I spent several years in the film finance business, but I returned to what I loved most about the industry - actual filmmaking, producing, writing and directing.

There is truly no other business in the world like making movies. It's unique, it's extremely demanding and difficult, but it's also the most rewarding.

I found my father's Super8mm film camera when I was around eight years old and started shooting with it. I had no idea what I was doing at the time, but that's really where my filmmaking began.

Today the challenge is not visuals, but to be able to tell a riveting emotional story, something that can reach deep down inside the audience's heart and twist it like a toy to make them laugh, cry or jump out of their seats to root for the hero.

In college I wrote for the university newspaper, and I had several short stories published in small press. I think it's just been a natural progression of where to go with the imagination and not have to grow up.

Today, with computer-generated visual effects, everything is possible. So we've seen everything. If it can be imagined, it can be put on screen.

Get back up, shake the dust off and keep going. Keep going, because Hollywood is set up to make you fail.