What you need to know to direct a movie is [of] such great variety. I've worked with people who were maestros, who know everything. I've worked with people who were empty and lost, who had no clue what they were doing. You wouldn't hire them to paint your apartment. And then there's everything in-between. There's no list of skills you have to have to sit in that chair.

No one can help you write. No one can teach you how to write.

I don't like to be crazy on different levels all of the time.

You have to know human behaviour … And the quality of your writing is absolutely capped at your understanding of human behaviour. You’ll never write above what you know about people.

Everyone I know who used to be in the intelligence community is moving into the corporate world.

A reversal is just anything that's a surprise. It's a way of keeping the audience interested.

I like emotions, but I really don't like sentimentality, and I don't like when things break their spell.