It's not enough to hit the notes. There is no point in the singers just standing there and sounding wonderful if they're not connecting with the characters they are portraying.

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

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

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.

Everyone has seen photographs of Mexicans wearing those big sombreros. When you come to Mexico, the astonishing thing is, nobody wears these hats at all.

Film is shot in fragments, and the same moments can be shot again and again until the director is satisfied.

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