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📽️ Good Will Hunting* (1997) 🔥🔥🔥 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 "Professor Lambeau’s Impossible Math Problem" 🧠 In this classic mash-up, Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård) throws down a near-impossible math challenge to his elite students. What doesn’t he expect? The janitor, Will Hunting (Matt Damon), quietly solves it overnight on the chalkboard...

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BiffBifford™ 🇺🇸

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'Good Will Hunting’ opened at a theater near you 28 years ago today, December 5, 1997. Ben Affleck as Chuckie Sullivan and Matt Damon as Will Hunting in “The Best Part of My Day” scene.
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'Good Will Hunting’ opened at a theater near you 28 years ago today, December 5, 1997. Ben Affleck as Chuckie Sullivan and Matt Damon as Will Hunting in “The Best Part of My Day” scene.

Boston Radio Watch®️

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Good Will Hunting (1997) 🧡 Minnie Driver's Good Will Hunting character, Skylar, is often said to be inspired by Matt Damon's real-life Harvard girlfriend, Skylar Satenstein. Who later left Matt damon for the Metallica drummer before filming. The film won two Oscars: Best Original Screenplay for Damon & Affleck, and Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams and It grossed over $225 million worldwide against a $10 million budget. Rate This Film On The Scale of 10?
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Good Will Hunting (1997) 🧡 Minnie Driver's Good Will Hunting character, Skylar, is often said to be inspired by Matt Damon's real-life Harvard girlfriend, Skylar Satenstein. Who later left Matt damon for the Metallica drummer before filming. The film won two Oscars: Best Original Screenplay for Damon & Affleck, and Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams and It grossed over $225 million worldwide against a $10 million budget. Rate This Film On The Scale of 10?

Love Classical Music and Movies 🎺🎻💖🎥🎬

33,056 views • 7 months ago

On the first day of the shooting, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck started crying out of happiness, because it was a scene between Robin Williams and Stellan Skarsgård, accomplished actors, doing Damon's and Affleck's scene verbatim, and they had waited five years for it to happen. - 📷: Good Will Hunting(1997)
2:10

On the first day of the shooting, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck started crying out of happiness, because it was a scene between Robin Williams and Stellan Skarsgård, accomplished actors, doing Damon's and Affleck's scene verbatim, and they had waited five years for it to happen. - 📷: Good Will Hunting(1997)

Love Classical Music and Movies 🎺🎻💖🎥🎬

442,081 views • 3 months ago

The debate around who actually wrote Good Will Hunting is exhausting. I have no evidence to suggest it was anyone but Matt Damon & Ben Affleck. I think we live in a cynical world where people can’t believe that two 20-something best friends wrote this script together and changed their lives forever. Winner of the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, this will always be one of my personal favorite movies
1:50

The debate around who actually wrote Good Will Hunting is exhausting. I have no evidence to suggest it was anyone but Matt Damon & Ben Affleck. I think we live in a cynical world where people can’t believe that two 20-something best friends wrote this script together and changed their lives forever. Winner of the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, this will always be one of my personal favorite movies

Cinema Tweets

81,149 views • 24 days ago

🚨 Matt Damon and Ben Affleck once wrote a completely absurd scene into Good Will Hunting (1997), just to test if studios were actually reading their script, and that strange decision ended up changing everything. Damon had first started the story at Harvard as a simple one act play, but it grew into a full screenplay when Affleck joined him, and the two spent five years developing it, sending it to multiple studios with little response, until they added a random scene on page-60 involving two male professors that had nothing to do with the plot, and no one ever mentioned it during meetings, proving most had not even read the script, until Miramax immediately questioned that exact scene, which convinced them they had finally found the right studio. On the first day of shooting, Damon and Affleck stood quietly on set as Robin Williams and Stellan Skarsgard performed a scene they had written years earlier, and after everything they had gone through, both of them broke down in tears watching it come to life, as the film went on to become a critical success and earned them the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, with Affleck at 25 becoming the youngest winner and Damon at 27 the second youngest.
0:57

🚨 Matt Damon and Ben Affleck once wrote a completely absurd scene into Good Will Hunting (1997), just to test if studios were actually reading their script, and that strange decision ended up changing everything. Damon had first started the story at Harvard as a simple one act play, but it grew into a full screenplay when Affleck joined him, and the two spent five years developing it, sending it to multiple studios with little response, until they added a random scene on page-60 involving two male professors that had nothing to do with the plot, and no one ever mentioned it during meetings, proving most had not even read the script, until Miramax immediately questioned that exact scene, which convinced them they had finally found the right studio. On the first day of shooting, Damon and Affleck stood quietly on set as Robin Williams and Stellan Skarsgard performed a scene they had written years earlier, and after everything they had gone through, both of them broke down in tears watching it come to life, as the film went on to become a critical success and earned them the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, with Affleck at 25 becoming the youngest winner and Damon at 27 the second youngest.

Movie Moments Analyst

1,248,133 views • 5 months ago

When Robin Williams read the script via Francis Ford Coppola and really liked it, his one question for Coppola was, "Who are these guys?" When Matt Damon was in his fifth year at Harvard, he was in a playwriting class. The culmination of it was to write a one-act play. He started writing a movie, which with the help of Ben Affleck became this movie. Good Will Hunting (1997).
1:01

When Robin Williams read the script via Francis Ford Coppola and really liked it, his one question for Coppola was, "Who are these guys?" When Matt Damon was in his fifth year at Harvard, he was in a playwriting class. The culmination of it was to write a one-act play. He started writing a movie, which with the help of Ben Affleck became this movie. Good Will Hunting (1997).

Love Classical Music and Movies 🎺🎻💖🎥🎬

66,961 views • 3 months ago

Matt Damon says he and Ben Affleck sold the “Good Will Hunting” screenplay for $600K, thought they were set for life, and needed another job just a year later Matt Damon: “When we sold Good Will Hunting, when we sold the screenplay, we thought that was absolutely it.” “We were like broke a year later.” “We sold the screenplay for 600 grand.” “Which was just so much more money than either of us had ever considered.” “We split it.” “After taxes and agent, lawyer, and all that stuff… we were down under 150 each.” “The first thing we did was buy brand new Jeep Grand Cherokees.” “We were renting this place in L.A.” “It didn’t take long for us to be like…” “‘Dude, we gotta get another job.’”
1:00

Matt Damon says he and Ben Affleck sold the “Good Will Hunting” screenplay for $600K, thought they were set for life, and needed another job just a year later Matt Damon: “When we sold Good Will Hunting, when we sold the screenplay, we thought that was absolutely it.” “We were like broke a year later.” “We sold the screenplay for 600 grand.” “Which was just so much more money than either of us had ever considered.” “We split it.” “After taxes and agent, lawyer, and all that stuff… we were down under 150 each.” “The first thing we did was buy brand new Jeep Grand Cherokees.” “We were renting this place in L.A.” “It didn’t take long for us to be like…” “‘Dude, we gotta get another job.’”

agim𓍯

5,014,984 views • 27 days ago

Matt Damon revealed he missed out on a major role in Dead Poets Society with Ben Affleck and turned down roles in The Dark Knight and Avatar, including what could’ve been the biggest payday in Hollywood history after being offered 10% of Avatar’s box office 😲👀 He says he has zero regrets because those decisions led him to write Good Will Hunting with Robin Williams and paved the way for the career he has today🔥
4:53

Matt Damon revealed he missed out on a major role in Dead Poets Society with Ben Affleck and turned down roles in The Dark Knight and Avatar, including what could’ve been the biggest payday in Hollywood history after being offered 10% of Avatar’s box office 😲👀 He says he has zero regrets because those decisions led him to write Good Will Hunting with Robin Williams and paved the way for the career he has today🔥

Killa 🌺

14,347 views • 1 month ago

Matt Damon says he wrote Good Will Hunting instead of his Harvard assignment, and his professor gave him an A "I was an English major, and in fact I started writing Good Will Hunting for a class. I just had wonderful professors, and that professor really encouraged me to keep going with it" "We were supposed to write a one-act play, and I wrote the first act of a three-act movie. I went to the guy and said, ‘I think I failed your class, but this is the first act of a movie’" "He read it, gave me a straight A and just said, ‘Don’t stop. Keep going.’ That was when I took it out and showed it to Ben"
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Matt Damon says he wrote Good Will Hunting instead of his Harvard assignment, and his professor gave him an A "I was an English major, and in fact I started writing Good Will Hunting for a class. I just had wonderful professors, and that professor really encouraged me to keep going with it" "We were supposed to write a one-act play, and I wrote the first act of a three-act movie. I went to the guy and said, ‘I think I failed your class, but this is the first act of a movie’" "He read it, gave me a straight A and just said, ‘Don’t stop. Keep going.’ That was when I took it out and showed it to Ben"

Yonan

4,038,431 views • 1 month ago

📽️ The Blind Side (2009) 🔥🔥🔥 🍿🍿🍿🍿 “Time For Him To Go Home, Coach” 🏈 In this powerful scene, Coach Cotton stands up for Michael (Quinton Aaron) during a tough football game. When things get rough on the field, the coach fiercely defends his player, showing the protective bond that has formed between them. It’s a great moment highlighting loyalty, protection, and the impact of having someone in your corner. Did you know that Quinton Aaron gained over 50 pounds to play Michael Oher? He worked hard to physically transform for the role to accurately portray the real-life offensive lineman. Starring: - Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy - Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher - Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy Have you seen The Blind Side? What’s your favorite scene from the movie? Drop it below 👇 #MovieClip #MovieScene #Film #Cinema #TheBlindSide #SandraBullock #QuintonAaron #ClassicCinema #2000sMovies #SportsMovie #BasedOnATrueStory
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📽️ The Blind Side (2009) 🔥🔥🔥 🍿🍿🍿🍿 “Time For Him To Go Home, Coach” 🏈 In this powerful scene, Coach Cotton stands up for Michael (Quinton Aaron) during a tough football game. When things get rough on the field, the coach fiercely defends his player, showing the protective bond that has formed between them. It’s a great moment highlighting loyalty, protection, and the impact of having someone in your corner. Did you know that Quinton Aaron gained over 50 pounds to play Michael Oher? He worked hard to physically transform for the role to accurately portray the real-life offensive lineman. Starring: - Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy - Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher - Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy Have you seen The Blind Side? What’s your favorite scene from the movie? Drop it below 👇 #MovieClip #MovieScene #Film #Cinema #TheBlindSide #SandraBullock #QuintonAaron #ClassicCinema #2000sMovies #SportsMovie #BasedOnATrueStory

BiffBifford™ 🇺🇸

140,759 views • 1 month ago

Matt Damon and Amy Poehler reflect on the genius of the late Robin Williams and how life-changing it was to work with him, as Damon reveals that Williams improvised the iconic final line of Good Will Hunting after nearly 15 takes 🎬❤️ “The last line of the movie was not written… He must have done 15 takes. He’d put the envelope back in the mailbox, go in, and we’d still be rolling. Then he just started improvising lines.” “On like the ninth line, he opened the door, read the letter and said, ‘Son of a bitch, he stole my line.’ I grabbed Gus. When a piece of dialogue falls from heaven, you just know. The second Ben heard it, he was like, ‘That’s it.’”
4:52

Matt Damon and Amy Poehler reflect on the genius of the late Robin Williams and how life-changing it was to work with him, as Damon reveals that Williams improvised the iconic final line of Good Will Hunting after nearly 15 takes 🎬❤️ “The last line of the movie was not written… He must have done 15 takes. He’d put the envelope back in the mailbox, go in, and we’d still be rolling. Then he just started improvising lines.” “On like the ninth line, he opened the door, read the letter and said, ‘Son of a bitch, he stole my line.’ I grabbed Gus. When a piece of dialogue falls from heaven, you just know. The second Ben heard it, he was like, ‘That’s it.’”

Killa 🌺

116,853 views • 1 month ago

Steven Spielberg cast Matt Damon, who was introduced to him by Robin Williams as the title character in "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) as he wanted an anonymous actor with an "American everybody" look. The massive success & box office hit of "Good Will Hunting" (1997) made Matt Damon a star before "Saving Private Ryan" was released, thus defeating Spielberg's objective. However, Spielberg thought his performance was good and he "looked the part". ("Private Spielberg", Roger Ebert, 2012) P.S: On this day, 28 years ago, "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) premiered in Westwood, California, USA.
2:00

Steven Spielberg cast Matt Damon, who was introduced to him by Robin Williams as the title character in "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) as he wanted an anonymous actor with an "American everybody" look. The massive success & box office hit of "Good Will Hunting" (1997) made Matt Damon a star before "Saving Private Ryan" was released, thus defeating Spielberg's objective. However, Spielberg thought his performance was good and he "looked the part". ("Private Spielberg", Roger Ebert, 2012) P.S: On this day, 28 years ago, "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) premiered in Westwood, California, USA.

DepressedBergman

438,290 views • 1 month ago

Matt Damon auditioned for ‘Dead Poets Society’. He didn’t get it. Soon after he got a summer job at a cinema in his hometown. “It played 1 fucking movie the entire summer - ‘Dead Poets Society’. So you go from the possibility of being in the movie to the guy wearing a maroon vest and black bow tie, tearing the ticket, and watching people come out crying because they're so moved by the movie.” “That was really the impetus behind Ben and I writing ‘Good Will Hunting’.”
2:16

Matt Damon auditioned for ‘Dead Poets Society’. He didn’t get it. Soon after he got a summer job at a cinema in his hometown. “It played 1 fucking movie the entire summer - ‘Dead Poets Society’. So you go from the possibility of being in the movie to the guy wearing a maroon vest and black bow tie, tearing the ticket, and watching people come out crying because they're so moved by the movie.” “That was really the impetus behind Ben and I writing ‘Good Will Hunting’.”

Michael Warburton

522,904 views • 8 months ago

📽️ Moneyball (2011) 🔥🔥🔥 🍿🍿🍿🍿 "Jonah Hill Explains the Math Behind Baseball" 📊 ⚾️In this standout scene, Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) walks Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) through his data-driven system for finding undervalued players. Using advanced statistics rather than traditional scouting, he shows how math can build a winning team on a shoestring budget — and completely change the game. A perfect showcase of innovation, intelligence, and quiet confidence. ❓Did you know that *Moneyball is based on Michael Lewis’s bestselling book about the 2002 Oakland A’s? Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill both earned Academy Award nominations for their performances, and the film helped bring sabermetrics into mainstream conversation. ⭐️Starring: - Brad Pitt as Billy Beane - Jonah Hill as Peter Brand - Philip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe This is another fine performance by Brad Pitt. What did you think of this movie and of Jonah Hill's performance in Moneyball? 👇 #MovieClip #MovieScene #Film #Cinema #Moneyball #BradPitt #JonahHill #ClassicCinema #2010sMovies #BaseballMovie #Sabermetrics
4:06

📽️ Moneyball (2011) 🔥🔥🔥 🍿🍿🍿🍿 "Jonah Hill Explains the Math Behind Baseball" 📊 ⚾️In this standout scene, Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) walks Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) through his data-driven system for finding undervalued players. Using advanced statistics rather than traditional scouting, he shows how math can build a winning team on a shoestring budget — and completely change the game. A perfect showcase of innovation, intelligence, and quiet confidence. ❓Did you know that *Moneyball is based on Michael Lewis’s bestselling book about the 2002 Oakland A’s? Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill both earned Academy Award nominations for their performances, and the film helped bring sabermetrics into mainstream conversation. ⭐️Starring: - Brad Pitt as Billy Beane - Jonah Hill as Peter Brand - Philip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe This is another fine performance by Brad Pitt. What did you think of this movie and of Jonah Hill's performance in Moneyball? 👇 #MovieClip #MovieScene #Film #Cinema #Moneyball #BradPitt #JonahHill #ClassicCinema #2010sMovies #BaseballMovie #Sabermetrics

BiffBifford™ 🇺🇸

16,428 views • 1 month ago

Matt Damon says “The Town” made a fortune and was later relicensed for $35 million, but Ben Affleck still didn’t make $1 million despite writing, directing and starring in the film because he was on a flat salary Q: “Do you know what Good Will Hunting has grossed in its time?” Matt Damon: “When it came out, I think it was like 220-something in the theater.” “Actually, with our studio, that’s one of the things we really fight for… reversion rights.” “Ben called me a couple years ago and he goes, ‘You know, The Town just got relicensed for 35 million bucks.’” “Which just means that he made a great movie and people are still watching it.” “At the time, that movie made a fortune. It did all this stuff.” “But he was on a flat salary.” “I don’t even think he made a million bucks for that movie.” “And he wrote it, directed it, starred in it.” “It was one of those things.” “Our view was, look, if you do something like that as one of the real contributors to it, then if there’s money kind of in perpetuity, then you should be a part of that.”
1:04

Matt Damon says “The Town” made a fortune and was later relicensed for $35 million, but Ben Affleck still didn’t make $1 million despite writing, directing and starring in the film because he was on a flat salary Q: “Do you know what Good Will Hunting has grossed in its time?” Matt Damon: “When it came out, I think it was like 220-something in the theater.” “Actually, with our studio, that’s one of the things we really fight for… reversion rights.” “Ben called me a couple years ago and he goes, ‘You know, The Town just got relicensed for 35 million bucks.’” “Which just means that he made a great movie and people are still watching it.” “At the time, that movie made a fortune. It did all this stuff.” “But he was on a flat salary.” “I don’t even think he made a million bucks for that movie.” “And he wrote it, directed it, starred in it.” “It was one of those things.” “Our view was, look, if you do something like that as one of the real contributors to it, then if there’s money kind of in perpetuity, then you should be a part of that.”

agim𓍯

549,436 views • 27 days ago

Matt Damon says him and Ben left the Good Will Hunting movie so they could cast whoever would fund it "Ben Affleck and I wrote it because we wanted the parts as actors and at the time there was a really popular movie that we all loved called reservoir dogs Quentin Tarantino's first movie" "the story we had heard was that because Harvey Keitel signed up for the movie Quentin got I think it was $500k that was his budget" "we wrote that part that Robin eventually took we called it the Harvey Keitel part looking for an actor who could get us money because ben and I wanted to star in the movie and we knew we were worth nothing"
1:35

Matt Damon says him and Ben left the Good Will Hunting movie so they could cast whoever would fund it "Ben Affleck and I wrote it because we wanted the parts as actors and at the time there was a really popular movie that we all loved called reservoir dogs Quentin Tarantino's first movie" "the story we had heard was that because Harvey Keitel signed up for the movie Quentin got I think it was $500k that was his budget" "we wrote that part that Robin eventually took we called it the Harvey Keitel part looking for an actor who could get us money because ben and I wanted to star in the movie and we knew we were worth nothing"

CreativeDude

641,113 views • 1 month ago

📽️ Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) 🔥🍿🍿🍿 [Which Angel are you taking home to see mom? Biff-Lucy Liu is going home with me😍] "The Striptease Mission" 💃 In this flashy and over-the-top scene, the Angels (Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu) go undercover with a high-energy, choreographed striptease performance set to a remix of the *Pink Panther* theme. Using whips, canes, and plenty of attitude, they turn seduction into an action-packed mission. Pure early 2000s campy fun. ❓Did you know that this scene was specifically designed to be both sexy and funny? The film leaned heavily into its playful, stylized action-comedy vibe, which became a signature of the Charlie’s Angels movies. ⭐️Starring: - Cameron Diaz as Natalie Cook - Drew Barrymore as Dylan Sanders - Lucy Liu as Alex Munday Have you seen *Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle*? What’s your favorite scene from the movie? Drop it below 👇 #MovieClip #MovieScene #Film #Cinema #CharliesAngels #CameronDiaz #DrewBarrymore #LucyLiu #2000sMovies #ActionComedy #McGFilm
2:17

📽️ Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) 🔥🍿🍿🍿 [Which Angel are you taking home to see mom? Biff-Lucy Liu is going home with me😍] "The Striptease Mission" 💃 In this flashy and over-the-top scene, the Angels (Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu) go undercover with a high-energy, choreographed striptease performance set to a remix of the *Pink Panther* theme. Using whips, canes, and plenty of attitude, they turn seduction into an action-packed mission. Pure early 2000s campy fun. ❓Did you know that this scene was specifically designed to be both sexy and funny? The film leaned heavily into its playful, stylized action-comedy vibe, which became a signature of the Charlie’s Angels movies. ⭐️Starring: - Cameron Diaz as Natalie Cook - Drew Barrymore as Dylan Sanders - Lucy Liu as Alex Munday Have you seen *Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle*? What’s your favorite scene from the movie? Drop it below 👇 #MovieClip #MovieScene #Film #Cinema #CharliesAngels #CameronDiaz #DrewBarrymore #LucyLiu #2000sMovies #ActionComedy #McGFilm

BiffBifford™ 🇺🇸

11,653 views • 1 month ago

Matt Damon tells Amy Poehler how he left Harvard with just one semester left to go make a movie, revealing that he wrote the beginning of Good Will Hunting instead of doing his actual class assignment, and his professor was so IMPRESSED that he gave him an A and told him to keep writing 😳🎬🔥 “We were supposed to write a one-act play, and I wrote the first act of a three-act movie. I went to the guy and said, ‘I think I failed your class, but this is the first act of a movie.’” “He read it, gave me a straight A and just said, ‘Don’t stop. Keep going.’ That was when I took it out and showed it to Ben.”
1:39

Matt Damon tells Amy Poehler how he left Harvard with just one semester left to go make a movie, revealing that he wrote the beginning of Good Will Hunting instead of doing his actual class assignment, and his professor was so IMPRESSED that he gave him an A and told him to keep writing 😳🎬🔥 “We were supposed to write a one-act play, and I wrote the first act of a three-act movie. I went to the guy and said, ‘I think I failed your class, but this is the first act of a movie.’” “He read it, gave me a straight A and just said, ‘Don’t stop. Keep going.’ That was when I took it out and showed it to Ben.”

Killa 🌺

34,989 views • 1 month ago

As he was struggling to break into Hollywood, Matt Damon read about how Quentin Tarantino did it: Essentially, he got a big-name actor (Harvey Keitel) to want to star in Tarantino’s first movie (Reservoir Dogs) then leveraged that to get the movie funded. “And so,” Damon said, “We wrote ‘Good Will Hunting’ and that part that Robin [Williams] eventually took—we called it ‘the Harvey Keitel part.’” “Ben [Affleck] and I wrote the movie specifically because we wanted the parts as actors…But we knew [we needed] a big-name actor who could get us some money because Ben and I were worth nothing. And so we wrote ‘the Harvey Keitel part’ really open-ended. So we could adjust it: if Morgan Freeman or Denzel Washington wanted to come in and play it—we could make that character from Roxbury [a neighborhood in Boston], and we could explore the historic racial tension in Boston. If Meryl Streep took the part—instead of a father-son relationship, we could make it a mother-son relationship. So we really left it open-ended because we wanted to cast as wide a net as possible because we were just trying to get the movie made.” “And then once we got Robin to sign up to do it, that’s really what got us a green light to make it…He changed our lives.” Takeaway 1: In one of my favorite talks, "Runnin' Down A Dream," the venture capitalist Bill Gurley explains that while studying the career trajectories of three of his heroes—the restauranteur Danny Meyer, the coach Bobby Knight, and the musician Bob Dylan—he noticed a pattern: They studied the career trajectories of the icons in their respective industries. Like Damon, they studied how others successfully got their foot in the door then climbed to top of their profession. And then, they took similar steps towards doing the same. Coincidentally, Tarantino did this too. He made scrap books for each of his favorite filmmakers: Brian De Palma, Howard Hawks, Douglas Sirk, and Martin Scorsese. "I was like a film historian," Tarantino said. "I was obsessed with studying how they did it, the evolution of their careers." "Greatness isn't random," as Gurley puts it. Instead, it's usually a predictable step along a studied path of strategically modified emulation and, of course, determination. Takeaway 2: In the clip above, Damon goes on to explain that, not only did Robin Williams sign on to be in "Good Will Hunting," he also went off script and improvised one of the most iconic lines ("Son of a bitch, he stole my line") in the movie. It reminded me of something Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull writes in his book, Creativity. Inc.: "Getting the right people is more important than getting the right idea…If you give a good idea to a mediocre team, they will screw it up. If you give a mediocre idea to a brilliant team, they will either fix it or throw it away and come up with something better." - - - “Bob Dylan said, 'I'm a musical expeditionary.' I looked up 'expeditionary'—it's to travel for scientific research or exploration. And that's what Dylan did...For hours upon hours upon hours, he studied what other artists did. He was a mimic. He was studying, studying, studying.” — Bill Gurley Follow Billy Oppenheimer for more content like this!
2:07

As he was struggling to break into Hollywood, Matt Damon read about how Quentin Tarantino did it: Essentially, he got a big-name actor (Harvey Keitel) to want to star in Tarantino’s first movie (Reservoir Dogs) then leveraged that to get the movie funded. “And so,” Damon said, “We wrote ‘Good Will Hunting’ and that part that Robin [Williams] eventually took—we called it ‘the Harvey Keitel part.’” “Ben [Affleck] and I wrote the movie specifically because we wanted the parts as actors…But we knew [we needed] a big-name actor who could get us some money because Ben and I were worth nothing. And so we wrote ‘the Harvey Keitel part’ really open-ended. So we could adjust it: if Morgan Freeman or Denzel Washington wanted to come in and play it—we could make that character from Roxbury [a neighborhood in Boston], and we could explore the historic racial tension in Boston. If Meryl Streep took the part—instead of a father-son relationship, we could make it a mother-son relationship. So we really left it open-ended because we wanted to cast as wide a net as possible because we were just trying to get the movie made.” “And then once we got Robin to sign up to do it, that’s really what got us a green light to make it…He changed our lives.” Takeaway 1: In one of my favorite talks, "Runnin' Down A Dream," the venture capitalist Bill Gurley explains that while studying the career trajectories of three of his heroes—the restauranteur Danny Meyer, the coach Bobby Knight, and the musician Bob Dylan—he noticed a pattern: They studied the career trajectories of the icons in their respective industries. Like Damon, they studied how others successfully got their foot in the door then climbed to top of their profession. And then, they took similar steps towards doing the same. Coincidentally, Tarantino did this too. He made scrap books for each of his favorite filmmakers: Brian De Palma, Howard Hawks, Douglas Sirk, and Martin Scorsese. "I was like a film historian," Tarantino said. "I was obsessed with studying how they did it, the evolution of their careers." "Greatness isn't random," as Gurley puts it. Instead, it's usually a predictable step along a studied path of strategically modified emulation and, of course, determination. Takeaway 2: In the clip above, Damon goes on to explain that, not only did Robin Williams sign on to be in "Good Will Hunting," he also went off script and improvised one of the most iconic lines ("Son of a bitch, he stole my line") in the movie. It reminded me of something Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull writes in his book, Creativity. Inc.: "Getting the right people is more important than getting the right idea…If you give a good idea to a mediocre team, they will screw it up. If you give a mediocre idea to a brilliant team, they will either fix it or throw it away and come up with something better." - - - “Bob Dylan said, 'I'm a musical expeditionary.' I looked up 'expeditionary'—it's to travel for scientific research or exploration. And that's what Dylan did...For hours upon hours upon hours, he studied what other artists did. He was a mimic. He was studying, studying, studying.” — Bill Gurley Follow Billy Oppenheimer for more content like this!

Billy Oppenheimer

8,483,084 views • 2 years ago

Matt Damon recalls losing Dead Poets Society then sweeping its theater floors as audiences walked out in tears, thinking, “Fuck, that could’ve been us.”: "Ben and I ended up that summer working at a movie theater in Cambridge in Harvard Square... and the theater played one movie all fucking summer, and it was Dead Poets Society." "We had to tear tickets and serve popcorn... and sweep up after every show, and we would watch packed house after packed house coming out wiping tears off their face... 'Fuck, that could have been us.'" "Thank God for my unanswered prayers... because we wouldn't have written Good Will Hunting. We ended up writing out of necessity... and guess what? Robin Williams was in it."
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Matt Damon recalls losing Dead Poets Society then sweeping its theater floors as audiences walked out in tears, thinking, “Fuck, that could’ve been us.”: "Ben and I ended up that summer working at a movie theater in Cambridge in Harvard Square... and the theater played one movie all fucking summer, and it was Dead Poets Society." "We had to tear tickets and serve popcorn... and sweep up after every show, and we would watch packed house after packed house coming out wiping tears off their face... 'Fuck, that could have been us.'" "Thank God for my unanswered prayers... because we wouldn't have written Good Will Hunting. We ended up writing out of necessity... and guess what? Robin Williams was in it."

nexa_sama

888,334 views • 19 days ago