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I've sort of been an anthropologist of modern America, in a non-academic way. Whether it's Marines or Tupperware salesladies, high end audiophiles or bike couriers, I'm fascinated by the hallmarks of the American tribe.

I have a lot of cultural references that have amassed in my brain like shrapnel over the years that are meaningful to me.

I grew up in a storytelling culture, a tribal culture, but also in an American storytelling culture.

There are lots of stories about my culture that I think bring a whole other perspective to who we are and where we have been and how we got here that I think need to be done.

I like making films about different cultures. I'm interested in things that I've never encountered before. I try to put myself in the audience's position.

I started working at Focus on the Family doing debates and media and cultural studies.

I want to have a cultural impact. I want to be an inspiration, to show people what can be done.

I probably spent the first 20 years of my life wanting to be as American as possible. Through my 20s, and into my 30s, I began to become aware of how so much of my art and architecture has a decidedly Eastern character.

My whole life, I had been taught to read and study, to seek understanding in knowledge of history, of cultures.

Being educated in the United States gave me a good understanding of American culture. I think I got a lot of influence from the entrepreneurial mind in the United States.