Of course, I was completely enthralled by the space program as a kid - particularly Apollo 11 - and was glued to the television like most of the world. Then I stopped thinking about it too much. I was a little disappointed that they weren't going on to Mars at the time, but I didn't think much of it. I was more interested in becoming a director at that point in my life and falling in love, things like that.

Humor is unavoidable. It might not feel funny in the moment, but more often than not there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

I think the most important thing really was that you could take very personal ideas and present them to an audience in entertaining ways.

It was always hard to find stories that I felt were, in and of themselves, fresh enough and intriguing enough .

Death can be experienced once, winning maybe more, but losing can happen all the time.

You reach a point where you say you're not going to do juveniles any longer.

I've acted with all types, I've directed all types. What you want to understand as a director, is what actors have to offer. They'll get at it however they get at it. If you can understand that, you can get your work done.