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About this quote

What does it mean?
Barnes mocks film producers who prioritize abstract art over commercial drive.
In plain terms
Successful movies need tough bosses, not sensitive artists.
What can you take from it?
Business acumen often trumps artistic sensitivity in film.

Where it applies

  • film production
  • career advice
  • industry critique

Putting it to work

  • balancing art and commerce
  • hiring decisive leaders
  • avoiding pure idealism

Questions to consider

  • Is sensitivity a weakness in business?
  • What makes a studio boss?

Another view

Some great films come from sensitive directors who do not focus on clouds.

More from Julian Barnes

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  2. Now, Stuart, as you will discover if you have not done so already, believes that the principal raison d'etre of food is to conceal from public view the hideous…

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  3. This is I have to admit, one murky compartment of the female psyche which has yet to benefit from the oven-scourer of Reason.

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