Always Stay Open To Surprise.

I Go Through Periods, Usually When I'm Editing And Shooting, Of Seeing Only Old Films.

A Lot Of What I'm Obsessed With Is The Relationship And The Dynamics Between People And The Family, Particularly Brothers And Their Father.

Always Get To The Set Or The Location Early, So That You Can Be All Alone And Draw Your Inspiration For The Blocking And The Setups In Private And Quiet.

Because Of The Movies I Make, People Get Nervous. They Think Of Me As Difficult And Angry. I Am Difficult And Angry, But They Don't Expect A Sense Of Humor. And The Only Thing That Gets Me Through Is A Sense Of Humor.

I Know That I Come From Mid-20th Century America, Urban, Specifically Downtown New York, Specifically An Italian-american Area, Roman Catholic - That's Who I Am. And A Part Of What I Know Is There's A Decency To People Who Tried To Make A Living In The Kind Of World That Was Around Us And Also The Skid Row Area Of The Bowery; It Impressed Me.