Don't get seduced by your own stuff; work hard to keep a blank slate state of mind each time you watch your film.

When you have the feeling that anything’s possible, sometimes you wind up acting on it.

I watched a couple of really bad directors work, and I saw how they completely botched it up and missed the visual opportunities of the scene when we had put things in front of them as opportunities. Set pieces, props and so on.

When the ship docks, I'm getting off with you. This is crazy. I know it doesn't make any sense, that's why I trust it.

The literature now is so opaque to the average person that you couldn't take a science-fiction short story that's published now and turn it into a movie. There'd be way too much ground work you'd have to lay. It's OK to have detail and density, but if you rely on being a lifelong science-fiction fan to understand what the story is about, then it's not going to translate to a broader audience.

The film industry is about saying 'no' to people, and inherently you cannot take 'no' for an answer.

It’s not a requirement to eat animals, we just choose to do it, so it becomes a moral choice and one that is having a huge impact on the planet, using up resources and destroying the biosphere.