Ronald Reagan was this actor who was going to be president, and he was very charming. What he had was, he talked about America in ways that got people all caught up in it. He was creating this America – it could even be the mythical “America” – that we subscribe to.
BARRY LEVINSONI don’t know that you can do it as a satire. I mean, the business is crazy enough as it is. It’s like doing Wag The Dog – we took a thing that was almost completely absurd on one level, and then ultimately those things came about.
More Barry Levinson Quotes
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I think it’s a promising time which will show a lot of diversification that we’ve seen in the past.
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They’re intimidating the networks and levying these fines, so the networks are not sure of what they can or can’t do.
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I got involved with an acting school and studied for a couple years. They used to have improv exercises that you would work on and you would do improvs.
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I don’t know that you can do an absurdist film and just have everybody embrace it in terms of filling out cards. I just don’t think it happens. So you have to prepare an audience.
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I always think that there is the good and the bad of it all.
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I think test screening works at its best when the audience knows what it’s getting.
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I worked at a local television station and I got a chance to direct and do all those things – worked kiddie shows, Ranger House show with the hand puppets and things like that.
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I got a chance to work with Mel Brooks on two of his films: Silent Movie and High Anxiety.
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It’s always hard to explain why an audience ultimately responds to a movie.
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There’s no downside to having too much experience.
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I thought a great line in the What Just Happened movie said, “We’re just the mayonnaise.”
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I’m fascinated by documentaries, to begin with. Because of the nature of television, as opposed to theatrical, documentaries can be in this long form and take you on a journey.
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I think we are seeing a radical shift in the business in general. The studios are making much more of the real big extravaganzas and there are other kinds of films that are coming out. I think you are going to begin to see more diversification that we’ve seen in the past.
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We’re never going to be the ultimate-insider look. You can do 50 insider looks at this Hollywood business, and the satire didn’t intrigue me. I think others can do that.
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I think certain movies work and that is part of the magic of it all. We can’t truly define why something succeeds.
BARRY LEVINSON