The advice you give to young directors for sure is to go out and become some version of a successful movie actor. Do that first and say yes to people like Terrence Malick and Clint Eastwood and Woody Allen when they come and offer you movies. It's a great front row seat to filmmaking.
Bukowski said, "I know I'm good, so I like that people think I'm bad, because it gives me a dimension, effortlessly."
The major studios are by and large banks, and they give you what is by and large a loan to make a movie. Like banks, they want their money back plus.
