Paul Thomas Anderson has “secret” social media profiles “everywhere”
The director of “Licorice Pizza,” who has children Pearl, 16, Lucille, 11, Jack, 9, and Ida, 8, with his partner Maya Rudolph, finds it “hilarious” that he tried to monitor his daughter’s Instagram incognito even though she saw through him, but still has her to “stay up to date with what’s happening in the world” to stay on top of trends for his film career.
The 51-year-old filmmaker told IndieWire: “I have secret accounts everywhere. It’s hilarious. When my daughter was younger, she got Instagram and I tried to get a secret account to follow her. She was like, ‘It’s not a secret. I see you.’ I was like, ‘Oh well.’
“The only way to film right now is to be aware of what’s happening in the world.”
The director admitted that “breaking through” was much more difficult at the beginning of his career, but the age of social media has opened more doors for people.
He said: “I remember when I started out, it was impossible to break through. Back in the day, you had to put a trailer in front of a film and it was a nightmare. You had to go to the MPAA to get it approved, you had to get it approved by the studio, you had to jump through all these hoops. And then there was no guarantee that you would get the trailer in front of a film that you wanted to be in front of.
“Now we have the opportunity to just put it all out there – Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, anywhere. You can just do it. It’s so much fun.”
“We’ve relied, particularly with the last few films, on people knowing where to see it and how to see it in a certain way. Imagine how much money you would otherwise have to spend to let people know where to see it.”
“I don’t know how you can help bring a film into the world without knowing how to reach people.”
