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I was always going to direct. I wasn't going to hand my characters over to anyone else.
Dee Rees -
You're your own person, and it's about you. I'm my own person, and it's about me. Everyone has their own life.
Dee Rees
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A producer has to want you. And if the producer trusts you and asks for your vision, it frees you up so much, not having to explain or fight for every decision. You're allowed to create.
Dee Rees -
We shouldn't be discriminating against each other. The whole 'light skin versus dark skin' is an idea we need to break down.
Dee Rees -
I'm not a writer that writes every day. I just kind of have ideas. I jot them down when I have them, and when I have enough, I just start. And for me, I start more around noon, and I'm all about feeling. Once there's a theme, I can't not write.
Dee Rees -
Actors need to know why they're saying what they're saying, more than just learning their lines.
Dee Rees -
In an industry that's uncertain and when you're in a lot of situations that are anxiety-causing, to have someone there who has your back unconditionally and cares for you and the material and would give anything to make sure everything is OK, makes you feel so much better. It gives you a sense of security as an artist.
Dee Rees -
I'm always excited about stories that allow me to explore a character and create interesting stories and worlds that we haven't seen before.
Dee Rees
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As long as you tell the best story possible, you can trust that people will be able to connect to it.
Dee Rees -
I started out at Procter & Gamble marketing panty liners, so basically selling women insecurity. I thought there must be more to life than this. Then I was on set for a Dr. Scholl's commercial, and I asked one of the execs, 'How do you get a job behind the camera?' and he said, 'Film school.' So I quit and applied to NYU.
Dee Rees -
I kept getting offered all this young adult stuff. I don't want to keep telling teen coming-of-age stories!
Dee Rees -
Knowing what you want is not a shortcoming. Let people deal with their own anxieties.
Dee Rees -
I think 'Mudbound' reveals the interconnectiveness of our stories. You can't separate out threads of history and race as economic construct. 'Mudbound' makes it very plain. Race is about commerce; it's not an actual thing. It's a fiction that was created to basically divide resources unequally.
Dee Rees -
For me, like, obviously, I want to see myself onscreen.
Dee Rees
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For me, Sundance always felt big. It's not the only way to make your way, but for me, it was definitely that critical link between struggling artist, kind of working on my own, to actually working professionally and being connected and being seen.
Dee Rees -
I think art breaks down otherness.
Dee Rees -
Going into a room and saying, 'I'm a black lesbian' - it's a strike against you.
Dee Rees -
Filmmaking was the way I could write characters and not have to give them up to anybody.
Dee Rees -
I thought I'd get an MBA, and then I could be anything. And I'd write on the side. That was the idea.
Dee Rees -
I had originally written 'Pariah' as a feature, and we shot the first act as a short film, and then we used the short as a marketing tool to fundraise for the feature.
Dee Rees
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I'm interested in telling stories about characters that are interesting and who are challenging in some way, one that will make you think about them afterwards.
Dee Rees -
The best thing in the world is to put two characters who hate each other side by side. Or put two people who love each other far away, so they have to reach for each other with their looks.
Dee Rees -
I've always liked to write, but I never thought I could make a career out of it.
Dee Rees -
I feel a lot of folks, like teenagers, can feel like outcasts.
Dee Rees