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" New Zealand was kind of getting a reputation for making middle-of-the-road films that weren't really that unique. They were kind of New Zealand versions of overseas films, and for sure, having an Oscar nomination totally helped me get funding. "

Taika Waititi

Reputation

Sure

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" You have to let go of the control and allow things to develop. You need to have a flexible attitude, especially working with kids. "

" That's what attracts me to the kind of characters I try and write - that they're not cut and dried. "

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" I had a country upbringing in a predominantly Maori community, and that contrasted with a very multi-cultured arts community in the Aro Valley in Wellington: growing up around a lot of theatre and poets and writers and stuff. "

" My main thing was painting; I was just going to do that. "

" My style of working is I'll often be behind the camera, or right next to the camera yelling words at people, like, 'Say this, say this! Say it this way!' I'll straight-up give Anthony Hopkins a line reading. I don't care. "

" I think I'm a better filmmaker than actor, so I already know that. That's OK. I can handle not being a famous actor. "

" My favorite was 'The Lost Boys.' Corey Haim wore this trench coat, and I made my mum buy me a trench coat. I wore it to school, to primary school. "

" I love living in New Zealand. "

" Characters I create are just mixtures of the people I know. "

" You realise that there's nothing more endearing than people who are desperately trying to be liked or trying to be the hero, you know? Who also probably just need a hug or want to impress their dad? "

" Shooting a movie should be fun! It's not a real job. It can be hard, but at the end of the day, we're dressing up and playing pretend. "

" Films that are easy to sell happen to be the worst films. Look at the poster for 'Wrath of the Titans' and 'John Carter': they're exactly the same. You could switch titles. "

" We all have to remember that New Zealand is built on these kind of people who are rebels and renegades, people doing it their own way, fighting for freedom, and braving the elements. I think it's cool to celebrate that. "

" I really like arcade games and like the '80s and early '90s kind of games, just because there's a real kind of naivete to them, but there's like a real inventiveness to it as well. "

" I love films that make you feel something but also deliver that payload behind jokes. "

" I've loved vampires since I was a kid, or loved a lot of the vampire movies that I saw. Anything with sharp teeth, really. I remember you could get those fake vampire teeth, and I remember just keeping them in all the time. "

" I actually keep having this one recurring dream where I'm a little number standing in a line of other numbers that look identical to me. Then there are more and more of these numbers that follow me, again and again and again. It's more of a nightmare. "

Taika Waititi

Numbers

Dream

" There's nothing cooler than going to work and hanging around with your friends and laughing, because it's something that you get told off for throughout your entire time at school... it's just like a big 'in your face' to those bully teachers that you had when you were a kid. "

" My job is to express myself. "

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" I'm not very proud of coming from a place that everyone thinks is this pure green country whereas, in reality, all our lakes and waterways are poison. "

" Music - it's motivational and just makes you relax. "

" Visually, I'm always considering shots and composition quite a lot, and I love putting art into films, and I do a lot of the art. "

" I love heroes that really go through ordeals, and they come out the other end completely changed. "

Taika Waititi

End

Out

" A lot of people are trying to get out of their home country and think 'making it' is if you're able to work in another. For me... I'd be quite content to keep doing my own little films down there for the rest of my filmmaking career. "

" In a lot of my films, the biggest theme is family, making families out of those around you. "