You have a movie and it proves itself and then certain things happen.

When I began to think about the head of the family, the storyteller, the rise of television which became the new storyteller, the break-up of the American family as an idea and then Avalon came.

You have a movie and it proves itself and then certain things happen.

Some actors are supposed to be very difficult, but I've not found that to be the situation.

I never really wanted to be an actor. And that was the beginning of it, I began to write things down and eventually became a writer on a television show.

The interesting thing about movies, it's not always - y'know, you have to have structure etc and all those things, but an audience responds, in many ways, we walk away and certain things stay in our heads that are memorable.

It's finding those nonsensical pieces of conversation that we all do all the time. We do all the time. When we're talking on the telephone, there are arguments with people who agree when they both think that they disagree.

First of all, just to get Diner made would have been an achievement in that I got a chance to direct.

I'm thinking, this is Robert Redford. You know, he's won an Academy Award, he's talking to me about directing a movie he's in. So you just think that it's Hollywood stuff or whatever.

A lot of time mistakes are very interesting - you look for the behaviour that's not the one you expect.

Apparently nobody really read it, it was a cheap movie, it fit their schedule in terms of things so fine, let the guy make that high school comedy. I used to work with Mel Brooks so they figured oh it's going to be one of those really silly movies and that's how it got made.

It's those moments, those odd moments that you look for and sometimes by creating this kind of loose atmosphere you find those little moments that somehow mean a lot to an audience when they really register right.

I worked at a local television station and I got a chance to direct and do all those things - worked kiddie shows, Ranger House show with the hand puppets and things like that.

Craig Nelson who is an actor and is in a show called Coach in the United States. We began to do some improvisational stuff and we used to get laughs and things.

I got involved with an acting school and studied for a couple years. They used to have improv exercises that you would work on and you would do improvs.

Well it was sent to me, well because almost everything that is written in Baltimore is sent to me. And David Simon, who was a writer for the Baltimore Sun, spent one year following the homicide squad in Baltimore and he chronicled that period of time.

All I try to do is create an atmosphere that seems comfortable enough, that it removes tension and everyone feels free. If they feel free then behaviour happens, small moments happen and that's what ultimately works the best for me.

I got a chance to work with Mel Brooks on two of his films: Silent Movie and High Anxiety.

They're intimidating the networks and levying these fines, so the networks are not sure of what they can or can't do.

If we compare the two, Facebook is currently a superior place to market a product like Slide. Twitter is more like a general distribution agent. It's like broadcast radio.

Life doesn't stop with football.

It's different today than it was then. In those days we were strictly amateurs. If I had wanted to stay in for the '80 Olympics, my parents couldn't have afforded it.

Purity of heart is the noblest inheritance, and love the fairest ornament, of woman.

I loved Belle in 'Beauty and the Beast.' I just wanted to be her. I'm a brunette, so I think I kind of cling to all those princesses that have brown hair. I just wanted to be them.

At some time in your life, you probably had someone believe in you when you didn't believe in yourself.

I enjoy fashion photography and textiles, that whole aspect of it. As more of an art form, I like Proenza Schouler. Those guys are really cool because they seem to have an interesting approach to it all.

A good fight scene is really a good love scene.

Early college high schools in North Carolina and across the country show us that challenge - not remediation - is an approach to education that works.

To lose a friend is the greatest of all losses.

The difference between hearsay and prophecy is often one of sequence. Hearsay often turns out to have been prophecy.

If you're feeling emotional when you're creating something, it'll sound that way.

Americans really expect to interact with our government digitally.

Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.

Most of us serve our ideals by fits and starts. The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication.

If you wake up deciding what you want to give versus what you’re going to get, you become a more successful person. In other words, if you want to make money, you have to help someone else make money.

I lived my life one way for 35 years, for me. And then the focus came in on what I really was.

Of course I was delighted the flight was over, but I still had to worry about cleaning up inside the cabin, I had to worry about the hatch, how to get in the sling, and so on.

There's a truth to the violence of boxing. You have a very real threat, an opponent.

Basically, I just write whatever story grabs me rather than considering the genre.

My mum's American. She's from Detroit.

I never got a chance to be a teenager.

Stuff like Buena Vista Social Club and Fela Kuti were quite a main thing to my childhood. As soon as I reached an age where I realized that Fela was singing in English, when I got past his accent, I loved the rawness of it, and the funk and the rhythm and the melody.

Goals may give focus, but dreams give power.