My first few films were institutional comedies, and you're on pretty safe ground when you're dealing with an institution that vast numbers of people have experienced: college, summer camp, the military, the country club.

First and foremost, you have to make the movie for yourself. And that's not to say, to hell with everyone else, but what else have you got to go on but your own taste and judgment?

I always claim that the writer has done 90 percent of the director's work.

I've got to find a compromise where I don't feel compromised. I've got to find something equally good that they don't feel uncomfortable with. At a certain point, it's no longer about what I thought was right, but it's about this new discovery that happens with the actors. It's nice when the actor is also a writer.

We are all several different people. There are different aspects of our nature that are competing.

I try to measure the amount of truth in a work rather than just looking at the generic distinction between comedy and drama.

I think of myself as a real writer, not just someone who dabbles in it, so I deserve some credit.