I came to the industry with wide eyes and an open heart thinking I was going to make a few films that really meant something that I could pour myself into.
Once you have heard a strange audience burst into laughter at a film you directed, you realize what the word joy is all about.
I believe that the story is the most important element of any medium whether it's theater, film, TV.
The crossover wasn't happening. TV actors were TV actors, and film and stage actors were a whole different thing. And now there's just a lot of crossover.
I didn't want to be known as a man who only made horror films. I made some - very few.
The problem with big films is they snowball very rapidly and you can never pull back. It's a pipeline that needs to be fed.
I want to direct films, ultimately. Hopefully I'll have a fantastic career in acting and then go on to do that. That's my dream; that's the ultimate goal.
I think everyone is introduced to the Peter Pan story when they're very young. Everyone has read the book and watched the Disney film and all that.
When people want to see your film, you're over the moon because you've actually made real contact. That's something very special.
I don't know if there aren't any films like 'E.T.' anymore. I just feel that the industry has changed so much. There are so many outlets now.
I enjoy scenes in films, which do not have the pressure of the story so much... and it flows. I've tried to go in that direction.
Sometimes I don't know whether a movie has been shot on film or in digital when I watch it in the theatres.
I made so many films which were more important, but the only one people ever want to talk about is that one with Bogart.
I get criticized for taking roles in films like 'Ghost Rider 2', but if you look at my resume, dude, I've mixed it up as much as I can.
Very, very rare that you do a job knowing that the audience is desperate for you to do that job. Most films you make don't get released, is the fact.
You don't do an experimental film to become rich, so the people who are involved are involved because they enjoy the creative aspect of it.
My first student film was Orientation, which was basically the set-up for Animal House. There are a couple of scenes that we later borrowed in some form.
Then my first film was something called Cannibal Girls, which sounds like a horror movie but was actually kind of a goofy comedy with horror elements. Like a horror spoof.
There are lots of wonderful actors doing animated films these days, but I prefer it when you can't recognise them - it means they've really become the character.
I don't think I'd ever start making a film until I had both the intimacy with the subject and the distance to make it live in a certain way.
I conveniently was not accepted to film school, which I applied to in 1987, and so I decided I would become a filmmaker instead of a student.
