I’ve been reading a lot of artist biographies the past couple years – my favorite plane pasttime. Artists learn so much from each other – how we are the same, how we are different. I was delighted to read this fabulous INTERVIEW with FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA this morning and think he’s right on. I highly recommend it. In my favorite quote, he reminds us of a fact that explains so much: “You have to remember that it’s only a few hundred years, if that much, that artists are working with money.” 
I had a wonderful Figaro’s coffee chat with a director friend on Saturday who announced she was “leaving the film industry.” I immediately knew what she meant and applauded her decision. It was time to focus on the filmmaking and forget the nonsense that inevitably holds one’s art back. Making a similar choice was precisely what got us back on track here at Deviant. A good director knows you can’t draw a genuine performance from an actor with results-oriented direction. It has to be organic. So does art in general. Money doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive from art, but it should never be the driving force. Perhaps that’s why so many of the great artists have died penniless. Art takes time to create and time to recognize.
Francis, you are an inspiration and I only hope I get to break bread with you one day. You are a wonderful “student” and a valuable role model simultaneously (besides, you make a damn fine wine and taught me the value of opening a bottle of red a good two hours before one intends to drink it and it’s amazing the difference – seriously, Folks, try it!) Interestingly, his wife Eleanor and daughter Sofia also made 2 of my fave films (HEARTS of DARKNESS and LOST IN TRANSLATION.) I guess inspiration breeds more inspiration.