David Fincher's advice to young filmmakers is good for life in general

(Fincher Fanatic)

A quote from an old David Fincher interview has been doing the rounds today, in which he paints a sad portrait of the Hollywood film industry but will get you fired up to create.

Made to the blog Fincher Fanatic, it is a firm reminder that you must have complete confidence in your ideas and not let other people water them down or dissolve them.

It's not to be taken literally, I'm sure he wouldn't dream of shouting down a young filmmaker, but the idea of it is impactful enough.

Fincher certainly knows what it's like to fight bureaucracy, with one of the leaked Sony emails seeing producer Scott Rudin and Sony chairman Amy Pascal discussing "shoving him onto a movie that should never be made".

Fincher directed Fight Club, The Social Network and Gone Girl among others (Getty)

Looking back over the interview, he also revealed an intriguing plus to relative anonymity I hadn't thought about before.

"One of the things I like about being a director is, when your plane is late, you are doing homework. Because you are sitting there in the lounge, listening to people talk. That's your job," he said.

"When you become the focus, when people feel like 'I can't act like myself, because that's the guy who did whatever', all of a sudden you lose an advantage."