Ruff! Ruff!

How hard is it to find those really great, smaller movies?

Well, in the past five years, it's all sort of changing. I mean, even with this film, Warner Independent is taking it out. There's been a huge shift for studios. They find that the public is finding independent films appealing, and there's a market there that can be exploited. So they say, "What are they doing over there, and can we do it in what we do?" And because of financing now, it's very difficult to get a small picture off the ground without a movie star in it, and it used to be that didn't matter so much. And so, the bigger actors are stepping down into the independents, the independents are trying to be bigger and more mainstream, and the studio pictures are seeing what the independents are doing, and making money, and saying, "How do we make our studio picture more character driven and have a better story?" Because people are obviously paying to go see those sorts of things. So there's been in the past five years a real sort of -- the lines have become blurred between a studio picture and an independent now.

So now Spider-Man says quirky things.

[Laughs.] Yeah! Now Spider-Man's an interesting character: He has a darkness and he's conflicted. And I think ultimately it's healthier. It's kind of sad to see the independents losing those more original voices. I get a lot of scripts, and you don't find a script like "You Can Count on Me" or this script too often. I mean it's few and far between now on the independent scene. And usually there were five or six of those floating around at any given time.

Oh, there were more small, quality scripts floating around before?

Yeah, I felt like there were more sort of courageous films being made in the independent world than are being made now.

So fewer people are resigned to staying at that level.

I think so. It was like an outsider's medium, and now it's sort of become a more mainstream medium. Plus, now investors are like, "I want a return!" Instead of saying, "Sure, let's throw the dice, because I love independent cinema and I love small stories!" Instead it's like, "I want a return, what are you talking about? I want to double my money. I want to triple my money." So it's just changed.

Well, it seems like you're well situated in both worlds.

Yes, I've never had so many great opportunities. Who knows how long this will last? But I'm in the best of both worlds right now.

It's nice to be able to choose!

Yes, I have choices! Before it was like, whatever came. I don't have a job yet! But it's scarier. It's all gotten so much more crazy.

Because the stakes are higher.

Yeah, everything's compounded, you know?

How do you remember what your goals are, and make sure you're still guided by the right principles?

Material. It's all material.

Oh, I thought for a minute you meant material wealth!

Ah yes, material wealth! It's all numbers. I just do some number crunching, that's all. I've got a really great accountant!

No, no. A lot of the people I work with trust me. They're like, "Hey, you've done really well by following your own compass, so keep doing it." And I've been doing this long enough that I think I can recognize good material pretty well now.

• View blog reactions