Stanley Kubrick was a big inspiration. People accuse me of never using my own material. But when did Kubrick? You look at his films and they are completely unique... completely separate entities.

I'm still learning. It's all a learning curve. Every time you sit down, with any given episode of any given show, it is a learning curve. You're learning something new about how to tell a story. But then, I've felt that way about everything I've ever done - television, features or whatever. Directing or writing, it always feels like the first day of school to me.

Some of us have great original ideas and some of us depend on adaptations.

I spent 20 years of my career primarily being a writer for hire.

I am fascinated with times past.

To me, length is an artificial and arbitrary factor in a film.

The only person who can, with impunity, make the movie he wants to make, has got to be Steven Spielberg.