In the moment of making films, I want to share my observations of life, not of other films.

A book suggests a whole world and story that I could have never thought of in a million years.

It seems that our politicians see the world in black and white, so why not our artists? Did Woody Allen's 'Manhattan' have to be in black and white? No. But is it fantastic that it was? To see New York like that? Yes!

You just never know when you're living in a golden age.

If you're not making epic, archetypal films on some level, I think you're wasting a great potential of cinema.

I'd love to be a director-for-hire and get a nice paycheck and captain one of those big ships, but I think studios mistakenly think I want to write what I direct - which I don't. I write out of desperation, because I never get a script I like, other than "Nebraska." It's a matter of: What's the screenplay? Is it intelligent? Is it human? I don't care what genre, what scale. I'm here for the movies.

I'm attracted to short screenplays. Nobody really wants a film to be over two hours, or at least I don't.