I never really wanted to be an actor. And that was the beginning of it, I began to write things down and eventually became a writer on a television show.

When I began to think about the head of the family, the storyteller, the rise of television which became the new storyteller, the break-up of the American family as an idea and then Avalon came.

I got a chance to work with Mel Brooks on two of his films: Silent Movie and High Anxiety.

There's no downside to having too much experience.

No one really has the power, and everybody's trying to get through the day, and everybody's nervous and desperate.

We're never going to be the ultimate-insider look. You can do 50 insider looks at this Hollywood business, and the satire didn't intrigue me. I think others can do that.

I've had a lot of movies that didn't get great numbers on test screening, but a lot of times the film was able to survive, or the studio still stayed and supported it.