The exact moment Quentin Tarantino banned phones on set: “Really fucking pissed off”
In the last decade or so, several high-profile directors have revealed that they don’t allow mobile phones on their movie sets. For Quentin Tarantino, though, these guys and gals were all late to the party. Why? Because he’s had a phone ban in place since 2002.
Interestingly, this means Tarantino’s history of outlawing phones goes back to the days before everyone had a smartphone in their pocket capable of accessing the internet, taking photos, and watching movies. In 2002, while Tarantino was shooting Kill Bill, the production actually provided cast members with phones, but of course, in those days, they were capable of doing little more than making calls. Still, even with such limited functionality, Tarantino saw them as a troublesome influence.
For starters, there was one moment Tarantino recalled with crystal clarity in which a phone going off unexpectedly torpedoed a take he was shooting. “Basically, a phone rang during a scene with Michael Madsen, and ruined the scene, and threw the whole rest of the night in a bad way,” Tarantino told Coup de Main magazine.
“I was really fucking pissed off,” he added. At that point, though, the assistant director reminded Tarantino, “We’re giving them these phones; we can take them away.”
That one mishap was enough to make Tarantino say, “Yes, let’s do it,” and from that point on, there have been no phones allowed on his sets. The ban even extends to other electronics, because nothing gets Tarantino’s goat like hearing the whir of a laptop booting up while he’s trying to work.
In truth, though, after banning phones on Kill Bill, the subsequent two decades have only seen Tarantino’s battles with technology increase alongside the increasing ubiquity of smartphones. While making Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, he has instituted a policy nicknamed ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ that sees a crew member tasked with collecting everyone’s devices, which they’ll get back at the end of the day.
To show that he’s not a complete monster, Tarantino allows ‘Charlie’ to charge the devices if need be, so no star is left with a dead battery when they finish work. However, if anyone breaks this rule, brings their phone on-set, and has the misfortune of it ringing during a take? They’re gone. “If you fuck up my scene, you’re fired; that’s the deal,” Tarantino stated with 100% ruthlessness. For him, it’s a matter of concentration, and smartphones – more than the old flip phones he used to hate as well – have the potential to be distracting, at best, and devastating for the togetherness of a cast and crew, at worst.
“Smartphones are so prevalent now on sets,” Tarantino grumbled, “That people really aren’t even there, [even] when they’re there. They’re not 100% present. They’re on the set, and they’re going through shit, they’re looking up stuff, they’re updating their Facebook page, and they’re not present. People aren’t talking.” For the Pulp Fiction helmer, who came up in the early ‘90s, this is a far cry from the atmosphere he used to love on set, where everyone involved became more like family than co-workers.
“It used to be, crews were families, and you hung out together,” Tarantino recalled of an era that seems long gone at this point. “But now, everyone’s kind of by themselves doing their own thing to some degree or another, and then they put ’em down when they all have to do something in unison.”
For Tarantino, the biggest victory of his ban is when he can see his crew become a tighter-knit unit without their phones, and he claims that has even resulted in people saying, “This is the film industry that I signed up for! This is really wonderful.”
Half the time, though, he believes they then go to another set where the director allows phones, and immediately begin to feel isolated and low, because everyone is engrossed in their devices again.
Never Miss A Take
The Far Out Quentin Tarantino Newsletter
All the latest Quentin Tarantino content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.