When I was young in the late 1950s and early '60s, my family would frequently attend screenings of films at neighborhood theatres and sometime head for the drive-in with a packed carload. Movies were an entertaining ritual, a time for the family to let go and be together. Then in 1962, my grandmother took me to see Jason and the Argonauts and everything changed. I wanted to make movies. So I do.

Independent Filmmaking--independent of what? The truth is, what Hollywood studios call independent film is not independent film. Most film projects are "green lighted" by corporate executives who have very little knowledge about film as anything other than a commodity. Hired guns are generally recruited in connection with the project (actors, directors, producers) in order to insure a high-end festival slot, a theatrical run, or a lucrative DVD deal with large distributors. Sorry, but that’s not independent.

I believe the true independent filmmaker should finance, produce, and market their own product, and that is what I do. It is not anyone's responsibility but my own to see to it that my work gets screened, so I work hard at it. For those of you who do not like my work, that's fine--I do it for me, not you.

I am most grateful to my parents for giving me the genetic code that continually invigorates my work.