Daniel Battsek, 50, whose first major job was as managing director of Britain's innovative Palace Pictures (1985-91), left for the US to become president of Miramax in 2005.
America is a big country. It's the home of the film industry. The skills and the knowledge can be translated, but working in America requires a very different mind-set.
I'm still slightly in that shock-of-the-new period at Miramax. It's a 24/7 job. There's always somebody on the phone, morning, noon and night, but that keeps the adrenaline rushing.
When you're an Englishman in America you're going, "Jesus, is there anyone else apart from British people working in this business?" At every Academy Awards and every Emmys you see an extraordinary amount of British involvement.
It's typically British, the constant self-flagellation about not having an industry, and in many ways t's true. But look at the people in influential places: it's amazing how many Britons there are.
The concern about losing talent to America is a very British thing. It seems to me the best way to promote British film-making is to have British film-makers out on the world stage.
British film is where it always is: in a more robust state than it thinks it's in. I think it deserves to be a lot more confident about its power and influence.
I don't think Britain is backward. Right now, the whole industry has many lessons to learn and is trying very hard to keep up with the speed of technological change. The UK is as much on the front line as anybody else is. We're all playing catch-up.
Film does not play an incredibly important role in British culture, but it does in America. In the UK, you could ask the man on the street what the top 10 films are and he'd have no idea.
At least part of my attention is always drawn to the British film community, but I miss having that close contact with British film-makers and the ability to nurture those relationships personally, rather than having to do it when I make a flying trip.
I love New York, but I do miss London. Would I work in the UK again? I'd never say never, but I'm firmly focused on continuing at Miramax for the foreseeable future.