53 Quotes by Ryan Fleck

The original outline for 'Mississippi Grind' was actually an attempt to go funny. But when we showed it to people we realized that maybe it wasn't as funny to other people as it was to us - we have a pretty specific sense of what's funny - and then we thought, O.K., we need to do this more like we would actually make one of our movies.

I'm a sucker for movies about uncommon friendships: 'Midnight Cowboy,' 'Harold and Maude,' 'Scarecrow,' 'The Last Detail,' 'Y Tu Mama Tambien,' 'Jules and Jim,' 'Rushmore,' 'Stand by Me.'

Any industry where there's a lot of money to be made and there are poor people involved, there's going to be some exploitation on some level.

On 'Half Nelson,' I was credited as the director, we both co-wrote it and Anna was the producer. We didn't know too many directing teams working at the time except the Coen brothers and that seemed to be the model, and people always know that they're a team, whether the credit reflected that or not.

When there's film rolling through the camera, there's a heightened awareness of the importance of that moment, from the actors and the crew. It creates a much more old-school respectful atmosphere for the process.

I grew up a big baseball fan. I thought I knew a lot about the game, but I didn't realise that all these American Major League Baseball teams have their own private academies in the Dominican Republic to find good players and bring them over to make money for their teams.

For us, the biggest thing is casting and making sure that every role has the right fit and that person understands the role, and then, really, it's pretty easy. You just try to stay out of the way and say 'action' and 'cut' - don't say 'cut' too soon. Let it happen.

Hopefully 'Mississippi Grind' will be good in the theater.

I just hope to continue making and finishing films. And then get them seen.