Stanley Kubrick was a big inspiration. People accuse me of never using my own material. But when did Kubrick? You look at his films and they are completely unique... completely separate entities.

Some of us have great original ideas and some of us depend on adaptations.

I am fascinated with times past.

One of my favorite movies of all time is 'It's A Wonderful Life', which is a pretty interesting choice for a seasonal Christmas favorite, because it's about a guy who wants to commit suicide and is presented with reasons not to.

I spent 20 years of my career primarily being a writer for hire.

I think once you've finished a movie you really have to detach from it so that you can come back and watch it as an audience member.

I think a story should take as long to tell as it is appropriate to that particular story.