The lack of women directors is a sad fact of life. Kathryn Bigelows thrilling Best Director win may help turn things around.

with all these tentpoles, franchises, reboots and sequels, is there still room for movies in the movie business?

Like the color black, business mixed with anything turns to business.

My goal has been to learn how to get movies made without losing sight of the reasons I began. I have had to learn to recognize the insidious nature of the beast without becoming one.

My sense of Los Angeles was very New York provincial, as in 'all those people are crazy out there' (which they are), and stupid (which they're not), and immoral (it's more interesting than that).

One of our jobs is to keep women working, which we do by keeping women coming to the movies. And doing that means making good, smart, often funny movies that women can identify with-with terrific dialogue we all remember and cherish, and stories that illuminate our lives and decisions and turning points.

[On filmmaking:] Cardinal rule: It's a youth business.