It takes time to develop a sense of humor, shared world views.

Its not who you love. Its how.

(As) a director who is a writer, I have respect for writers, so I'm less likely to step on an idea or a line.

All I do, really, is go to work and try to be professional, be on time and be prepared.

I recognize that Hollywood is not about seniority. Often it's not even a meritocracy. It's about what you did yesterday. You have a couple of misses, and suddenly it's impossible to find a hit. So the swings are gigantic. But I've always understood it as such, and navigated it as such.

You have to pay people real money.

It's been reinforced to me, and it's a little cliche, but I've learned that you can't make a movie that even works, much less that's good, without really good writing and really good acting. That lesson has led me to not be distracted, so much, by the other stuff going on in filmmaking and to focus on the essence of a story, and the words and the events and the way that those are interpreted by the actors. That philosophy has taken me to a place that I really like.