I've been really lucky that I've kind of gotten to flow from project to project, because I find it's very important that when you're on a project, you are so invested in it.
In terms of directing a feature, I'd want the story to be right - you know, it's a year of your life, and you have to be focused on one thing, so I want it to be a story that I really, really care about and will enjoy making.
It's my job to really commit myself to the material and the project and be proud of what I've done, and I am in most cases.
I think, when you're a director, you get sucked into your project whether you like it or not, right?
'PhotoCard' has 20 times as much code as the sum of 'QuickDraw,' 'MacPaint,' and 'HyperCard.' It is more elaborate and complicated, with all the client and server stuff. It took a lot more of me to do this than other projects, requiring an almost Mother Teresa dedication to do it.
Hopefully, by the time I do a project, I already have a true understanding and love of what I'm about to do because if I don't, I'm not going to work on that project. I really want to have those connections so I can be truthful to the emotional aspect of what I have to deliver for the story.
I am basically working 7 days a week. When I am not eating, sleeping, or working out, I am working on one of projects which I am just damned determined to finish.
I was sad when the show [Defiance] got canceled. It was heartbreaking for all of us involved. It was definitely a project that everyone involved poured their heart and soul into. But we had three good years, which is, you know, three more years than most shows get.
I work with the same dedication and zeal in all my projects, but 'Raees' is very special.
I work hard. The staff and crew see how much energy I put into this project, and it makes them step up.
You never know where your next movie is going to come from. You just have to fall in love with something because it's going to be taking up every moment of spare time in your life for about two years. You're going to be dreaming about it and thinking about it and becoming obsessed with it.
Within the microcosm of a film you get drawn to people. There are certain projects you care enormously about, and 'The Edge Of Love' was one because I was portraying a great hero of mine, Dylan Thomas.
I work hard, whether it comes to writing for my own project or another artist.
I've actually been in situations where I've turned down a lot of money to continue on, in certain shows, or to do something that would have lasted years when I didn't even like it. I didn't want to be in any one spot for years, unless I really believed in it, and I really believe in 'Being Human.'
I'll be totally honest in that I feel tremendously lucky that I am offered incredible jobs all the time to direct, but the problem that I have just personally is that there are only so many years in my life to dedicate to certain projects.
Writing books takes a long time, and one thing a writer must do is learn to live with his or her project.
As a writer who has collaborated on projects, you give your life over to that project.
If someone else made 'Up in the Air' or 'Thank You For Smoking' or 'Juno,' I would have wanted to rip their head off. I need that same sort of passion for every project I take on.
For me, it's always been very essential to work on projects that one can work on almost for their entire life.
What means the most to me changes through the years. There was a time when movies meant the most. But when I'm concentrating on a project, that's what means the most to me.
It is true that many of the Sea Shepherd crewmembers are inexperienced, but the fact is that these volunteers bring a passion to the project that cannot be found in a hired crew.
'Siya Ke Ram' will leave us with hardly any scope to think of other projects. And I wouldn't want to work on something and not be whole-hearted in it, either.
I have so much to grapple with, I don't think too much about me. People call it the "dance of a thousand egos" when you make a movie. If only I had time to worry when I was making a movie about what the hell I was doing. It's sort of a marathon every day. And then at the end of it, you beg the producers for five more marathons.
All of the things I've directed, I'm really emotionally close to. That's why I choose to direct them and spend years on them.
I love when you get to work with people who care about the project as much as you do because then, you're altogether in. I feel like I've been lucky so far to have the chance to work with people who work that way.
