KEITH SAMPLES / WRITER-DIRECTOR

Midlife crisis? No, Keith Samples insists, his resignation as chief executive officer of Rysher Entertainment recently at age 41 to write and direct was instead the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. The Oklahoma native will soon have a better idea of how the dream is playing out: His film “A Smile Like Yours,” a romantic comedy starring Greg Kinnear and Lauren Holly, opens Aug. 22.

EXECUTIVE DECISIONS: “I understand both the business and creative side, and the people I admire most understand that it’s the movie business. Steven Spielberg seems always able to do that even with the big ‘event’ pictures. And Mel Gibson and guys like Robert Redford and Ron Howard have been able to do that too.”

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT: “Not every movie has to change society. If you take people into theaters for two hours and make them laugh or make them cry, that’s a noble thing. We [Rysher] made a movie last year, ‘Kingpin,’ that I think is a classic example of that. It made people laugh.”

OVERLOAD: “The problem with the ‘event’ movies is you used to have four or five a year. Today you have one every weekend, and it’s difficult to sustain people’s enthusiasm.”

MORE OVERLOAD: “Six new movies each weekend is detrimental to the health of the business. The marketplace won’t support that. I hope they cut back to three--but let my next film be one of them.”

NEXT YEAR’S BILLY BOB: “I hope it’s me! Honestly, the thing about who’s hot next year is it’s not something you can predict, especially for writers and directors. It’s easier with actors.”

HOT SPOTS: “I am so far out of that gathering-place loop. I don’t know where the hot gathering places are. I live in Encino!”

THE BIG VALLEY: “Biggest advantage of living in the Valley is almost no matter how big a movie is, you can almost always get in on opening weekend. First time in a long time where I had to wait for the next show was ‘Air Force One.’ ”

BAD NEWS FOR BILL: “I heard people walking out after ‘Air Force One’ saying, ‘Why can’t we have a president like that?’ ”

VOICE OF EXPERIENCE: “Best way to start if you want to be a director is go the film school route, make a student film and get out there young. Which I didn’t do.”