The way that I sort of direct the writers is, let's do the best story we can. Let's not worry about production issues. 'How much will that cost? How are we going to shoot that?' Let's not set up those constraints on the writing. I don't think it helps the project to work like that.

It's all about this abstract entity called the story. It's all about the best way to tell the story, and to make a movie about the issues that this story is about. Filmmaking is storytelling, for me.

We make violent cops, we make violent criminals, and no wonder we have shootouts in slums all of the time.

I love the sharpness and political tone of RoboCop and I think that such a film is now urgently needed.

Usually I say I have no imagination.

A film is a living thing. The screenplay is a guideline. You really need to have a good, sound script to know that you have a dramatic structure that's going to work thematically, and to know how one scene will got through another, and to get a sense of character.

How can I make a movie about the violence of the police if the police aren't going to let me film it?