There are different kinds of artists, and film people are the hungriest of them all. Film is the most expensive medium to work in, it requires the most number of people to make and it has the biggest effect on an audience. And the competition to get work in it is enormous. So to get to the top of that profession requires a serious commitment, and vast reservoirs of talent and drive.

Consider what a film director has to do, and what a film director has to know. They have to know exactly what every member of their team does, and how to get the best out of them all. And they have to solve a lot of problems, and all of the time. Where should the camera go? What's the point of this scene? What do you do with a petulant actor who's threatening to walk out? How do you get clearance to use a particular location? Where do you find the money? How best do you spend that money?

And then there are the hours: you have to work incredibly late at night and start incredibly early in the morning. You have to be prepared to go wherever it takes you: Alaska in the winter, Alice Springs in summer and Wagga Wagga at three in the morning.

By contrast, an oil painter needs very little: a canvas, an easel, some paints and brushes. This kind of artist can sit in the garden and make art there. There will still be living expenses, which all of us have, but the equipment isn't hugely expensive.

Personally, I was never too interested in sitting in a garden with a paintbrush. But then I never much wanted to be a film director, either.

Somewhere in the middle, I'm thinking. Or perhaps off to one side. Perhaps a long way off to the side.