John Landis
John Landis
John David Landisis an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedy films, his horror films, and his music videos with Michael Jackson. He directed National Lampoon's Animal House, An American Werewolf in London, Trading Places, Michael Jackson's music video Thriller, The Blues Brothers, and Beverly Hills Cop III...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActor
Date of Birth3 August 1950
CountryUnited States of America
business convince issue kinds lack material money projects tons
Material comes all kinds of ways, and it's never a question of a lack of material or a lack of projects - I have tons of projects. The issue is to convince someone to give you the money. And it's a very different business than it was just 8 years ago.
album blues briefcase danny full great john night opening recorded steve tour tv
John and Danny were opening for Steve Martin's stand-up tour, which was the No. 1 tour in the world, ... The album they recorded - Briefcase Full of Blues, a great album - was the No. 1 blues album in the world. They were starring on the No. 1 TV show (Saturday Night Live), and John had just starred in the No. 1 movie (Animal House) - which I'd directed.
later peter test true
Who knew? Peter Bogdanovich said that the only true test of anything is time. Well, it's 25 years later and here we are.
seeing wacky
We were just seeing how wacky you can be.
films movies taken versions
There have been 14 versions that I can find of Burke & Hare movies. They have all been horror films and all the movies have taken place in Victorian times, which doesn't make any sense.
amazing dressed kyoto mickey munich people
I've been in Kyoto and Munich and Tel Aviv and Buenos Aires, and you see people dressed as Jake and Elwood, ... That's amazing they're like Mickey Mouse. They've just become part of the culture.
together
And that's when they put together that extraordinary band.
acts celebrity danny focus general inspired intentions interest john proud
That I am proud of, ... When we made this movie in 1979, rhythm-and-blues acts in general were passe. What John and Danny did was use their celebrity (status) to focus on the big acts that inspired them. One of our intentions was to propagate interest in the music.
gifted gone guy michael worked
The guy that I worked on 'Thriller ' was a genius and he was 20 years old, but it was like working with a gifted 10-year-old. The guy who I worked on with 'Black Or White' was crazy. Michael had gone mad.
rap successful soft-drinks
They sought out rap music to attack, but you don't hear that anymore because it made too much money. They use Che Guevara to sell soft drinks. If something comes out that is radical and it's successful, then it's no longer radical. It's co-opted.
littles laptops digital
Because of the cumbersome nature of filmmaking, it's only recently that it has become available to the masses, with digital equipment and laptop computers. You can now actually make a pretty serviceable movie for very little money by yourself.
want different process
You always want to do something different. I enjoy the process. I like making movies, and it's increasingly hard to find a movie you'd want to make.
rocks devil matter
Anytime something makes money, no matter how outré, it's instantly mainstream. A good example is rock 'n' roll. When rock 'n' roll was first played to a wide audience it was considered the devil's music.
new-york winter thinking
I grew up in Los Angeles, and I've made movies all over the world... I've been in New York, Norway, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, London - I've been in all these cities, shooting away in the winter, thinking, 'People who choose to live here are insane.