I wasted time writing films. I don't look back on those years as lost, but it wasn't what I should have been doing.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I took two years away from making films to write a novel.
And I discovered after a couple years that I really didn't miss making movies.
I wouldn't have wanted to miss the opportunity to make those three films that didn't do well. They were really important to me, and the things I learned doing them were important to me.
Just making a movie the way 'All is Lost' had to be made was a great experience, because it was structured differently than any other film I will make for the rest of my life.
I think about my films for a long time, maybe years, but I write them in days.
I didn't go out of my way to get into this movie stuff. I think of myself as a writer.
I dropped out of college and ended up making this feature film I wrote when I was 19 with some friends. It was terrible.
I don't regret doing any of my films. All of them have been great learning experiences, and they have contributed to making me what I am today.
Screenplays I didn't really care about, journalism, travel books, getting my writer friends to write about their dreams or something. I just determined to write the books I had to write.
It all felt like a terribly long time. It would have meant that I had to make five movies in five years and if you don't like the movies, too bad. I guess I just wanted my freedom, and I think my life has been incredibly enhanced as a result.