School Plays Are Fine. Theater In School

It's Been Reinforced To Me, And It's A Little Cliche, But I've Learned That You Can't Make A Movie That Even Works, Much Less That's Good, Without Really Good Writing And Really Good Acting. That Lesson Has Led Me To Not Be Distracted, So Much, By The Other Stuff Going On In Filmmaking And To Focus On The Essence Of A Story, And The Words And The Events And The Way That Those Are Interpreted By The Actors. That Philosophy Has Taken Me To A Place That I Really Like.

I Try To Cast Really Good Actors And Give Them A Chance To Do Their Very Best Work, Give Them As Much Time And Space As They Need.

It Takes Time To Develop A Sense Of Humor, Shared World Views.

[directing First Film:] I Was Terrified, It Was Really Very Scary Because There Is A Lot Of Responsibility. I Think I Was Terrified Because I Wanted It To Work So Much. A Lot Of Actors Direct Movies But I Thought The Stakes Were Kind Of Higher For Me Because I Really, Really Cared. [...] I Just Worked As Hard As I Possibly Could On Every Single Thing, Every Single Day. I Said That If This Failed It Would Not Be Because I Didn't Work As Hard As I Possibly Could...every Day.

I've Got To Work Really Hard And I Know Exactly What I've Achieved Because I Know How Hard I've Worked, And I Make Sure To Work As Hard As I Absolutely Possibly Can, Because I Know That's The Only Shot I Have At Being Successful.