If you are rigorous in your own R&D in whatever your area is, you do your own testing, and you really stress-test the thing that you do, I think that gives you a tremendous amount of inner fortitude when you come up against the monolith.

'Write what you know' works, but it's limiting. Write what fascinates you. Write what you can't stop thinking about.

The step that a lot of people miss is a dispassionate evaluation of the reasons [for rejection]. If you can dispassionately evaluate the reasons for rejection and find them with merit, you can address them; if without merit, you can ignore them.

All screenwriting books are bullshit, all. Watch movies, read screenplays. Let them be your guide.

What unifies every part of my journey is I always lead with my curiosity, obsession, or fascination.

If you are rigorous in your own R&D in whatever your area is, you do your own testing, and you really stress-test the thing that you do, I think that gives you a tremendous amount of inner fortitude when you come up against the monolith.

Hollywood is a land of self-invention.