Without a doubt, I was born to want to make cinema, but the kind of cinema I want to make is not like commercial movies, which I enjoy myself, but I wanted to be the kind of filmmaker who wrote original work, sort of like a novelist would who deals with who we are and our times or our relationships.

I landed a job with Roger Corman. The job was to write the English dialogue for a Russian science fiction picture. I didn't speak any Russian. He didn't care whether I could understand what they were saying; he wanted me to make up dialogue.

I had a number of teachers who hated me. I didn't do well in school.

Frank Capra was a prop man, I think. John Ford was a prop man. It was a little bit of a father and son thing, and you kind of worked your way up.

My talent is that I just try and try and try and try again and little by little it comes to something.

I was never sloppy with other people's money. Only my own. Because I figure, well, you can be.

If the movie works, nobody notices the mistakes... If the movie doesn't work, the only thing people notice are mistakes.