To make a film, the final big collaborator that you have is the composer.

There’s a lot for screenwriters to steal from songwriters, in terms of getting to the point.

My dad was this sort of avant-garde guy who did all kinds of weird things. He was a true original and anybody who met him never forgot him.

I didn't have any desire I might have had 10 years ago to shoot every single word that I wrote.

I don't miss scenes at all the way that I used to miss them when I was younger making a film. It's actually quite fun to get rid of them now.

My filmmaking education consisted of finding out what filmmakers I liked were watching, then seeing those films. I learned the technical stuff from books and magazines, and with the new technology you can watch entire movies accompanied by audio commentary from the director. You can learn more from John Sturges' audio track on the 'Bad Day at Black Rock' laserdisc than you can in 20 years of film school. Film school is a complete con, because the information is there if you want it.

I am always looking for that nuance, that moment of truth, and you can't really do that fast.