Look: You're not gonna become a millionaire doing this, but that was never the point. And I think a lot of people in the indie film business kind of took their eye off of that.

Maybe I should have taken a few chances. That's not to say I want to go make 'Star Wars,' but I need to shift my career into the studio world. That's where my head was at when I thought of the original plot.

Newlyweds shooting budget: 5k for actors, 2k insurance, 2k food and drink. 9k in the can. We only shot 12 days. That's how to make an independent film.

People that went to art house theatre have more options, I used to go, but now think any movie can be delivered in a red envelope three months after it's released so why not watch it on my flat screen in the comfort of home.

The con movie is a little bit different where maybe we tell you what we're going to do but it never goes down the way you expect because there's so much double-crossing and cheats and lies going on along the whole way.

Well, honestly, the films I personally like to go see are smaller, more character-driven pieces, so that's why the movies I've made have been smaller, more character-driven movies.

When I was 25 years old and had no money - and didn't know how to make movies and had no experience - I was able to get $25,000 together, and that film was 'The Brothers McMullen.'

When you work with a DeNiro or Hoffman, they love what they do so much that there's never any competitive vibe. It's more about how do we do this thing together.

You know, I've certainly gone through periods, once I got into this business, where I tried to adopt maybe a more sophisticated style, 'cause they give you all these free clothes.

Actors are con men and con men are actors.

And at no point did making 'Brothers McMullen' feel like work or hardship. It was really just a matter of 11 days of fun over the course of 8 months.

'Brothers McMullen' would not be picked up for theatrical distribution now.

But at a certain point, you have to take your influence and find your own voice if you want to become a relevant artist.

But the longer I'm in the business, you see a lot of times these screenplays have been rewritten 5 times and you're not really offending an author.

I feel Irish-Americans are the forgotten minority group. Nobody else is making films about them.

I mean the cool thing about the movies is that you get to try on these different personalities and different styles.

I suffer from Irish-Catholic guilt. Guilt is a good reality check. It keeps that 'do what makes you happy' thing in check.

I was a kid who went to film school and fell into acting.

I'd been offered TV series over the years and never had any interest in doing television. I'm not a TV guy.

I'm always aware of who my core audiences are and I serve that niche.