I make some movies for myself. I do that sometimes when the subject matter is very sensitive and very personal and I really can't imagine that I'm an audience member. I would lose myself too much if I thought of myself as the audience. There are other types of genre films that I need to be able to direct from the audience, to be right next to you watching the picture being made.

When my children were born, I made the choice I wanted them to be raised as Jews and to have a Jewish education.

It starts with the writer-it's a familiar dictum, but somehow it keeps getting forgotten along the way. No film-maker, irrespective of his electronic bag of tricks, can ever afford to forget his commitment to the written word.

One of the gratuities about being a director is that you can volunteer yourself out of difficult details.

Movies are always in a state of locomotion. You start with a general idea of how it should feel and then you find you've got a runaway train. You have to race to catch up: the movie is telling you what it wants to become, and when that happens there's no greater feeling.

I simply adore 'The Simpsons.' I go to bed in a 'Simpsons' T-shirt.

You're not alone, are you? Because I'm here