I think what happened there was just the budget would be too big to build these sets because nothing really exists here in New York of that period; you have to build it all.

More personal films, you could make them, but your budgets would be cut down.

You don't make pictures for Oscars.

You have to remain strong. That's the kind of filmmaker I want to encourage. Orson Welles was the one who said, you know, you can learn anything you need to know about filmmaking- that's camera, sound, celluloid, video at this point- in four hours. It has nothing to do with anything. It has nothing to do with it... It has to do with what you want to say. If you feel you have something to say, you'll find that way to get it said, on film, and not let anyone or anything chip away at that or tarnish it, because it's something special and precious.

I think if you think of yourself as religious and if you're given a gift, some may not think it's that great a gift - some critics. But others might, you know. So you say, look - whether it's good, bad or indifferent, this is what I do.

I also saw the Dalai Lama a few times.

Film in the 20th century, it's the American art form, like jazz.