Everybody comes to film differently; everybody has different backgrounds. Just find whatever your lane is naturally. Don't try to force yourself into someone else's vision or try to tell a story that you're not passionate about.
F. Gary GrayRead
I'm not afraid of a big studio film; I trust my instincts. But for me, it's not really about box office. It's about looking back on your work and not having to apologize for it.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes creating art without compromising integrity for commercial success.
F. Gary Gray expresses that while he is confident in his ability to work on major film productions, what truly matters to him is the authenticity and integrity of his artistic expression. He values the ability to look back at his work with pride rather than regret, suggesting that the artistic journey should prioritize personal satisfaction over financial gain or public approval.
In practice
In a speech discussing the importance of artistic integrity in the film industry.
Everybody comes to film differently; everybody has different backgrounds. Just find whatever your lane is naturally. Don't try to force yourself into someone else's vision or try to tell a story that you're not passionate about.
Painting, like poetry, selects in the universe whatever she deems most appropriate to her ends. She assembles in a single fantastic personage, circumstances and features which nature distributes among many individuals. From this combination, ingeniously composed, results that happy imitation by virtue of which the artist earns the title of inventor and not of servile copyist.
History repeats itself, but the special call of an art which has passed away is never reproduced. It is as utterly gone out of the world as the song of a destroyed wild bird.
There's that old cliche that art is never finished, only abandoned. That's the nice thing about comics. It forces you to abandon it long before maybe you're ready to let it go.
Neurologically, I'm a quadriplegic, so virtually everything about my work has been driven by my learning disabilities, which are quite severe, and my lack of facial recognition, which I'm sure is what drove me to paint portraits in the first place.
Stories only happen to those who are able to tell them.
Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.
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