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As I said, I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about partner brands.

You can totally work with brands. People love seeing that, but you have to build stories. You have to build credibility, and those brands have to really be the perfect fit for yourself.

Brands are in your face 24/7; I'm sure you've consumed a couple brands today. So it's fun working with them. People recognize brands, and people are starting to recognize my brand.

If you think about jeans or phones or television, we are used to new brands popping up right and left. But in the car industry, we grew up with Mercedes, BMW, General Motors, and Ford, and nobody can remember during his or her upbringing a new car brand coming to life.

I do endorse brands: brands that I believe in individually, brands that I use, brands that I am proud to sell. But I wouldn't do that for my films because that's something I do separately. What I do with my films is something I am extremely passionate about.

My brands are an extension of me. They're close to me. It's not like running GM, where there's no emotional attachment.

I don't believe in endorsing a product that you don't want to endorse.

I don't believe in brands.

If you can work a brand successfully into the narrative of your product, then it's really cool. Then people actually take the brand up and say, 'My positive experience in your product is directly connected and influenced by this brand and that worked great.'

Unfortunately, being a brand is really important nowadays.