I don't really believe in the mystery of cinematography - what happens in the camera is what the cinematographers create and all that nonsense - I want the director to see what I'm trying to do.
I do have aspirations when it comes to directing, I suppose, but in a sort of a vague way. It would probably come about if I found a project that I really felt passionate about.
I think Anand Rai is one of the few brilliant directors we have.
It's not about choosing a specific genre; that's not how I go about deciding what movies to make.
I've never made any film that I wouldn't go back and re-edit.
I like movies made by Spike Lee - doing those films out of the U.S., that is really daring.
I definitely think independent film is very exciting, and you get to sometimes take bigger risks. So that's always a challenge and something that I look forward to.
Everything I've ever written, I had a very distinct vision of what I wanted it to look like. But, other directors never do it that way.
I could never work in that kind of commercial environment where the stars have a lot to say, where the producers kind of push you around and tell you who to cast and who not to cast. I'm just not interested in that at all.
Right now my career is totally schizophrenic, because when an American production like Hitchcock Presents asks to see my work I would never dream of showing them my independent films.
For me, I am a huge fan of Sofia Coppola and Lynn Shelton. I love Lena Dunham, like everybody else. I love Kathryn Bigelow.
With a film, you try to keep your vision in it. I think with 'The American' and 'Control' I managed to do that.
Blockbusters run the mainstream industry. We may never again have a decade like the 1970s, when directors were able to find such freedom.
I worked with the best directors - Martin Scorsese, John Huston, David Lynch, Alfred Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock was great.
Well, you don't make any demands to Steven Spielberg.
In cinema, the leading player is the director.
To be a director, you have to think you're the best. Ever since I went to film school, I imagined that you have to think deep down that you want to be Martin Scorsese or you want to be P.T. Anderson. Like, am I as good as those guys? Absolutely not. I feel like I keep learning, and I feel like I keep getting better.
I did 'Celebrity' by Woody Allen. I did 'The Gingerbread Man' with Robert Altman. These were big talents.
Really, it's the director's job to disappear and allow the movie to just feel.
Spike Lee is a master of tone, so basically, if he wants to do something, he should do it, and Imma listen.
I never control a film. The film controls me.
I think there are advantages to different scales of filmmaking. You wouldn't want to do just one thing.
Film-makers should remain true to their principles and never compromise, there is a real revival in the British film industry but there is a danger that we will become colonial servants of Hollywood. We need to maintain our own integrity.
Fellini was a little lofty for a teenage boy, but certainly he was a huge influence.
When I get to make a movie, I really try to make it on my own terms.
