There are really two things that have to occur in order for a new technology to be affordable to the mass market. One is you need economies of scale. The other is you need to iterate on the design. You need to go through a few versions.
It's easy to assume that just because you make something in small volumes, not using many tools, that there is integrity and care - that is a false assumption.
Looking back now on our workload, I just shake my head at our pace. 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' was my first series, so I didn't know anything about that when I started. I just assumed it was normal to make 26 episodes a year on a seven-day shooting schedule.
I think it’s a wonderful view that care was important – but I think you can make a one-off and not care and you can make a million of something and care. Whether you really care or not is not driven by how many of the products you’re going to make.
You only produce one car less than the demand for the vehicle. You just don't exceed that equation.
If you can make a lot more of something, you can make it much more inexpensive.
When something's made in the smallest volume - as a one-off couture piece - or in large quantities, deep care is critical to determine authentic, successful design and, ultimately, manufacture.
I love wild, baroque, slightly excessive theatrical ideas, and because television needs so much material, there's a chance to get some of those odd ideas done.
The chip comes from silicon foundries who have been running their plants for the past fifty years, understand mass manufacture, and are the area that is most likely to understand the volume increase problem.
Every job you have, there are days that are more difficult than others. I worked on a daytime soap opera, where the volume at which you're producing this medium is incredible.
We do 32 episodes a season and will have shot 267 episodes by the end of the ninth season... It's impossible to sell that many episodes in the foreign market.
My goal is not to eliminate jobs but to secure jobs by increasing production volume.
