I don't make films because I need money

I started my own film studio, Reflections Studios, in 1953, the year after I graduated from USCs brand new MBA program. For the ten years previous, none of the studios I had been under contract to want anything to do with ideas I had for films. They told me, 'I wasn't being paid to think up new film ideas, I was being paid to act'. So after nearly 15 yrs as an under-contract actor, as soon as my last contract expired in 1952, I started my own studio, without a single blessing from any of my former employers. In fact, they all promised if I tried showing my films in big time threatres, they would attempt to make me look bad, and they did.

My first 5-7 films (1954-65) made money, but not as much as those made by my former employers. I decided to go looking for fresh talent. I posted movie role offers all over USCs campus hoping some of their drama-, theater- and performing arts-majors would like to 'cut their teeth' on my sets before trying to please the big leaguers out in Hollywood. I was in luck, out of more than 30 movie roles, I got calls from nearly 50 college kids looking for work.

All were nobodies, just like I had been in the late 30s. Out of the 50, I was able to make 15 or 16 finished pictures. I got calls from Hollywood saying they'd heard I'd made some pictures with a group of 'unknowns with enough talent to sell shoes', and compared to their talent, I was about to be laughed out of the theatre.

I didn't care. I wasn't in it for the money; Hollywood was. I wanted to give rookie actors a stage where they could make a film (maybe not Oscar worthy, but still - a film) where they wouldn't be kicked out for not being perfect. At the time I didn't know the term 'training ground', or 'paid preparation'. Don't think the words got connected with what I was doing in the 50s and 60s, in the Deep South, until the first charges of murder were filed against me in the mid 70s.

But now - looking back - I'm pretty damn sure that's what Reflections was. It was a place where rookie actors didn't have to work at being nobodies. They were living, eating, sleeping, breathing it before the camera was turned on and after the camera was turned off, every day. Veteran actors out in Hollywood had to work at being what these kids were raised doing. Living paycheck to paycheck. That was what made my films hits. Maybe not the first 10, but I'm thinking sometime in the late 60s (about the time people from all over America started sending letters to Reflections mail box saying 'they had no idea college kids could act' or 'are there any roles for X, Y or Z actors', or 'how can you get away with what you're doing' or 'aren't there rules to what can be in films'), I started to see what I was doing.

But when people asked me if I knew what I was doing, I'd say, 'no idea'. I started thinking of Reflections as a training ground and a place where rookies could make mistakes ON CAMERA and still get paid for it about the time I was put on trial for murder for the first time.

Since then, I have introduced the Atlantic Seaboard, New England, Appalachia, the Mid-West, the West Coast and Hollywood to people who have gone on to rival anyone Hollywood had in her back pocket from the 50s to the 80s, put as many as 6-10 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and earned an Oscar in every category except any added after 1980.

Since I opened Reflections, I have exchanged corporate sponsorship for donations to keep the studio going and help fund events all over the country that look for the people in the same position I was in the lat 30s: People with little or no experience, who'd never made a film that would be shown to the public at the same price as any made by Hollywood, who wanted to learn acting, make mistakes and make money at the same time.

In 1997, I was honored by two Reflections Alums, who were both Oscar winners, at the Oscars that yr, presented me with a Lifetime Acheivement Award. Later that night I would win an Oscar for Best Screenplay.

I told the audience I never planned, nor wanted, to win an Oscar. All I wanted to do was make a point; That even if you have no experience in front of the camera, you won't be kicked out if you don't fit exactly into the mold Hollywood expects of you. As many as 75-100 projects are being prepared every yr at Reflections. Look online for any genre and see if a film is being made in it, and see if there are any roles open.

Reflections is NOT for professionals acting like the every man; it's for the every man trying to act like the every man. If you're a pro, don't come here; I don't want show-offs working for me. If you're insecure about you're acting skills but want to practice in front of the camera; go online, pick a date that an audition for a project that you can do is happening on and come. Reflections is not for seasoned actors; it's for people who have not made a single film that is sold at Wal-Mart, or can be ordered on PPV.

Until 1980, my films were only shown at theatres who were willing to take a risk on a film or actors they had never heard of. I signed a contract with each theatre saying I will pay them $X to show my film. If the film doesn't gross that much, I will pay out of my own pocket. If the film matches or exceeds the agreed amount, more money for the theatre and for me.

However, since 1980, theatres that had once not wanted to risk future profits, have seen how good and imperfect my films are and have started signing on to show my films.

Again, I don't make films to make money. My net worth reached $30B in 2005. I have more than enough money to not have to worry about whether my films, my actors, or the theatres that show my films, make money. I make films to make a point and the opportunity to laugh at those who thought my career as a film maker would be over first when WWII ended, then when I finished college, then when I was first charged with murder. Tell me something: Who was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997? Point made.

Thank you, and see you at the movies.