I think one of the main reason's Rick Rosenthal and Whitewater PIctures decided to 'get in bed with me' on 'Fat Kid' was because I came in with a strong business plan as well as a creative vision on how to make the film.
Everything about filmmaking tries to distract you from that first fine rapturous vision you have of the film.
I grew up with a concept of cinema as a directorial thing, meaning the director is allowed to sail the ship. Not a dictatorial thing.
Every actress has a line she'll draw, where she'll say, 'This I will do and this I won't.' For me, everything has to be important to the story and the director has to be able to tell me why.
That's the only way I can control my movie. If you shoot everything, then everything is liable to end up in the movie. If you have a vision, you don't have to cover every scene.
The dean of the American Film Institute has written that I'm one of the very few auteurs in America. I've had freedom for 40 years to create art that is totally personal and is what I believe in.
It's rare for the studios to find a filmmaker who wants to make a family film. To find someone that has an idea, embraces it, has kids and wants to make something exciting - well, they don't see that too often.
I remember during 'Devdas,' people told me that they had seen 'Devdas' before, so what would be so different about this one. But I was convinced with the subject, and that is what drove me.
I don't want to do films for money and go back. I want to try to at least change the world through cinema, the industry, the way cinema is conceived.
In any art movement, the art has to move into a new phase - a filmmaker has a desire to make a film that is not like a previous film.
