I devoted myself to writing for years without representation or a promise of anything. And there were times when I felt quite down about my prospects.
The brutality that can take place in a crime film heightens the tenderness that can also be there.
There is so much talent out there and not quite as much opportunity.
Women have a greater verbal capacity.
You can be moved by an animated film and not by a live action film. There could be great inspiration in and humanity in that animated story.
You only get one world premiere of your directorial debut.
From stoplights to skyscrapers, turn anywhere in civilization and you will see imagination at work. It’s in our inventions, advances and remedies and how a single parent masterminds each day. Imagination is boundless, surrounds us and resides in us all.
I often think about the many remarkable things that my personal computer can do which I never ask it to do. I probably use a small fraction of its capabilities. I often wonder if the same dynamic occurs with our capacity for creativity.
My brothers were the ones who taught me about mythology and storytelling, and showed me how to do stop-motion animation.
Characters who experience great trauma will sometimes create an escape.
I don’t have to go into outer space to write about an astronaut.
I don’t think there’s enough breadth to the stories told about African-Americans.
I love so many different genres. I love crime films – and unusual coming-of-age pieces.
I think if you get your fifth script made, that’s the fast track. But there’s no guarantee any of them will get made.
I think there are many more stories still to be told about women.
I was always writing scripts, and I had made several shorts, before and after film school. But I worked a variety of temp positions over the years.
I’m interested in how innocence fares when it collides with hard reality.
If humanity is being swallowed by a modern primitivism, imagination might be the thing that saves us all.
If you do the math, films featuring women are a good investment.
It’s always healthy to be taken down a notch, even though it’s humbling.