Top 66 Sean Baker Quotes

I’m seen as a little risky to the industry, I think. All my favorite directors are.

My way of directing is definitely unorthodox, definitely unconventional.

Film is the only art form where we feel we have to title our stuff literally. Musicians don’t have to title their songs literally. It can be more about what’s conjured up when you think of a word.

I know that ‘Tangerine’ is getting a lot of attention for pushing the iFilm, but I am really mourning the death of celluloid.

Talent is out there. But sometimes it doesn’t work. You’re going to find people who you think are wonderful, and the minute you turn on the camera, they just don’t understand the concept of acting.

We’re all getting in trouble on Twitter – just get off and use your Instagram.

With a lot of these social realist films, the first thing you do is drain the color.

I’m always looking for authenticity in my films. They’re based in realism.

We’re living in an age of the think piece.

I would like to make sure I’m not homeless.

I hoped ‘Starlet’ would finally open doors for me and lead to a much bigger budgeted movie, but that didn’t happen.

It feels dangerous when people say, ‘Oh, Sean Baker focuses on marginalised people.’ And offensive. As if I’m standing there with my planner thinking, ‘OK, where’s the next marginalised group I can make a movie about?’

When you’re a child, the colors are brighter, sounds are louder and whatever.

When I see a billboard that literally just has five names, and they’re all A-listers, I’m just like, What is that bringing to the world that’s new?

I’ve fallen in love with Los Angeles, and I love to explore it myself.

Many trans women of color come from poverty and are forced to live on the streets. Their families have shunned them, and their remaining family are the friends they’ve come to rely on.

I definitely learned a lot about how to be more communicative with my crews.

I’ve told my agent to push the idea of me as a director for hire off the table. Otherwise, we’re wasting people’s time.

So many films are being shot on the DSLR, that they’re all starting to look the same. There’s a shallow depth of field. It’s a nice look, but I can always identify a film shot with a DSLR.

I spend a lot of time on my phone, so I have two Mophie backups myself.

I don’t have a family. I’m not planning one. I don’t have to support anyone but me and my dog.

Everyone‘s asking if I’ve been offered a superhero movie, and no, I definitely have not.

I have friends who are trans advocates, and they were upset that Jared Leto played a trans person.

When you see bad acting, that’s usually what it is – they’re not listening to the other characters. It’s always hard with first-time actors to get them in that moment where they are really listening to the other characters and reacting to the other characters.

I think with ‘Tangerine’ we were taking that gamble – it was a risk – that we could tell the story in a comedic fashion to attract an audience and shed light on an issue.

A lot of the LGBTQ community accepted ‘Tangerine,’ which was something we worked really hard to achieve.

Because I’m a dramatist, I’m allowed to take liberties, but I want my films to be based in truth, and it’s very important to me that the community we’re focusing on is happy with the film. From an ethical point of view, that’s everything.

I’m not looking to get rich.

My one hope for Netflix and Amazon is to be a little more art house- and indie-friendly, pushing those just as hard as they push their originals.

There’s an alchemy that happens in my eyes when you mix it up, when you have a seasoned actor on set and your first-timer.

I had never even heard of the term ‘hidden homeless’ before… It’s not just Orlando and Kissimmee. It’s a national issue; it’s a national problem.

I love celluloid. I love the look of it.

I grew up torturing friends and family by making super-8 and VHS epics.

I’m not really the type to jump into a $20 million film just to do it.

I believe that human beings shouldn’t live in climates that they cannot survive naked… and New York, although full of energy and heart, does not fall within that rubric.

I like hearing from everybody and not just my co-screenwriters or producers. For example, while on set, I find it valuable to turn to my PA and ask, ‘What do you think? Is this scene working? Do you like what you see? You got any ideas for that line there because that idea isn’t working for me.’

Most of the characters in ‘The Little Rascals’ were living in poverty, but they decided to focus on the joy of being a kid: the humor, the heart, the resilience.

I’m very influenced by Mike Leigh and the way that he always has these climactic confrontations, like in ‘Secrets and Lies’ and ‘High Hopes,’ in which the ensemble cast meets in one location.

I’m actually very critical of digital cinema.

When it comes down to it, I’m still in love with film – I’m a cinephile.

Filmmaking has been my love since my mother brought me to see James Whale‘s ‘Frankenstein‘ at the local library at the age of six.

When people talk about first-timers, I always think of Spike Lee. In every film he’s made, he has A-listers, but he’s always giving roles to first-time actors and breaking careers. He’s brought such wonderful actors into the spotlight, and I love that.

I make dramedies, but ‘Tangerine’ really has a lot of comedy, and I saw that it had a great effect – it reached a larger audience.

‘Tangerine’ was less than half the budget of ‘Starlet,’ and ‘Starlet’ was already a microbudget film. A director always wants more time, and we had a limited amount of resources.

I have a feeling that I might even disappoint some people by staying in this two to three million range and continuing to make character-driven stories.

I’m from outside most of these worlds I’m focusing on, and I feel there’s an ethical approach to making these kinds of films. My biggest fear is that if you paint your characters in, you could be doing them wrong.

I’m not a material guy, so I don’t need to surround myself with wealth.

In our most desperate times, people going through true hardships use humor to cope.

New York City is the most culturally diverse city in the world, and yet there have been few films about the Chinese, Latino, and Middle Eastern experience in New York.

Like with ‘Starlet,’ we intentionally did not look at ‘Boogie Nights‘ before making ‘Starlet,’ and I should have. Because there are one or two scenes that come too close and it looks almost like – because it’s about the same industry, and you’re going to be covering certain subjects.

Nobody is going to just come and give you money unless you’ve proven yourself, especially if you’re doing something that is unconventional or unorthodox and outside the way the industry thinks.

‘Greg the Bunny,’ the comedy television show that I co-created, happened almost by accident. Dan Milano, Spencer Chinoy and myself made a public access show that caught the eye of IFC, and it has had three incarnations since then with a season on Fox.

You know, master classes are essentially extended Q&As. That’s how I always approach them. I don’t mean to downplay it. It’s just that I never fancy myself as someone who is taking a class. ‘Master class’ insinuates a teacher, and I’m not one.

‘Tangerine’ taught me that if you win an audience over with comedy, then hopefully have a soulful message at the same time.

I grew up with ‘The Little Rascals’ and always try to work a link into every one of my movies.

All I know is this: The reason that I’ve gotten attention from this industry is that I just kept making films until they paid attention.

As long as I can pay rent, that’s all I care about.

Route 192 is its own thing, and you can’t find that anywhere else. The colors and shapes of the buildings, the way that all the small businesses in a way feed off of the parks and sort of rip off the themes of Disney – you’re not going to find that anywhere else.

There are characteristics of Central Florida you don’t see anywhere else. It’s quite beautiful.

I went to NYU thinking I was going to make a ‘Die Hard‘ sequel, or maybe action and genre films for the studios, but I ended up falling in love with personal cinema.

Digital is great; I see the benefits and beauty in both formats. But it doesn’t give you that organic quality that celluloid brings.

There are so many directors who don’t like any kind of interaction on set except for producers. I am the opposite.

If more stories are told about marginalized communities, subcultures, and minorities, the less marginalized they will be.

I love to combine first-time actors with seasoned actors.

I cannot stand Hollywood child performances. It just reeks of artifice, and it’s weird that, for some reason, Hollywood feels they have to make their child characters smarter than adults, and suddenly kids have the vocabulary of a college grad.

Somebody who doesn’t understand my directing style could be pretty taken aback by it if I start going off the schedule and focusing on something because I’m inspired in the moment.