Dito Montiel Quotes & Sayings

I love when a scene can almost be boring because it's so honest, you know. — Dito Montiel

I'm such a fan of actors and also enjoy watching them work so that I can help their acting in any way I can. Sometimes it walks a tricky line because you want to be entertaining to some degree. But honesty is always entertaining to me. I'm a big Woody Allen and Spike Lee fan, and I find their films to be very honest. — Dito Montiel

It's weird: making a movie is like life compacted into three months. You have these very intense relationships with people, and you talk to them every day - your editor, the casting people, music people, your actors - then it ends. It's like a circus life. — Dito Montiel

I have no schooling in any normal sense but have learned from the best as far as just doing things. I learned filmmaking from loving movies and then just saying, 'OK, let's do it.' — Dito Montiel

I thought she was sleeping until I heard her call out from across the room, "Will you bring me a glass of water?" I did. Then in her always-sleepy tone and drawl she said, "Do you remember when you were a little boy and you would ask your mama to bring you a glass of water?" Yeah. "You know how half the time you weren't even thirsty. You just wanted that hand that was attached to that glass that was attached to that person you just wanted to stay there until you fell asleep." She took the glass of water that I brought her and just sat it down full on the table next to her. Wow, I thought. What am I gonna do with love like this. — Dito Montiel

If you're going to come wanting to work really hard, you're never going to bum me out. — Dito Montiel

Sometimes I find some movies patronizing, which I feel is the ultimate crime. — Dito Montiel

To me, the screenplay only becomes the Bible of the film after the actors have been cast. You go over the initial script with them and listen to the way they talk. Then you try to do a rewrite to accommodate them. — Dito Montiel

I like to see people put themselves into films, which is part of the reason why I love Woody Allen films so much-I believe his actors' work. I have a feeling that many actors in his films are similar to their characters, and I like that. — Dito Montiel

'Midnight Cowboy' is an exquisite piece of filmmaking. It's insane. — Dito Montiel

take free food or tea from anyone talking about God
and find Heaven
its gotta be out there
for there must be God
and how could any talk of good or God be wrong — Dito Montiel

And I understand now, maybe not completely, but more, that in times of overwhelming joy, immobile sadness, hysterical laughter, absolute fear, and sometimes just perfect quiet there is Life. Real Life. And it really is that simple. I take my gift now. I go live. — Dito Montiel

A story about my life should not be particularly interesting, but it is: it's just about me and some kids who didn't know how to talk to each other. It's personal but not autobiographical. — Dito Montiel

I love movies and always, always have. — Dito Montiel

When I had jobs, I was always doing manual jobs because I couldn't think. I worked at the docks, unloading trucks, and did ridiculous jobs. — Dito Montiel

One of my favorite movies that I've ever seen is '25th Hour.' I love it so much because it's simply about a guy who's going to jail for six years, and this slow, terrible day he has. — Dito Montiel

I know how easy it is to sound like a corny version of Noam Chomsky when talking about something like this, but in a country where millions of dollars are spent on nuclear weapons, corporate welfare, and many ridiculous things, doesn't it just make sense to take care of people first? As soon as we can make the South Bronx, Compton, Taos, and Astoria look like Beverly Hills I'll have no problem watching a guy orbit Mars. — Dito Montiel

If actors are making a little film with me at 2am in Nashville, they're not doing it to get paid. They're doing it because there's something special about the characters, which helps the film become more interesting. — Dito Montiel

When I was a kid, I was into hardcore music. The scene in New York was tiny. Every person hanging out was in a band and played at the A7 Club. There was not much rehearsing or anything. Just doing. — Dito Montiel

I spent a lot of time making music and touring around the country and living the weird life. I was just trying to keep a job and get by. So in a lot of ways, I went through a strange version of film school. So you live through a lot of things, and put them into your work. — Dito Montiel

Whether I'm writing the script, or someone else writes the initial draft, I'm always an actor's director first. I always try to listen to them a lot and try to put their voices into their character. — Dito Montiel

You don't get many chances in life to make a movie, and if someone says they don't like it, I say, 'I do'. I've made records before, and if someone said it sucked, it bummed me out. — Dito Montiel

I have friends who have had PTSD, and you can get it from other things than war. — Dito Montiel

He said he was always looking for a new color. He used to call me the new color. He said he wouldn't wanna see a spaceship without me. He always talked in riddles, but I think I know what he meant, and I don't think anyone can ever say anything that will mean as much to me. — Dito Montiel

My mother left my father in their late 60s. — Dito Montiel

If you get to bring a little movie on the festival circuit, it's a nice experience because you get to see it with an audience. People who go to festivals to watch films are usually a little more eager to enjoy them. It's exciting because it's like you're going to the film's opening night at every festival. — Dito Montiel

I was too crazy in my teenage years and I wasn't doing anything that made any sense. — Dito Montiel

At the end of the night they all seemed so happy. Maybe it was just because they hadn't seen each other in a while, but as they all gathered around hugging, kissing, and well-wishing each other, I found myself feeling for the first time in my life like maybe I'd missed out on something. — Dito Montiel

I realize now that the reason we often feel so bad about change is because of all those beautiful things that happen in our lives. I mean, I can't remember ever feeling sad about many things other than a great memory. I believe in contentment and love and laughter. I believe when we fear for our content it is then, most of all, we feel sadness. — Dito Montiel

You make a movie, and if there's a red light flashing in the distance, everyone thinks that the director had a whole lot of money and a great idea that the red light means something. Then you say, 'Yeah, we couldn't afford to shut the red light off that was broken two blocks away.' — Dito Montiel

We were all the same. Kids from nowhere going nowhere. He always saw a light through the darkness. Knew the cracks let that light in, and that those cracks could suck you up. — Dito Montiel

I don't ever take a break. I'm always writing. — Dito Montiel

I try not to read Google. — Dito Montiel

Some people have this crazy talent that makes you tap into a human side as well, even with all their fame. — Dito Montiel

You want to be entertaining to some degree. But honesty is always entertaining to me. — Dito Montiel

I was born in Queens, New York. I've done every job you could think of in New York. Selling peanuts to Larry Fresh Fruit ices to dog walker to unloading trucks at the Jacob Javits Center. — Dito Montiel

Movies are weird; it's like trying to make a painting with one hundred people. It's a weird world, but every job is weird; it's always a little bit hard, crazy and fun, a nice combination. — Dito Montiel

I wrote music. I was in a hardcore band when I was 14, and I wasn't good enough to play anyone else's songs, so I had to write my own. — Dito Montiel

I could hold on to everything for the rest of my life. I don't make friends easy, and I don't lose friends easy. — Dito Montiel

I know that some great actors can transform, and that's fine. But I come from the school of thought that people put a version of themselves in their films. — Dito Montiel

I've done every job in the world, and movies, the only thing close to a movie that I've ever done is it's kind of like being in a band. — Dito Montiel