I like actors who, when you see them on screen, you sense a person, not just an actor.

There is an audience out there for literate films - slower, more observant, more human films, and they deserve to be made.

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

A lot of people get stuck, like, "Oh, if it's made by a studio, it can't be independent." Often they link it to the source of financing, or how it's distributed, but I don't really know how you can. A filmmaker will take his money from anywhere. It doesn't matter.

I think cynicism lasts. Sentimentality ages, dates quickly.

I spend a long time casting, but once I've cast a film there's a reason why I selected those people. So I'm hands-on in selecting the cast, hands-off to see what they do with their characters, and hands-on again to offer suggestions.

The actors are the greatest executors of tone in a film. They're the most important cinematic component.