All the characters in my films are fighting these problems needing freedom trying to find a way to cut themselves loose but failing to rid themselves of conscience a sense of sin the whole bag of tricks.

There have been nine Super Bowls in New Orleans and not all of them have brought the best of luck to NFL Films. We got robbed twice there got food poisoning and my hotel room was broken into on the day the Bears played the Patriots in January 1986.

I am a filmmaker. That is all I've ever been. You know Martin Scorsese makes films about the mob. And I make movies about food.

It's very difficult to break into motion pictures but it's oddly easier for directors today because of independent films and cable who have inherited for the most part those films of substance that the studios are reluctant to finance.

I turn up in Los Angeles every now and then so I can get some big money films in order to finance my smaller money films.

In Australia they set up a special fund to kick films off. It was quite an enlightened sort of move. You could go to this government bureau with scripts and and get finance for films.

There were a lot of people dreaming about making films and they would finance maybe 6 films a year. Because they were funded by the government the films sort-of had to deal with serious social issues - and as a result nobody went to see those films.

Now both my films have been number one at the Australian box office and it took about two years just to get the finance for this film so if it's hard for me then God help everyone else.

I have come close to producing films. But generally by the time they hit the screen there's about 50 people with producer credits so what's the point. I usually find scripts I like with no money attached and take them to producers that I know and try to raise finance.

I think that my vampires in general were influenced by my being allowed to watch the Hammer vampire films. Vampire Circus also shown as Circus of Fear was one of those movies.