David Mamet on Hollywood

February 7th, 2007 by Michelle

Mamet was interviewed in Time Out New York by Joshua Rothkopf. The subject: Mamet’s new book about film, Bambi vs. Godzilla.

Hollywood is capitalism at its best: opposing forces working it out, using the tools of the marketplace. As such, it’s vastly messier than totalitarianism, but it kills a lot less people.

On audience:

I write for the audience. The small market or the mass market may be a function of the worth of my script, or of the assiduousness by which it was sold. But, like any other artist, I consider my potential audience everybody alive and half of the people who are dead.

And, by my vote, a Mamet must-read for writers: Writing in Restaurants, circa 1987.

Posted in Booknotes, On Writing

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About Sans Serif

Sans Serif began as a literary blog in September of 2005. Over time it has evolved into a more eclectic venture, with posts on books, politics, current events, literary happenings in the San Francisco Bay Area, publishing news, the writing life, and writing exercises. This blog is written by Michelle Richmond, author of four books of fiction: The Year of Fog, Dream of the Blue Room, The Girl in the Fall-Away Dress, and No One You Know (forthcoming, 2008).

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