[Stingy Jack]

Well, if you're going to make a film (or, at least write a screenplay), then the only advice I wish to give is to make sure the story is one you want to tell told in a way you want to tell it. There are so many good artists out there who don't realize that they have become prostitutes with their art: they do something base and vulgar for money, something that they normally wouldn't do. Don't pander to the demands of the masses. Write what you want, how you want to write it, and don't make changes to the script you feel uncomfortable with because some producer is telling you that it won't sell as it is. And take offense with anybody who tells you that you need to dumb-down your material if you want to make more money.

Example: If I was a chef, and had spent a lot of blood, sweat and tears creating a new dish, I wouldn't really be bothered if people liked the food or not. It is my creation, take it or leave it. However, when you come in and taste my food and begin to tell me things like "you should fry this squash instead of roasting it, and this chicken needs to be salted down", that's when I become offended. "I would like it, if it wasn't what it is." No you wouldn't! You wouldn't like it because it would be something else if I changed it. You would like the other thing! If I change it just to make money, then my creation, the way I intended it to be, is gone. And then you haven't really created anything there that is your own.