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" Think about 'GoodFellas': It could be a textbook on how not to write a screenplay. It leans on voice-over at the beginning, then abandons it for a while, then the character just talks right into the camera at the end. That structure is so unusual that you don't have any sense of what's going to happen next. "

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" While I feel it's important for films to examine our society, I don't particularly like watching the films that do it. "

Taylor Sheridan

Watching

Society

" In 2011, I was in Hollywood peddling 'Sicario' to constant and resounding 'no's. Texas was suffering the worst drought on record. Wildfires spread across West Texas, burning some 4 million acres and 3,000 homes. While the urban centers in Texas were experiencing an economic boom, West Texas was collapsing under the weight of drought and fires. "

" Plot is just not my gift. I'm fascinated with complex characters, and that doesn't mix well with complex plots. And by the way, when the plot is simple, you can move one piece around and make it feel fresh. 'Hell or High Water''s a good example: I don't tell you why the brothers are robbing the bank. "

" I made a very conscious decision to quit acting. I was on a series, and we were in the process of renegotiating. They had an idea of what they thought I was worth, and I had an idea that was quite different. "

" If you're going to make a sequel to 'Sicario', you have to - you know, you've got to go beat a brand new path. "

" I've made up little mantras for myself, catchphrases from a screenwriting book that doesn't exist. One is 'Write the movie you'd pay to go see.' Another is 'Never let a character tell me something that the camera can show me.' "

" I think that marriage of music and picture is so vital, especially in a film that's almost exclusively exteriors. "

" You know that saying, 'You broke it, you bought it'? With horses, if you don't make sure it's a good fit... they tend to break you. "

" We can't assign beliefs to people who don't have a voice to express them. And we can't assume what someone thinks. "

" I've been in some bad TV shows and suffered through so much poor writing. "

" I spent most of my time as an actor in television, so directors in television - it's such a machine that's already in place that I don't think you notice the direction as much on the set. "

" Sugarcoating doesn't do anybody any good. "

" I had to push exposition through dialogue, which is really, really hard for an actor do. "

" As a filmmaker, you have to stand in front of what you did and make choices that you could do with a clear conscience. "

" The movies I make - the goal isn't a mass audience. They're not expensive films. So the attempt is to reach a much more limited audience - one would say an audience that enjoys films that challenge them emotionally and intellectually. "

" Once I finished 'Sicario,' I knew I wanted to follow it up with 'Hell or High Water.' "

Taylor Sheridan

Finished

Hell

" There's not a lot of pure evil in the world, but it's amazing how little it takes to do great damage. "

" Until you've been to Cannes, it's hard to describe to someone the magnitude of that festival. "

" I was going to be the head wrangler at a ranch in Wyoming, and the reason I didn't take the job is because I couldn't have my family there - the family had to stay in town. I just wasn't willing to do that. "

" I broke a lot of conventions. Look, I spent a long time as an actor. I spent a lot of time playing pretty ordinary arcs. "

" I can recognize a good actor. I can recognize someone that can convey emotion and that has the essence and not get lost in the minutia of, 'Well, that person's got red hair, and so does the other.' Some of the decisions in casting that seem so important at the time, until you get on set and you're starting to shoot. "

" I don't write tracking shots in my screenplays or any camera directions, but I do try to give a sense of how the action is moving. "

" Where having been an actor was extremely helpful to me was in casting. That's where I think a director who has acted can really shine, and casting is the most important thing you do. "

Taylor Sheridan

Think

Important

" I finished 'Hell or High Water' and started writing 'Wind River' literally the next day. "

" To me, 'Unforgiven' is one of the best films ever made. Aside from the fact it takes the genre and kicks it between its legs, it's this fascinating deconstruction of the myth of the West. "

" I mean... directing is a holy, unpleasant experience, to be perfectly honest. "

" I had a one-year-old son. How will my failure or success limit what he becomes? I was trying to write screenplays. It doesn't pay very well until you sell one. I was poor. "

" 'Sicario' was successful, but it was successful because Denis and the producers were, you know, they were very lean. It was very lean filmmaking. "

" Unfortunately, there is still much to mine in this world and explore creatively. "

" To get a film in Cannes is a real honor. To have it play and not get booed is a real relief. "