Quote

One of the things I've learned as a filmmaker is to have some aspect of the movie be something that I admire greatly, whether that's an actor I'm working with, the subject matter, or a book.

A good movie makes the audience feel like they've journeyed with the characters.

I would say that it's mainly about the director. It's a hard quality to find, but I always know whether I want to do something or not. The character is important to me, as is getting to work with people that I feel like I can learn from and make a great movie with.

The great thing about films is that you have access to this whole world of experts who teach you the skills your character's supposed to have.

The movies that work are the ones in which somebody very smart figured out how to take all the thematic material, all the character material, all the filigree, all the beautiful writing, and put it into a story.

It's really interesting working in television as opposed to the theater, where you know the arc of the character and you are able to create this whole backstory.

There is something wonderful about turning up every day and knowing that not just the character but the whole movie kind of rests on your shoulders. And there's great satisfaction when you think it's going well and then real terror when you think it's not.

As the director, I try to go in and know as much as I can about the material. I really try to go in and understand what all the characters are about, what the movie's going to look like.

The important thing is the storytelling and having a script that makes you feel you're living and breathing through the characters.

I've always been a fan of movies well before I got involved in the industry. The magic that it brings and being able to, I guess, escape your troubles, escape whatever is going on in life and getting to live in this moment and in the story and live in the lives of these characters.