MCG

I hate my name. It's a stupid, horrible name.

I've always maintained my name will not define my films, my films will define my name. But I wish I was called Steve, or something else.

I'm just a tiny person from a humdrum neighbourhood, so I grew up worshipping 'Bond' pictures and dreaming of a life bigger than my own.

I'm pretty convinced there's a chemical reality to who I am, regarding my brain, that makes me kind of a strange guy.

I don't think 'This Means War' is an appropriate picture to do in 3-D.

I love British voicing and British humour in general. I'm a huge Ricky Gervais fan.

I strive to make movies I would enjoy.

I was called McG since the day I was born because we were broke and there were three Joes in the house.

The one thing I'm proud of as a filmmaker is that people are entitled not to like my films - that's the privilege of the public - but I think I have my own imprint.

There's no doubt that there's certain songs and arrangements of music that release a chemical reaction in my brain. This sounds a little goofy, but I really believe that. It's such a euphoric experience that I sort of want to chase that experience as often as possible.

I always remember responding very emotionally to film. I had a lot of lonely time on my hands because I wasn't really the best-looking kid in my town and I sort of pined after girls. I had to sort of immerse myself in the arts because girls weren't particularly interested in me.

I think I wanted to be a storyteller because I had a very active dream life. My life was boring, and I dreamed about a life bigger than my own. I've always just been that person, from my earliest memories at age 2.

TV show is always challenging. It's challenging when you have all of the time and money in the world, and it's more challenging when you have less money.

A lot of the content that goes directly to the internet, or is web-created content, is very hand-held video where you can watch this woman fall off the coffee table, or see a funny little gag, or is interview-style stuff, which is great. I love that. I consume it like crazy. But, this is designed to be reminiscent of what you would see during primetime, and reminiscent of what you would see in a movie theater, on any given weekend, and in that regard, it's brand new.

It's a world creation show [Shadowhunters], so we've gotta work hard in the physical production capacity with the visual effects, the sets and everything. It's not just the real world with two people chatting in a diner. That's tough on a television budget.

I don't really think about film or television or going directly to the internet. I just think about doing something that people are going to get excited about.

I love different kinds of movies, and I love different kinds of people. That's the spice of life.

If you look at what Ben Affleck has gone on to do, as an actor and as a director, it's extraordinary. But if you look back at his career, I don't think it's surprising. From Good Will Hunting on down, the guy is a monster talent, and I think talent wins out, in the end. There's always the ebb and flow of any career, but I think talent wins out, in the end.

I just think we live in a world where people are so excited about the hot new thing, but you can't necessarily tell a story in one movie. With this platform, we can really dive deep and go for it.

It's just a wonderful experience and it's fun when you make a film and people go to it to emote and in my picture you hear the audible sobbing and then you hear the audible laughter and then you see people leaving the theater with a little bit of spring in their step. It's just great to be part of one that lasts a long time.

For me, casting is critical. It's nice that social media and the passionate fans really corroborated choices and embraced kids to be characters.

Sometimes you do things for personal reasons. I made a very personal movie in We Are Marshall. I was afraid of flying, for a long time, and that's a movie about a plane crash.

I do my best when I'm surrounded by women. I enjoyed that on the Charlie's Angels experience.

I love stories of female empowerment. I love stories of, "Hey, I'm an ordinary person." "No, you're not!" I love stories about not knowing you have it in you, but when called to task, you rise and you find out who you are.

Actors can become very involved in a role, but for a director or producer, that's your life for many years.