Brett Ratner
Brett Ratner
Brett Ratneris an American film director, film producer, screenwriter, film editor, and music video director. He is known for directing the Rush Hour film series, The Family Man, Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Tower Heist. He was also a producer on the Fox drama series, Prison Break, as well as the comedy Horrible Bosses and its 2014 sequel...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth28 March 1969
CityMiami Beach, FL
CountryUnited States of America
I got a Super 8 camera when I was eight years old, and I just wanted to tell stories - I love telling stories.
I love everything black, because black is cool. When something crosses over, people are like, "Oh, this is a crossover." First of all, there is no urban anymore. Pop culture is black. White kids are dressing like black kids. It's all crossed the lines now. The way I understand it is, everything black is cool. When it crosses over to white, that means it's going from cool to uncool. That's what crossover is.
I've worked with a hundred of the biggest artists in the world, from Madonna to Mariah Carey, and Michael Jackson is just beyond. He's at a whole other level, spiritually. He's got the God spot. Everyone has it, everyone has that God spot, but it's just the way he's in tune with it. He has it. It's right there, and when he starts to sing, God has just opened it up for him. That's why he's not comfortable around people and things, because he's just such a unique - he feels blessed just to be himself. "I can't believe I'm Michael Jackson."
Listening is harder than just acting. Listening is the hardest part.
In this day and age, you need a lot of patience if you are in the movie business.
I've been a book collector since I was young, since I was a kid.
You can't show a four-hour movie in a theater, really.
Miami Beach - that's where I grew up, in a middle-class Jewish family led by my maternal grandfather. Me, my great-grandmother - a Holocaust survivor, who was my roommate - my grandparents, my mom and her brother all shared a four-bedroom house.
My movies are pretty tight and they're pretty well-paced. I'm not one to make long movies. I don't dwell on stuff.
When I was 13, Eddie Murphy was to me what Chris Tucker was to 13-year-olds when I made 'Rush Hour.' And 'Rush Hour' really came out of the fact that I grew up watching 'Beverly Hills Cop' and '48 Hrs.'
Producing is making films without having to work sometimes. It's still making films, but it's a different job.
You've got to think about how to do things for the right price. You have to shoot in different places to be creative and get tax rebates.
I'm trying to be a little bit more mature about my choices and think about what I want to direct next, instead of just jumping into a movie 'cause I want to do it.
Having love in your heart doesn't count for much if what comes out of your mouth is ugly and bigoted.