Marshall Curry Quotes

Powerful Marshall Curry for Daily Growth

About Marshall Curry

Marshall Curry is an esteemed American documentary filmmaker, renowned for his innovative storytelling and compelling narratives that explore human rights, social justice, and the complexities of everyday life. Born in 1973 in New York City, Curry developed a passion for filmmaking during his undergraduate studies at Brown University. After graduating in 1995, he worked as an editor on various documentaries before attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Film School to hone his craft. In 2002, Curry made his directorial debut with "Street Fight," a documentary that followed Cory Booker's campaign for mayor of Newark, New Jersey. The film received critical acclaim and won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, establishing Curry as a rising talent in the documentary world. In 2008, Curry released "Racing Dreams," a film that followed three young go-kart racers striving to become NASCAR drivers. The film was another critical success and won the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival. Perhaps Curry's most recognized work is his 2010 documentary, "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front." The film chronicles the life of environmental activist Daniel McGowan and the radical tactics he employed in fighting for his cause. The film won numerous awards, including the Documentary Editing Award at the Sundance Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at the South by Southwest Film Festival. Curry's latest work is "Point and Shoot" (2014), a documentary about Matthew VanDyke, an American who joined the Libyan rebellion to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi. The film won the Best Documentary award at the Tribeca Film Festival. Marshall Curry's work is deeply influenced by his commitment to social justice and his desire to bring attention to overlooked stories. His films are characterized by their intimate portrayals of subjects, thoughtful pacing, and powerful emotional impact.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Filmmaking is like solving a puzzle: you're always figuring out what pieces fit together."

This quote by Marshall Curry suggests that filmmaking is an intricate process requiring careful planning, organization, and creative problem-solving skills. Just as a puzzle consists of various pieces that need to be put together in the right way to create a coherent image, making a movie involves gathering disparate elements such as script, actors, camera angles, lighting, sound, and editing, and arranging them in a harmonious sequence to tell a compelling story. In essence, filmmaking is about finding the correct pieces or components that fit together seamlessly to produce an effective, engaging, and memorable cinematic experience.


"For me, documentaries are a way to explore and understand the world."

This quote by Marshall Curry emphasizes that documentaries serve as a means for personal exploration and enlightenment about the world around us. Through the creation and consumption of documentaries, filmmakers like Curry can delve deeper into various subjects, gain insights, and share their discoveries with others, thereby fostering mutual understanding and knowledge.


"I'm not trying to change people; I'm just trying to open their eyes to something they might not have seen before."

This quote suggests that Marshall Curry aims to broaden perspectives rather than force changes upon others. He desires to expose people to new or overlooked aspects of the world, enabling them to see things from different angles and potentially influence their thoughts, feelings, and actions independently. It's a call for empathy, understanding, and open-mindedness towards diverse experiences and realities.


"I think one of the beautiful things about documentary is that it can be used to tell stories that are important, that need to be told."

This quote by Marshall Curry emphasizes the power of documentaries as a medium for storytelling, specifically focusing on stories that carry significant meaning and urgency. Documentaries, with their ability to capture reality authentically, provide an essential platform for sharing truths about important issues, human experiences, or historical events that need to be brought to light. In essence, Curry is saying that documentaries can serve as powerful tools for social change, education, and awareness by highlighting stories that matter.


"The most important thing for me is finding a story that's worth telling and then finding a way to tell it in a way that's engaging and compelling."

This quote emphasizes Marshall Curry's commitment to storytelling, suggesting that the key aspects of his craft are discovering meaningful and impactful stories, and effectively communicating those stories in an engaging manner. In essence, it underscores the importance of both the narrative content and its presentation in captivating audiences.


If I were writing an article for the newspaper, it would be thesis statement, information, information, supporting arguments. That would be the setup. When I'm making a documentary, the pacing of the film and the way that you sort of switch from character to character - all of those are more about storytelling than straight journalism.

- Marshall Curry

Storytelling, Newspaper, Argument

In 2008, A.J. Schnack recruited Thom Powers to start the Cinema Eye Honors to recognize the artistry and craft that go into making documentary films.

- Marshall Curry

Making, Films, Thom, Honors

When you are interviewing someone, never let your camera person turn off the camera. The second you turn off the camera, they'll say the magic thing that you'd been looking for the whole interview. People want to relax after the performance is done. Don't be afraid of awkward silence. That is your friend.

- Marshall Curry

Magic, Been, Interviewing, Camera

Of course no documentary is completely 'objective.' Every decision you make - who to interview, how to edit, where to hold the camera - imposes a point of view on the film.

- Marshall Curry

Decision, Film, Edit, Camera

In fiction film, there are so many trappings - money, glory, champagne and supermodels - that attract the wolves. But in documentary film, there's none of that, so the wolves stay away. The only people who make docs are people who are curious about other people and just like making documentaries.

- Marshall Curry

Other, Fiction, Away, Trappings

I'm not one of those people who sees documentaries as a stepping stone to doing fiction. I love documentaries and watch tons of documentaries. But, I like fiction films a lot, too.

- Marshall Curry

Love, Doing, Films, Tons

I'm looking for a charismatic character - somebody who you just want to look at and listen to and whom the camera likes. I'm also looking for a narrative arc: Something is going to happen, and there will be a question that will make you wonder what happens at the end.

- Marshall Curry

Character, Listen, Whom, Arc

My wife runs a non-profit that gives legal information online to victims of domestic violence.

- Marshall Curry

Wife, Legal, Domestic, Runs

When I was in college, I majored in comparative religion because I really wanted to figure out if there was God and how I should live my life.

- Marshall Curry

College, My Life, Figure, Comparative

When I'm making documentaries, I think a lot about how fiction films play. I want them to have the pacing, the twists and the character development of fiction films.

- Marshall Curry

Play, Think, Films, Pacing

Full Frame is where I had the first showing of my first film, 'Street Fight.' I have a fond memory of pacing around outside the theater, nervously trying to keep from throwing up. It's a magical festival, well curated, with a warm and generous spirit.

- Marshall Curry

Memory, Around, Had, Pacing

My understanding of environmentalism, of the things that radicalize people, of the ethics and effectiveness of different kinds of social protest have definitely become more nuanced and more informed, but they aren't much clearer.

- Marshall Curry

Effectiveness, Informed, Environmentalism

After college, I did a bunch of different jobs - taught English in Mexico, worked in public radio, worked for a web design company - but there was something about documentaries that really attracted me.

- Marshall Curry

College, Jobs, About, Public Radio

I think I'm drawn to people who dream big, and both films have that. In 'Street Fight, Cory Booker wants to become Mayor of Newark, and in 'Racing Dreams,' three kids want to become NASCAR drivers.

- Marshall Curry

Big, I Think, Newark, Drivers

I'm not a purist - I like films that are narrated and films that aren't, films that are beautiful and films that are clumsy but heartfelt. Mostly, I just like a good story and good characters.

- Marshall Curry

Good Story, Films, Mostly, Heartfelt

I've often thought even ragtag gatherings of documentary filmmakers are more fun than gatherings of fiction filmmakers.

- Marshall Curry

Thought, More, Fiction, Gatherings

I find often I'm wandering around the park with my kids, and I notice something, and I think, 'Oh, I could come up with a clever Facebook post about that.' It's like, 'Wait a minute - that's not what I should be thinking. I should be present in the moment with my kids.'

- Marshall Curry

Wait, I Think, About, Notice

I feel like people with their camera phones and Twitter and Facebook, this kind of question like, 'How can I be present and also document my presence or document what I'm doing?' is something that's always on my mind, even when I'm not working as a filmmaker.

- Marshall Curry

Doing, Feel, Document, Presence

I think to many people the term 'activist film' implies a film with a single point of view - something designed to provoke outrage and urge action on a particular issue - sort of the film equivalent of a rally. 'If a Tree Falls' is not that kind of film.

- Marshall Curry

I Think, Outrage, Equivalent, Designed

To me, the most interesting films are films that take very strong points of view and bang them up against each other and let sparks happen.

- Marshall Curry

Happen, Very, Films, Bang

I think most documentaries are too long.

- Marshall Curry

Think, I Think, Most, Documentaries

I feel like a lot of funders of documentaries today want to fund films that have a social message that is going to yield results.

- Marshall Curry

Like, Social, Films, Documentaries

I have a pretty positive view of environmental activism, but I didn't know much about the ELF. A lot of people make documentaries because they have something they want to say, but I make them because there's something I want to explore.

- Marshall Curry

Environmental, Want, Pretty, Documentaries

I was surprised to see how much the mainstream environmental movement hates the ELF.

- Marshall Curry

See, How, How Much, Surprised

As far as the balance between being a journalist, being an artist, being a storyteller - documentary filmmakers are all three of those things. The balance between them is affected by the film itself, the topic of the film.

- Marshall Curry

Artist, Storyteller, Them, As Far As

To me, the best projects are the ones where you have a pretty good idea of what the spine of it's gonna be, but then all sorts of things happen that you could've never predicted, and those are the magic moments of the films.

- Marshall Curry

Magic, Idea, Projects, Spine

With 'Street Fight,' it took an urban mayoral election and found lots of complexity in there. The same with 'Racing Dreams.' I wanted to show complexity within this world that most documentary people don't know anything about.

- Marshall Curry

Racing, Show, Complexity, Documentary

A lot of filmmaking is an endurance contest between you and the people you're filming. Every time that you relax, I promise you, something interesting will happen.

- Marshall Curry

Will, Happen, Contest, Filming

I think that in our society we use the word 'terrorism' a lot - individuals throw the word around a lot without carefully considering it.

- Marshall Curry

Think, I Think, Carefully, Considering

When you work on something in an edit room with just a couple of other people, you never know how it is going to be received.

- Marshall Curry

Other, Going, Couple, Edit

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