Top 100 Quotes & Sayings by Sean Baker

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American director Sean Baker.

Last updated on September 17, 2024.

Sean Baker is an American film director, cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and editor. He is best known for the independent feature films Starlet, Tangerine, The Florida Project and Red Rocket, as well as his involvement in the Fox/IFC puppet sitcom Greg the Bunny and its spin-offs.

American - Director | Born: February 26, 1971

Source: Wikipedia

I'm fine with a title that's open to interpretation.

Sean Baker

I definitely learned a lot about how to be more communicative with my crews.

Sean Baker

'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.

Sean Baker

Film is the only art form where we feel we have to title our stuff literally. Musicians don't have to title their songs literally. It can be more about what's conjured up when you think of a word.

Sean Baker

Somebody who doesn't understand my directing style could be pretty taken aback by it if I start going off the schedule and focusing on something because I'm inspired in the moment.

Sean Baker

'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.

Sean Baker

I'm actually very critical of digital cinema.

Sean Baker

'Tangerine' was less than half the budget of 'Starlet,' and 'Starlet' was already a microbudget film. A director always wants more time, and we had a limited amount of resources.

Sean Baker

It feels dangerous when people say, 'Oh, Sean Baker focuses on marginalised people.' And offensive. As if I'm standing there with my planner thinking, 'OK, where's the next marginalised group I can make a movie about?'

Sean Baker

All I know is this: The reason that I've gotten attention from this industry is that I just kept making films until they paid attention.

Sean Baker

Because I'm a dramatist, I'm allowed to take liberties, but I want my films to be based in truth, and it's very important to me that the community we're focusing on is happy with the film. From an ethical point of view, that's everything.

Sean Baker

I had never even heard of the term 'hidden homeless' before... It's not just Orlando and Kissimmee. It's a national issue; it's a national problem.

Sean Baker

I'm seen as a little risky to the industry, I think. All my favorite directors are.

Sean Baker

I think I'm my own worst enemy.

Sean Baker

I've told my agent to push the idea of me as a director for hire off the table. Otherwise, we're wasting people's time.

Sean Baker

I'm not really the type to jump into a $20 million film just to do it.

Sean Baker

Everyone's asking if I've been offered a superhero movie, and no, I definitely have not.

Sean Baker

Nobody is going to just come and give you money unless you've proven yourself, especially if you're doing something that is unconventional or unorthodox and outside the way the industry thinks.

Sean Baker

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.

Sean Baker

Most filmmakers, if not all, come from a place of privilege, if only because of the expense.

Sean Baker

Many trans women of color come from poverty and are forced to live on the streets. Their families have shunned them, and their remaining family are the friends they've come to rely on.

Sean Baker

When it comes down to it, I'm still in love with film - I'm a cinephile.

Sean Baker

As long as I can pay rent, that's all I care about.

Sean Baker

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.

Sean Baker

Like with 'Starlet,' we intentionally did not look at 'Boogie Nights' before making 'Starlet,' and I should have. Because there are one or two scenes that come too close and it looks almost like - because it's about the same industry, and you're going to be covering certain subjects.

Sean Baker

If more stories are told about marginalized communities, subcultures, and minorities, the less marginalized they will be.

Sean Baker

I spend a lot of time on my phone, so I have two Mophie backups myself.

Sean Baker

I'm from outside most of these worlds I'm focusing on, and I feel there's an ethical approach to making these kinds of films. My biggest fear is that if you paint your characters in, you could be doing them wrong.

Sean Baker

The minute you're laughing, some people will say you're laughing at people.

Sean Baker

I grew up torturing friends and family by making super-8 and VHS epics.

Sean Baker

I have a feeling that I might even disappoint some people by staying in this two to three million range and continuing to make character-driven stories.

Sean Baker

A movie will live or die with your casting.

Sean Baker

I have been very inspired and influenced by 'The Little Rascals' my entire career.

Sean Baker

If I'm telling an L.A. story, I want to tell a fresh L.A. story and show places that haven't been shown before.

Sean Baker

Kids are kids. They still need handholding. No matter how trained they are, they need to be told what to do. They need to learn lines and understand blocking. You can't just say, 'I want you to walk from here to there and deliver your line.'

Sean Baker

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.

Sean Baker

I'm always looking for authenticity in my films. They're based in realism.

Sean Baker

A lot of the LGBTQ community accepted 'Tangerine,' which was something we worked really hard to achieve.

Sean Baker

Cinema is always evolving.

Sean Baker

I cannot stand Hollywood child performances. It just reeks of artifice, and it's weird that, for some reason, Hollywood feels they have to make their child characters smarter than adults, and suddenly kids have the vocabulary of a college grad.

Sean Baker

I don't have a family. I'm not planning one. I don't have to support anyone but me and my dog.

Sean Baker

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.

Sean Baker

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.

Sean Baker

I went to NYU thinking I was going to make a 'Die Hard' sequel, or maybe action and genre films for the studios, but I ended up falling in love with personal cinema.

Sean Baker

My way of directing is definitely unorthodox, definitely unconventional.

Sean Baker

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.

Sean Baker

I've fallen in love with Los Angeles, and I love to explore it myself.

Sean Baker

Most of the characters in 'The Little Rascals' were living in poverty, but they decided to focus on the joy of being a kid: the humor, the heart, the resilience.

Sean Baker

I want my films to be different, to use different techniques, not just make a calling card film.

Sean Baker

We're living in an age of the think piece.

Sean Baker

When you see bad acting, that's usually what it is - they're not listening to the other characters. It's always hard with first-time actors to get them in that moment where they are really listening to the other characters and reacting to the other characters.

Sean Baker