apart is always so quick. the hurti... AVA. i open for you like a flower. i let you in like a new day. AVA everything i know about love is that it hurts and is almost always never returned the... AVA i took it off. i did not want to carry it with me anymore. AVA i took it off. i did not want to carry it with me anymore. AVA. i feel everything. i do not know how to un-feel and to not feel is to stop the sun. AVA Some people say Liz and I are whores, but we are saints. We do not hide our loves hypocritically, an... AVA GARDNER How could she just leave me here to live without her? I miss her so much. I love her. I want her to ... AVA DELLAIRA Deep down, I'm pretty superficial. AVA GARDNER You think you know someone, but that person always changes, and you keep changing, too. I understood... AVA DELLAIRA What I told you about saving people isn't true. You might think it is, because you might want someon... AVA DELLAIRA And maybe what growing up really means is knowing that you don't have to be just a character, going ... AVA DELLAIRA I think a lot of people want to be someone, but we are scared that if we try, we won't be as good as... AVA DELLAIRA God knows I've got so many frailties myself, I ought to be able to understand and forgive them in ot... AVA GARDNER Because once you're afraid of one thing, you can get scared of a lot of stuff. AVA DELLAIRA The truth is, honey, I've enjoyed my life. I've had a hell of a good time. AVA GARDNER We want to go home and see with our own eyes what the damage is before we decide if we're going to r... AVA SEVIN We heard they had an oil spill. Whether it got to our house, we don't know. AVA SEVIN We come here for meals and to see the people we've met from the different areas of New Orleans. We w... AVA SEVIN On Saturday, when the mayor told everyone to evacuate New Orleans, we got everything together and go... AVA SEVIN Because I was promoted as a sort of a siren and played all those sexy broads, people made the mistak... AVA GARDNER After my screen test, the director clapped his hands gleefully and yelled: "She can't talk! She can'... AVA GARDNER I suffered, I really suffered, with all three of my husbands. And I tried damn hard with all three, ... AVA GARDNER I don't understand people who like to work and talk about it like it was some sort of goddamn duty. ... AVA GARDNER I think the main reason my marriages failed is that I always loved too well but never wisely. AVA GARDNER What's the point? My face, shall we say, looks lived in. AVA GARDNER Some people say Liz and I are whores, but we are saints. We do not hide our loves hypocritically, an... AVA GARDNER I couldn't imagine a better place [Australia] for making a film on the end of the world. AVA GARDNER For the loot, honey, for the loot. AVA GARDNER I liked the darkness, the dusty bay window, the view over the grey, muddy harbour and the towering c... AVA BLOOMFIELD I took a deep, deep breath and held it in my core; kept it close behind my protruding, fleshless rib... AVA BLOOMFIELD Maybe, in the final analysis, they saw me as something I wasn't and I tried to turn them into someth... AVA GARDNER The numbers on the board don’t mean a thing, because for the first time in forever, I have somewhe... AVA DELLAIRA You know when you think you know someone? More than anyone in the world? You know you know them, bec... AVA DELLAIRA Deep down, I'm pretty superficial. AVA GARDNER I'm not going to make someone my priority, when I'm their option. AVA PORTER Sometimes your music sounds like there’s too much inside you. Maybe even you couldn’t get ... AVA DELLAIRA I have only one rule in acting - trust the director and give him heart and soul. AVA GARDNER When I lose my temper, honey, you can't find it any place. AVA GARDNER Hell, I suppose if you stick around long enough they have to say something nice about you. AVA GARDNER When he fell down the stairs, he told people he'd had a stroke. He was just pissed out of his skull.... AVA GARDNER But to me, they were beautiful, like their own constellation. AVA DELLAIRA But you said you love me. You don’t just leave after that. AVA DELLAIRA Emptiness felt like a living thing. A parasite growing in the center of your chest, somewhere behind... AVA JAE The most liberating moment, is the moment you finally let go. AVA HARRISON I think it's like when you lose something so close to you, it's like losing yourself. AVA DELLAIRA You are bravery to me. AVA DELLAIRA Sometimes your music sounds like there's too much inside of you. Maybe even you couldn't get it all ... AVA DELLAIRA I think that by beauty, you don't just mean something that's pretty. You mean something that makes u... AVA DELLAIRA You learned right away that applause sounds like love. AVA DELLAIRA May, I love you with everything I am. For so long, I just wanted to be like you. But I had to figure... AVA DELLAIRA We are each weird in a different way, but together, that's actually normal. AVA DELLAIRA Because I was promoted as a sort of a siren and played all those sexy broads, people made the mistak... AVA GARDNER I have only one rule in acting--trust the director, and give him heart and soul. AVA GARDNER The truth will set you free, they say, but believe me, nothing will set you free. AVA FARMEHRI When you have to face up to the fact that marriage to the man you love is really over, that's very t... AVA GARDNER If beauty is truth, and truth is beauty, they are defined by each other, so how do we know the meani... AVA DELLAIRA I feel like I am drowning in memories. Everything is too bright. AVA DELLAIRA I think it’s like when you lose something so close to you, it’s like losing yourself. That’s w... AVA DELLAIRA The thing about traditions is that they hold up the shape of your memory. AVA DELLAIRA We do things sometimes because we feel so much inside of us, and we don’t notice how it affects so... AVA DELLAIRA It's sad when everyone knows you, but no one knows you. AVA DELLAIRA So maybe when we can say things, when we can write the words, when we can express how it feels, we a... AVA DELLAIRA I know that it can be hard to believe that someone loves you if you are afraid of being yourself, or... AVA DELLAIRA A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself - and especially to feel, or not to f... AVA DELLAIRA I mean, words can't be good enough for a lot of things. But, you know, I guess we have to try. AVA DELLAIRA she walked like she belonged in a better world, AVA DELLAIRA Nirvana means freedom. Freedom from suffering. I guess some people would say that death is just that... AVA DELLAIRA I wish you could tell me where you are now. I mean, I know you’re dead, but I think there must be ... AVA DELLAIRA Sometimes when we say things, we hear silence. Or only echoes. Like screaming from inside. And that�... AVA DELLAIRA Truth is beautiful, no matter what the truth is. Even if it's scary or bad. It is beauty simply beca... AVA DELLAIRA There are a lot of human experiences that challenge the limits of our language,” she said. “That... AVA DELLAIRA There's more to life than being a passenger. AVA DELLAIRA But we aren't transparent. If we want someone to know us, we have to tell them stuff. AVA DELLAIRA I know I wrote letters to people with no address on this earth, I know that you are dead. But I hear... AVA DELLAIRA When we are in love, we are both completely in danger and completely saved. AVA DELLAIRA You can be noble and brave and beautiful and still find yourself falling. AVA DELLAIRA What's the point? My face, shall we say, looks lived in. AVA GARDNER All of a sudden we were out of the lot and on the highway next to the mountains, flying. I put my ha... AVA DELLAIRA Dragons have wild hearts that need the open sky AVA RICHARDSON I loved the feeling of being alone together in the car, like we could go anywhere we wanted. Just us... AVA DELLAIRA The time is not always now for everything. AVA RICHARDSON Our phone bills were astronomical, and when I found the letters Frank wrote me the other day, the to... AVA GARDNER You usually find that this is the most romantic sex, because it starts out with long, luscious kisse... DR AVA CADELL When you know you're never going to see someone again, you want to leave her wanting you - and you'l... DR AVA CADELL There's a correlation between a woman's bottom lip and her vagina. Sucking gently on her lip will ma... DR AVA CADELL