Quotes

I became a director because I couldn't find anybody else to direct my scripts, so I see myself as a screenwriter first. I focus a lot on the writing process but then I like to hold several rehearsals with actors. If good things come up I integrate them into the script. It's the same during shooting, but I do rehearse a lot because at the moment of shooting I like to feel that everything is under control. I need to know that I have done my homework. This security gives me more freedom to improvise.

For me, directing was a natural progression from scriptwriting but, yes, I would love to direct something I have not written. I would need to feel, though, that I really have something to add to it. I need to feel that I am going to turn the story into something of my own. In Spain there is often a misunderstanding of the word "auteur", meaning that you can only be considered one if you both write and direct. I personally disagree with that.

I come from a family of artists and I guess that, to rebel, I decided to take a different path from theirs. I studied management, but after wards, as I was looking for a job in a bank or at an insurance company, I started to write short stories and scripts to kill my time. Later, I found a job as a TV screenwriter. It was television that provided me with almost my all experience. I only went to film school after 12 years writing for TV.