In a 99u.com interview famous film director, Francis Ford Coppola (the director of The Godfather), explains up to two points which may be quite shocking to people. The very first is that his accomplishment with The Godfather in fact derailed him from the plan to create intimate, personal movie which he was obsessed with, Coppola wished to get up and make movies according to his dreams and nightmares.
The second is that he thinks artists are not meant to be rich.
Coppola shows back in the origins of art and also the benefactor model. Coppola additionally take into account the idea of getting an additional source of income to ensure that film-making can continue to be a difficult hobby and an outlet for taking risks. He’s absolutely, idealistically right (even though he does wonder why art needs to cost money (which is a little like wondering why digital cameras need to cost money)), and also around the radical idea that perhaps everyone should be able to see art of all types without cost, he gives his three principles for film-making.
These are:
- Write and direct original screenplays.
- Make them with the most modern technology available.
- Self-finance them.
It is that last point which confuse the majority of people.
I think the main reason why he tells people to self-finance their film is because he believe that cinema language happened by experimentation – by people not knowing what to do – and if you go to any producer today and you want to make something different, that has never been made before, they are gonna throw you out, because they want to make the same movie that works, the movies that produce money. Without experimenting different things, the cinema isn’t going to change a lot. And the cinema is still very young, it’s still 100 years old. And when cinema become commercial industry, and then they began to say to the pioneers, “Don’t experiment. We want to make money. We don’t want to take chances”. He also said “If you don’t take a risk then how are you going to make something really beautiful, that hasn’t been seen before?”
In his movie in 2007 (The Rainmaker) had end up ten years before and was not self-financed. Today his American Zoe trope outfit deals with production on his movies, however he’s also in a far different place compared to the majority of movie-makers. He’s an institution, and his job is operating a major winery (instead of new film-maker’s part-time job, which is serving wine into glasses during the lunch time).
Nevertheless, Coppola’s ideas can and should be taken to heart. He has some great suggestions over the interview, and i also look forward to the day when he begins giving out his movies for nothing.
What do you think?
All About Film Making 
Very interesting, enjoyed, fascinating interview, too. Hitchcock, at the height of his fame, seemed to have had similar thoughts and self-financed “Psycho” (there’s a new film about that, with Hopkins and Mirren playing Mr and Mrs Hitchcock, I’d like to see it!). I also happen to agree, as a (semi-professional) artist, with his statement that artists aren’t meant to be rich (it happens to some against their will)—if only because wealth is a serious distraction from the Muse.