The truth is, a director wins an Oscar for a writer's script and actors' performances.
For 'Filth,' we had about 12 producers on the thing. The opening credits go on for months. Most of them are actually financers rather than producers. And the only way that we could raise the budget without interference from a studio was to have a lot of different financers on board.
I think the best black screenwriter is Quentin Tarantino.
I remember when I watched 'Hellraiser' with my mother. She cried when she saw my name in the opening credits, and I had to tell her that that was the happiest she was going to be for the next two hours.
By being a waiter 100 percent, I think I was a lot like any other actor in New York. I had credits because I'd work lunches during the week, and then on a Wednesday would go be lucky enough to be in a movie like 'Kinsey.'
Character actors just pile up the credits because you work on a movie for, like, a few days. It's not like I'm the lead in everything I do - far from it. I'm not spending three or four months on a picture; I'm spending three or four weeks. Sometimes three or four days.
Normally with film, it's normal for the screenwriter to never be seen again after finishing until the premiere.
I definitely used to dream of sitting in the movie theatre watching the 'Star Wars' credits come up knowing I was part of one of those films.
My husband has no desire to work with me; don't get it twisted. He gets paid a lot of money to write giant movies. He's not into humoring me with my projects. But, that being said, I did have the story credit on 'Blades of Glory,' and writing is something that I've always been interested in pursuing more.
I had an amazing teacher, who was Burmese, and she was living in Paris at the time, and she is one of very few who doesn't actually receive a credit in the film because she still has family over there.
The designs and my credit have been stolen from me, since I alone have designed the Alien. So why does Fox not give me the credit I rightfully earned? As for those responsible for this conspiracy: all I can wish them is an Alien breeding inside their chests, which might just remind them that the Alien father is HR Giger.
When the film was presented in New York, the distributor reproduced the fountain scene on a billboard as high as a skyscraper. My name was in the middle in huge letters, Fellini's was at the bottom, very tiny. Now the name of Fellini has become very great, mine very little.
I have come close to producing films. But generally by the time they hit the screen, there's about 50 people with producer credits, so what's the point. I usually find scripts I like with no money attached and take them to producers that I know and try to raise finance.
I did about 10-12 national commercials and then got one line parts in things like 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' and the show 'The Unit.' Got a little part in the movie 'Redbelt' by David Mamet and kept slowly grinding up and then started getting bigger parts in independents and getting noticed by Liz Meriwether.
I think people really don't understand what a producer does versus what a director does. I mean, the producer is often the person that is on the movie the longest - it's their material that they are then bringing the director onto to bring it to the screen. Are we overlooked? Absolutely.
Who is writing these screenwriting books? Not actually writing for the studios in Hollywood. These are people that have one or a half of a credit on maybe one movie, or none. So they're all theoretical.
For a director and a producer to be named on the writing credits is practically unheard of.
I think I was technically uncredited as Local #1, because there were three of us. But I had the most lines [in My Sweet Charlie].
My creative partner is a writer, and he's got an executive producing credit on this film. We've made three films together and I would never underestimate the impact of a writer.
My wife Victoria Harwood was art director on 'Far North,' and she had designed my student film, 'The Sheep Thief.'
Even though I didn't write 'Shaun Of The Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz,' I never felt left out of the creative process.
Actually, I had a really nice part in that movie [Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains]. I mean, I have, like, one second in the final-cut version, where I say "You're fired" to Diane Lane. That's about all you see of me.
[Bad Influence]was David Koepp's first big screenplay. It was actually a writing sample that was around town to get David work at the time, and Steve Tisch - now the owner of the New York Giants - found it, loved it, and together we put it together. But I'd say that would be the one I'd tell people to go and look at if they haven't seen it.
In terms of number of movies, I've been in an extraordinary amount. If you count only the minutes I'm onscreen, it's not so long.
You know what I did? I turned down an offer to do 'Enemy of the People' with Steve McQueen. It doesn't matter that the film was never really released. A movie like that, successful or not, adds to your credits. It leads to other roles.
