The worst thing that could happen to a filmmaker is growing up wanting to be a filmmaker.

I feel like we are so used to CGI [computer-generated imagery] and thank god because it is a wonderful tool, but there is an element of everything you are looking at has been created in the comfort of a studio. I want to return to a world where I can celebrate when you are really interacting with the world.

I've gotta be honest, it is a little of a mystery to me. I consider myself very sentimental, very sensitive, but obviously my outward appearance is a bit scruffy-haired, and I have a general tendency toward snarling at people, and a sort of misanthropic nature. Maybe that is what people actually read. I do actually believe that misanthropy and sensitivity go hand in hand, because I have a tremendous disappointment in the ways of the world.

I'm an old school guy and love the guys in the monster suits and JAWS; even though everyone makes fun of the shark I think it's awesome. You know it's fake, but with my generation that was part of the charm.

There are scripts that have come our way that are much more likely to be hits, but we don't really think that way.

The whole film business was built on immigrants: Billy Wilder and Michael Curtiz and all these hefty lads.

The worst thing that could happen to a filmmaker is growing up wanting to be a filmmaker.