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The fact is that HBO is doing the kind of films and the kind of stories that the movie industry used to do. You look at a lot of the specialty sections of studios that have gone under... and there's no doubt in my mind why filmmakers and screenwriters and actors are ending up at a place like HBO. They do it better than anybody.

I was opposed to doing TV for a long time because I thought the quality of writing wasn't very strong, as opposed to film, but there's been a shift in term of the quality of scripts. HBO has attracted a tremendous amount of great writing talent.

HBO is really famous for hiring good people and staying out of their way until they ask for help, or need it. And that reputation is earned.

I've met big-name actors doing Hollywood films, and they've said that all they want is an in at HBO and their own show.

But HBO is less interested in how many people are watching than in how much the people who are watching are liking the show. They didn't set up their business model to make writers happy. It's just a nice unintended consequence.

The more unique your film is and unusual it is and difficult it is, the harder it is to get it financed. That's why a lot of good filmmakers are doing television. They do HBO movies.

There are only a few TV networks that really invest in production in the way that I think they should. HBO, obviously, is one of them.

I think what's great is that, when HBO commit, they go in all guns blazing. They attract the very best set designers, the whole thing.

What's so valuable about HBO is they tell stories. We learn from stories.

One of the differences between HBO and other television is that they demand the same coverage that you would have in a feature film. We need to have all the shots in order to make it as rich and as stunning as it looks. We can't cut any corners.