What you learn after you are 40 is that it is just about plugging up holes in the boat. You just hope you have enough corks to plug enough of the holes.

When you first start out, you are just happy to get a job, any job. And as time goes on, either you move forward or screech to a halt.

I grew up in the world of bad television, on my dad's sets and then as a young schmuck on dating shows and so on.

The secret of directing is working with really good people.

We try to make films for people [that are] the films that we'd like to see. They're not easy to get made. They're hard to get made. You have to keep the budget low to get them made. But at the end of the day, I don't really worry about competition, because I don't really think of it that way. I don't feel like I'm in a race with anybody.

I'm only two years older than Brad Pitt, but I look a lot older, which used to greatly frustrate me. It doesn't anymore. I don't have to fit into that category and get trounced by Tom Cruise and Brad.

I doubt anybody gets taken seriously for very long. I'll be on some reality show in about six years going, Hey, I had a great year in 2006.