Possession's Jennifer Ehle and Jeremy Northam with Neil LaBute.

Before and After

You can’t have enough pre-production. There’s never enough post-production.

Mother Nature

I don’t enjoy waiting for weather to change. Like hanging out until the cloud passes. I’m not big on that.

Children and Animals Last

Basically I don’t shoot with children or animals, and I’ve never done too much with that, but I shot with both an animal and a child in Possession, and they certainly are more work.

The little girl at the end of the movie was really great; the dog was more problematic. He didn’t take direction well (laughing). You know, because he’s a dog. I would underline these rules: steer clear of animals and children.

Ingenuity Rules

Money doesn’t replace ingenuity. That’s probably the biggest thing. I’ve had movies that have cost tons more than the first one I did, but there’s something about the purity of the control of small projects that’s much more tempting to me.

Studio Versus Independent

Studio or independent is not really a label that signifies good or bad as far as I’m concerned, having done both. It’s a matter of the project you make. What you put into it is what you get out of it. I’ve seen a lot of crappy independent movies (laughing) and a lot of good studio movies and absolutely vice versa. So it’s really what you make. You will be the one who’s ultimately held responsible as a director.

When in Doubt… Build a Set

When in doubt, build a set. Some of those places I’ve tried to shoot in, and tried to get angles in, you go, ‘Why didn’t we just build this?’