Well, for one thing, you know my dad was a cop.
— Edward Burns
The way I see it, when I go out as an actor, it should be on a type of film I'm never going to do as a director.
Maybe I should have taken a few chances. That's not to say I want to go make 'Star Wars', but I need to shift my career into the studio world. That's where my head was at when I thought of the original plot.
I am a big fan of the old Howard Hawks films from the 30s and 40s, I was a big Hepburn and Tracey fan for a while and Woody Allen films that are a very different kind of romantic comedy.
Woody Allen would go for seven years without a movie and then make one that makes no money.
But the longer I'm in the business, you see a lot of times these screenplays have been rewritten 5 times and you're not really offending an author.
I'd been offered TV series over the years and never had any interest in doing television. I'm not a TV guy.
The stigma of the straight-to-DVD thing is over.
I mean the cool thing about the movies is that you get to try on these different personalities and different styles.
Newlyweds shooting budget: 5k for actors, 2k insurance, 2k food and drink. 9k in the can. We only shot 12 days. That's how to make an independent film.
So you got the cool New Yorkers, and then there are the less-than-cool New Yorkers.
I suffer from Irish-Catholic guilt. Guilt is a good reality check. It keeps that 'do what makes you happy' thing in check.
It's so hard to raise money for independent films and the fact of the matter is that the bigger my star or whatever is, as a result of doing bigger pictures, the easier it is for me to get money for my own projects.
That's my advice for indie filmmakers: Marry a supermodel.
But at a certain point, you have to take your influence and find your own voice if you want to become a relevant artist.
People that went to art house theatre have more options, I used to go, but now think any movie can be delivered in a red envelope three months after it's released so why not watch it on my flat screen in the comfort of home.
Spielberg gave us three takes before saying anything to us. Since then, I do that, three takes, to let the actors find their rhythm.
The con movie is a little bit different where maybe we tell you what we're going to do but it never goes down the way you expect because there's so much double-crossing and cheats and lies going on along the whole way.
Quite honestly, it's too tough to get your movies made and then also to get out there and sell them.
I spent four months in Prague in these blue rooms reacting to nothing and you basically place your faith in the hands of the director and the special effects co-coordinator and you keep your fingers crossed and hope that the creatures look really scary.
You know, I've certainly gone through periods, once I got into this business, where I tried to adopt maybe a more sophisticated style, 'cause they give you all these free clothes.
I feel Irish-Americans are the forgotten minority group. Nobody else is making films about them.
I'm betting that in two years I'll be talking to you about a film that I shot on an iPhone. It's absolutely coming, I have no doubt in my mind.
Well, honestly, the films I personally like to go see are smaller, more character-driven pieces, so that's why the movies I've made have been smaller, more character-driven movies.
'Brothers McMullen' would not be picked up for theatrical distribution now.
I was a kid who went to film school and fell into acting.
It is a juggling act and I have been in it for 12 years now, which is about 11 years longer than I thought I would be, and then the priority there is thinking how can I stay somewhat irrelevant so that you can continue to survive and can continue to work and put yourself in a position to get to do the work you are truly passionate about.
Actors are con men and con men are actors.
When you work with a DeNiro or Hoffman, they love what they do so much that there's never any competitive vibe. It's more about how do we do this thing together.
Look: You're not gonna become a millionaire doing this, but that was never the point. And I think a lot of people in the indie film business kind of took their eye off of that.
And at no point did making 'Brothers McMullen' feel like work or hardship. It was really just a matter of 11 days of fun over the course of 8 months.
You make a movie for 9k for the freedom it allows you.
I'm always aware of who my core audiences are and I serve that niche.
When I was 25 years old and had no money - and didn't know how to make movies and had no experience - I was able to get $25,000 together, and that film was 'The Brothers McMullen.'
