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

Everything can be undone, including success.

Information is currency. ... Power is a place as well as a verb; it is inside the information tent.

Always remember the famous adage about the movie business: You can't make a living, you can only get rich.

The key to moving a maybe to a yes is to make the buyer feel as though other buyers have already said yes. ... It helps if it's true, but it never is. No one wants to be the first yes. Why is this? I don't know, but I think it's anthropological.

No single movie or event makes or breaks your career. Everything can be undone, including success.

What turns a work crisis into a life crisis is the infusion of dread.