It’s too expensive, that’s the thing nobody wants to talk about. It is too expensive to make movies. That’s not true, it is too expensive to market movies. Making movies is not.

Smith contrasts the real cost center of contemporary filmmaking with the romanticized idea that production itself is prohibitively expensive. The quote argues that, with cheaper digital tools and leaner crews, making a film can be relatively attainable—especially for independents—while the true barrier is the marketing spend required to cut through a crowded media environment. Implicitly, he critiques an industry model in which distribution and advertising budgets can dwarf production costs, shaping what gets financed and what audiences ever hear about. The remark also functions as a defense of low-budget, creator-driven cinema: the obstacle is less artistic capability than access to attention.