Dustin Hoffman
MICHAEL TRAN/FILMMAGIC

Dustin Hoffman thinks the golden age of film is long gone.
The actor says the movie industry is in its worst state ever, while television is enjoying a boom.
“I think right now television is the best that it’s ever been, and I think that it’s the worst that film has ever been — in the 50 years that I’ve been doing it, it’s the worst,” he told the Independent newspaper.
A squeeze on budgets lies behind many of the problems that afflict high-quality dramatic movies, the two-time Oscar winner said. This has led to less time spent on script development and shooting.
“It’s hard to believe you can do good work for the little amount of money these days,” he said. “We did ‘The Graduate’ and that film still sustains. It had a wonderful script that they spent three years on, and an exceptional director with an exceptional cast and crew, but it was a small movie — four walls and actors, that is all — and yet it was 100 days of shooting.”
Hoffman, who made his directorial debut in 2012 with “Quartet,” says he hasn’t been offered many more opportunities to direct, which is for financial reasons. “I don’t think that has anything to do with whether you are good or not; it’s just about whether your films make money or not,” he said.
Hoffman’s recent TV credits include HBO’s “Luck,” which was cancelled while filming season two, and the BBC’s adaptation of “Esio Trot.” His recent movies include “The Choir,” in which he plays the musical director of a boarding school’s boy choir.

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