I'd really been interested in opera when I was about 16, and I really like staging them.

There were movies that always made me want to be a director. You see brilliant scenes and the way the emotions were handled. I thought, I'd really like to do that.

On stage, the audience watches from a fixed viewpoint and the director cannot retake something he doesn't like. It has to work straight through.

With Cold Sassy Tree having its first production, I saw no necessity to do anything other than produce it with the correct setting.

When I was 24 I went to Nigeria and it was such a culture shock, growing up in Australia and suddenly being the only white man in this unit full of black men.

With a film, I do my best to understand the author's intentions and try to bring the characters to life.

Quite a few operas are still being commissioned around the world, although nothing apart from audience popularity can ensure more than a few performances.