Unless you're trying to make a movie on the sly, there's no way to get around this. If you want to use public spaces, film on the streets, have the cooperation of the police, you have to have a permit.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I remember when I saw 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,' I wanted to go out and direct a movie right there on the streets of Manhattan. Unfortunately, you can't without permits.
How can I make a movie about the violence of the police if the police aren't going to let me film it?
I went to underground music studios. In the studios, I learned that you can make a movie without a permit.
The industry has to have the audience in order to make these films. So it's a serious thing - how do you get people to leave their houses and go to the theater?
You create a work of art. You do not know whether it will get public sanction. Sometimes outstanding films do no business, and sometimes films which are not so good work.
Anonymity is a wonderful thing if you can hang on to it. I live in Pasadena where we try to keep the movie people out. We discourage them from moving in our neighborhood and if they do we burn effigies on their lawns.
I want my films to get audiences. I am not interested in making them just for myself.
I feel I have a political duty to reach out to the general public. I want to make films that the people want to see. So if the people want to see Johnny Depp or Tom Cruise, then it is really my job to incorporate them into my films.
I know that if a film is ready to emerge out of what I write, I'll be able to go off and make it without asking anyone's permission.
You can always make a film somehow. You can beg, borrow, steal the equipment, use credit cards, use your friends' goodwill, wheedle your way into this or that situation. The real problem is, how do you get people to see it once it is made?