Fighting for identity is something that is very much in my life.

We need storytelling. Otherwise life just goes on and on, like the number Pi.

I see a movie as a way of learning about the world, about myself, and learning about my relationship with people and art.

I think the American West really attracts me because it's romantic. The desert, the empty space, the drama.

My hometown was one of the major U.S. Air Force bases.

I think people are universal.

Sometimes, you have to get angry to get things done.

Every movie I make. That’s my hideout, the place I don’t quite understand, but feel most at home.

When there is a strong woman character in a story - that always grabs me

I think great romance needs great obstacles and textures.

Making movies is a way of understanding myself and the world.

Just because you deny facts and science doesn't mean they aren't true

There is a difference between fresh and weird. You never want to throw your reader out of the story. Keep it fresh but natural.

Humanitarianism consists in never sacrificing a human being to a purpose.

My three Ps: passion, patience, perseverance. You have to do this if you've got to be a filmmaker.

People love advertising in particular but they hate advertising in general.

If you want to be a leader, you've got to be a reader.

In the clubs, it's all out and you can say whatever as the character. TV has standards.

By the time the Oscars are on I'll be seventy. How many more chances am I going to have to get nominated for an Oscar?

Wherever you go, man-made things are man-made, but you’ve got to get out and see God’s beauty of the world.

My mum made a conscious decision not to teach me any Indian languages so I wouldn't talk with an accent.