I realised that there's a more muscular approach to film-making that I found very inspiring.

Perhaps the only thing in my favor is that I am very tenacious. I don't take 'no' very well.

War's dirty little secret is that some men love it. I'm trying to unpack why, to look at what it means to be a hero in the context of 21st-century combat.

I thrive on production. It feels very much like a natural environment for me.

On the other hand, I believe there's hope, because the breakdown and the repair are happening simultaneously.

There's really no difference between what I do and what a male filmmaker might do. I mean we all try to make our days, we all try to give the best performances we can, we try to make our budget, we try to make the best movie we possibly can.

Whereas painting is a more rarefied art form, with a limited audience, I recognized film as this extraordinary social tool that could reach tremendous numbers of people.