The paradox of being in an industry where other people are usually the gatekeepers: publishers, editors - there are a lot of barriers to having control over your career. But coming out of hip-hop, the mindset was always to create your own.
The message films that try to be message films always fail. Likewise with documentaries. The documentaries that work best are the ones that eschew a simple message for an odd angle. I found that one of the most spectacular films about the Middle East was 'Waltz With Bashir,' or 'The Gatekeepers,' or '5 Broken Cameras.'
There's so many gatekeepers to getting in front of showrunners or executives. If we pull those middlemen out, and we get women in rooms with the executives, the people hiring, it seems to break down barriers. Because they can no longer say, 'There just aren't any women to hire,' when you're surrounded by fifty of them.
I'm tired of advertisers being the gatekeepers of what is and is not appropriate on news shows.
The Internet has democratized content, and the gatekeepers are no longer in control. That democracy is wonderful for entrepreneurs.
Always be nice to secretaries. They are the real gatekeepers in the world.
I don't love the term gatekeeper because it feels like there's a negative connotation attached to it, so I prefer to go with litmus test.
I come from the school who thought the Internet could be the great democratising force, that getting rid of the gatekeepers was a positive move.
Let's bang the gong and chime for more Asian superheroes. The gatekeepers can certainly open the door - there's a wealth of East Asian talent around, and that needs to be tapped into.
Every book that doesn't first have to get past a gatekeeper or two, or 10, before being put in front of the public will be worse.
