In his book, “You’ll Like This Because You’re in It: The Be Kind Rewind Protocol,” the filmmaker behind “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “The Science of Sleep,” offers his tips for making movies. In an interview with GO Brooklyn, he went further.
1) It’s a democracy, not a dictatorship.
“I resent professionalism in those instances because they tend to limit creativity. Some film teachers act if they knew how a professional [filmmaker] would act. So we had to correct that, to make sure the community was the leader, not the teacher.”
2) Make a fool of yourself.
“When I say I have Tourette’s Syndrome, I know this could be really offensive for people who really suffer from this problem, but I have a little bit of that in a sense that I constantly challenge my films to be ridiculed. I make pictures, I act silly and a lot of the time it falls flat, but I think that’s part of the game.”
3) Be nice to actors.
“I have stuff I like to say because actors are craving comfort and compliments for their own insecurity. I play with them a little bit and sometimes when they say, ‘Was I good?’ I’ll say, ‘Was my direction any good?’ I have my own insecurities!”
4) Imperfection is your friend.
“[During filming the Orient Avenue film, “There’s a Hand in My Soup”], a kid came with a big hand he had found in a fun store. When he came to use it, they couldn’t figure out how so they said, ‘Use a real hand.’ It was genius because [the story] all started from one element not even in the film at the end! Completely ridiculous but very charming.”
5) Pizza is essential.
“I talk about them several times because it’s what you order when you have lots of people at your place and you want to feed them. On the late day of shooting, there’s always pizza coming. But I don’t eat pizza, it makes me fat!”
