A lot of directors don't know what they want to do. Every director I've seen that was a good director that I've admired knew exactly what he wanted to do. They didn't sit there and think about it.

I suppose when I started out I would have liked to have been the darling of critics or something, but everybody wants to be loved and admired.

I've always been able to survive by writing, though.

The people that really pass judgment on you really have nothing to do with what you do, usually.

To be a good executive you have to be strong, and you have to have a simple attribute that people have forgotten about - courage.

There is a certain kind of respect for authenticity today that there wasn't back in the days when they did 'Cleopatra,' where everything looked like a giant motel. People want to have it be authentic in the look, and authentic in the way people behave.

Films are always pretentious. There's nothing more pretentious than a filmmaker.