The story drove the book. That had a very seminal effect on the way I saw writing and storytelling. If you can set a character in a story that is compelling and has a backbone, you draw people in.

People recognize certain things, like 'D' means 'this dialogue stinks.' We're dealing with shows that are written here, shot in New York and posted back here. Accurate communication is a necessity.

Everybody knows things are not the same. The people running the TV end of a major vertically integrated company know how much money a successful show can make.

And the consumer doesn't care. They don't watch networks, they watch TV shows.

Drama or comedy programming is still the surest way for advertisers to reach a mass audience. Once that changes, all bets are off.

The most positive step is to try to expand the employment base by making it, if not economically friendly, at least not economically disastrous, for studios to take on deficits.

There was an interesting article in Los Angeles Magazine about women directors. A woman director makes one bad independent film and her career is over. Guys tend to get an opportunity to learn from their mistakes.