Honestly, in retrospect, when I referred to the actors from 'Prince' as non-actors or non-professionals, it was actually a great disservice to them. The fact is that they are all actors and should be viewed that way by the industry. It was our casting process that was non-professional.
— Sean Baker
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.
'Tangerine' being my fifth film, I was out of favors. I couldn't afford to get the Arri Alexa or RED cameras and I definitely couldn't shoot on film.
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.'
Children are funny.
'Tangerine' taught me that if you win an audience over with comedy, then hopefully have a soulful message at the same time.
'Man Push Cart' is very similar to 'Take Out.'
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.
From a filmmaker's point of view, there is something undeniably cinematic about a location like Santa Monica Boulevard, which is so chaotic and busy and over-stimulating.
I love celluloid. I love the look of it.
Shooting on the iPhone has become more of a directors' tool to lower inhibition of first-time actors and nonprofessionals. While it's helped me become more mobile, no pun intended - running around, finding tight areas and different ways of moving the camera - to me it's more about using this device to catch candid moments. That's the biggest thing.
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.
In so many reviews that I'm reading of 'The Florida Project,' everyone is assuming it's my second film.
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.
There's always this hump, this 1-week hump where the first-time actors have to get used to the fact that there's a camera in their face. It takes them about a week to get comfortable.
'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.
I'm an advocate of all mediums - it's a larger canvas for us as artists - but we have to keep in mind that celluloid film is what created this wonderful art form, and we have to keep it alive.
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'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 hoped 'Starlet' would finally open doors for me and lead to a much bigger budgeted movie, but that didn't happen.
I work with different actors with varied degrees of experience.
Digital is great; I see the benefits and beauty in both formats. But it doesn't give you that organic quality that celluloid brings.
I grew up with 'The Little Rascals' and always try to work a link into every one of my movies.
In our most desperate times, people going through true hardships use humor to cope.
The iPhone always has a different look from model to model - 'Tangerine' is quite smooth, but that was the 5s. I was using the iPhone 6s Plus for 'The Florida Project,' and it has what's called a rolling shutter, and it gave it this hyperactivity and a very different, jarring feel, and we liked that.
I love to combine first-time actors with seasoned actors.
I think most of our eyes are trained to background being completely out of focus, but you can't do that with an iPhone unless you manipulate it quite a lot in post. You have to accept the fact that your film is going to look a little different on the big screen. Even though the resolution holds up, it does have something very different about it.
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.
I'm not a material guy, so I don't need to surround myself with wealth.
We're all getting in trouble on Twitter - just get off and use your Instagram.
Dealing with kids, you're always going to have to deal with something. I mean, they're kids.
When it comes down to it, I'm still in love with film - I'm a cinephile.
I grew up torturing friends and family by making super-8 and VHS epics.
A lot of independent films try to pull off a 14-day shooting schedule, which I think is ridiculous. No matter how big or small you are, it really kills whatever sort of time you get to allow the actors to find their characters, and to spend time to think about what they're doing.
I try to create a very casual working place, where everybody - down to production assistants - can throw out ideas and not feel intimidated. When it becomes a collaborative environment, it becomes a small family, and everybody becomes invested.
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.
There are so many directors who don't like any kind of interaction on set except for producers. I am the opposite.
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.
Some have said I focus on marginalized communities, but it's not like that was my mission statement. I've just told stories that interest me, and that I'm not seeing enough of, on groups of people and subcultures that are often not seen.
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.
'The Little Rascals' was set against the background of the Great Depression: the characters were living in poverty. It's just that it wasn't focused on it. It was focused on what makes childhood universal. We're all laughing at kids because we see ourselves in them; we remember our childhood.
The films that are coming out of SXSW are incredible, and they should get the same bids that films at Sundance are getting.
I know that 'Tangerine' is getting a lot of attention for pushing the iFilm, but I am really mourning the death of celluloid.
A small lens gives you a very specific look. You don't have a shallow depth of field.
I remember, at one point, I was actually studying it kind of intensively around 2001, when Hrithik Roshan was big. I wanted to learn more about it, as I've always been intrigued by the craft of Bollywood, in that how well they were shot in glorious widescreen. I would actually go to see Bollywood films in the theaters in New York and New Jersey.
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?
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.
The iPhone in conjunction with the Filmic Pro app - the resolution is HD quality.
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.
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.
