I think because I’m not a parent, my most immediate connection to childhood is my memory of my own childhood.
Music is thousands and thousands of years old and I don’t think that basic, primitive connection to the language of music ever changes.
The past is just a story we tell ourselves.
I just want to make whatever is exciting.
I don’t understand the whole testing-numbers thing. It is not how I want to make movies.
You have to be involved and relate to the characters in order to make a film that is true emotionally.
The invention of the iPod changes how you use music. Suddenly you have music everywhere.
As a parent, your perspective of childhood is through the eyes of this person that you care so much about and you just want the world to be great for them. You want their life to be easy and happy.
Doing a documentary is about discovering, being open, learning, and following curiosity.
I definitely enjoy getting to know people I find inspiring.
If you compromise what you’re trying to do just a little bit, you’ll end up compromising a little more the next day or the next week, and when you lift your head you’re suddenly really far away from where you’re trying to go.
Be willing to get fired for a good idea.
Felt is not the easiest thing to animate. It’s very flimsy.
I am better at math than spelling.
Chris Cooper I got to work with many times.
I feel like everything I make is personal to me.
I always aspire to that, where it feels like the film was made by the characters as opposed to the filmmakers. I try to be invisible.
I’m not one to intellectualize why I did something.
Big emotions that are unexplained are really scary. At least to me.
If I leave my phone in the car and go to dinner or something for a few hours, I’m very proud of myself.
What the world is like from a nine-year-old’s point of view? My memory is that nothing is explained to you, you’ve got to try to figure it out, pick up clues from the people around you, try to figure it out from their reactions.