I always want to make films. I think of it as a great opportunity to comment on the world in which we live. Perhaps just because I just came off "The Hurt Locker" (2008) and I'm thinking of the war and I think it's a deplorable situation. It's a great medium in which to speak about that. This is a war that cannot be won, why are we sending troops over there? Well, the only medium I have, the only opportunity I have, is to use film. There will always be issues I care about.

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

My movement from painting to film was a very conscious one.

I really look for peak experiences and dramatic material that can allow peak experiences.

What's most galvanizing for me is the opportunity to be topical and relevant and entertaining. That's the holy grail.

I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.

For some individuals - some soldiers, some contractors - combat provides a kind of purpose and meaning beyond which all else potentially pales in comparison.