You feel quite strangely secure [doing any kind of series]. It's the opposite of how you're supposed to feel doing a movie.
Ray is very secretive about his ideas - why not, the times that the Kinks have been ripped off, especially in the early years, it makes you a little bit cautious about telling anybody what you're doing. And that's understandable.
It was a lot of fun, and writing a series is comfortable. It's almost like having a secure job.
If you write what you know about, you will always be on safe ground. I am very edgy and nervous about going into territories I know nothing about. That's why you don't find much high finance, group sex, or yachting parties in my stories.
Photographers and artists contribute a lot to the world and have a right to exist in relative security and comfort.
What's interesting, is that I've found that the more accomplished a director is, the more secure they are in giving direction that sounds incredibly unsophisticated.
Before 'Last Man Standing,' I did a lot of indies, which were raw and controversial and much darker. That is where I feel most secure as a storyteller. That is what I am drawn to the most.
The reason you might choose to embrace the artist within you now is that this is the path to (cue the ironic music) security.
You get to a point where the kind of beautiful chaos can't really fuel your creative existence any longer because it's not stable, however amazing and exciting it may be.
A lot of my business is about protecting creativity.
