When you want to move somebody, you have to say to yourself: 'I'm in the emotional transportation business. I gotta move them, emotionally.'

I never look in the rearview mirror.

I was born curious.

People love to be swept off their feet, to go into an environment where they’ve never been, to experience things they only dream about. And filmmaking offers that potential.

I’ve worked with Jack Warner and Jimmy Stewart – and Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and Johnny Depp twice. I’ve had dinners with Fred Astaire and Cary Grant.

The portal into people’s hearts is being interested in them.

Most young people haven’t used their storytelling skills since they were 8 or 9 or 10 and wanted to persuade Mom and Dad to take them to the ball game.

Miss the audience’s heart as a filmmaker, and the only wallet that gets hit will be your own. That’s because the heart is always the first target in story telling.

In today’s roller-coaster economy, hyper-competitive, fear-based, flat and global world, convincing anyone to do anything at any time requires getting their attention, creating their intention and turning it to action.

At Casablanca we did ‘Midnight Express,’ ‘Flashdance,’ and ‘The Deep.’ My willingness for risk has always been my strength.