“Failure is always an option.”

I’ve regularly had to do things that were never done before, from designing complex motion-control rigs to figuring out how to animate chocolate.

These objects were sometimes just 12 inches across yet needed enough detail to fill a movie screen.

I have some ideas on how to fix that.

Especially parts from ‘Star Wars’ – I can do this stuff all day long. It’s exactly how I made my living for 15 years.

I’m a lifelong movie addict, and one of my favorite projects is making replica props and costumes.

Bigger is always better.

After all those years of doing remote detonations, where we just push a button and something explodes, to actually see a nice big fat line of black smoke heading toward something that will blow up is very satisfying.

Breaking something big into its constituent parts will help you organize your thoughts, but it can also force you to confront the depth of your ignorance and the hugeness of the task.

I think one of the defining moments of adulthood is the realization that nobody’s going to take care of you.

I think LEGOs are one of the best toys ever developed.

Whether it’s in a phrase like “going over like a lead balloon” or “a needle in a haystack,” or tackling movie myths or even a genre, like MacGyver or James Bond

Back when I was a professional model-maker at Industrial Light & Magic, my specialty was hard-edged construction – spaceships, miniature sets, and architectural stuff.

In the spirit of science, there really is no such thing as a ‘failed experiment.’ Any test that yields valid data is a valid test.

There is no dignity in television.

There is so much history in New York State, from the Erie Canal to the Catskills, the birth of American stand-up comedy.

It’s about mindset of looking at the world in a playful and curious and creative way.