I think that you can't make a movie without a script. But you also can't make movies without actors. You also can't make movies without technicians. And there has to be just one person in charge of everybody, and to me that one person is the director.

It's very eclectic, the way one chooses subjects in the movie business, especially in the commercial movie business. You need to develop material yourself or material is presented to you as an assignment to direct.

The first thing is that we're being attacked by both the Writers Guild and the Producers Guild. Both of these groups are trying to diminish the importance and strength of the director. They're trying to do it through both frontal and side attacks.

Then I usually leave the choice of the second assistant director and any other assistant directors to the first assistant director, who will choose because he or she is responsible for the conduct and the efficiency of the second assistant directors.

There are so many effects and so many things that are done digitally now that it's so hard for the director to really control the process, because there are more and more experts that come in.

There are two things I will never do in my life. I will never climb Mount Everest, and I will never work with Val Kilmer again. There isn't enough money in the world.

To do that I try and keep myself in pretty good shape physically and I try to lead my life in such a way that I'll be able to be as strong at the end of the movie as I am in the beginning.

You have to really work with someone who you think is going to be a collaborator, who you think understands what you want to do with this movie and how you want to do it.

Casting is 65 percent of directing.

I feel that my job is to create an atmosphere where creative people can do their best work.

I have gotten to a point in my life where I don't want to have dinner with someone I don't like.

I look at actors very closely. It's not an accident when the actors excel.

I really, really love directing films.

I think I've made some pretty decent films in the '80s and '90s.

I've found that the more experts you have on a movie, the less control the director has.

If you cast the picture correctly, you have a whole lot of leeway. You can make mistakes in other aspects but pull it off with the right actors.

If you don't cast well, you can be in real trouble.

One of the first lessons you learn as an actor is to listen.

One of the other things I think that I've been able to do in my life, is to listen well.

So I've had really great assistant directors for my last seven movies.