You have to stop yourself from even thinking about failing.

I love directing Shakespeare on film. It's fantastic that the actors would do exactly the same thing and be true to their part.

And I just think that to introduce an unknown Shakespeare is thrilling, too - not to do Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet, to do the richer Shakespeare. People will come to this and not know the story.

I've had male executives say that my lead character was unlikable because she slept with a lot of guys.

You program music with an image and then people are desensitized.

Because my parents had given me tremendous respect, trust, and freedom as a child, I knew how to take responsibility for myself. If you're constantly being told "No, don't do that" or "We don't trust you," you can't develop that responsibility.

You don't have to patronize your audience, and you can mix art and commerce in a profound way. You can simultaneously play to the sophisticated, 60-year-old theatergoers and to 4-year-olds.