If you can make the day, you can do whatever you want.

To me film school was film history because there weren't a lot of books out there that I had access to.

The Ryan Murphy television world has assistants who have become producers and writers and. If he trusts you and you have a unique way of seeing his world, he nurtures you.

I started in the P.A. world and craft service and storyboard artist, with the eye on the prize of directing. When I was directing second unit on Babel, I ended up casting most of the unknown parts. In these weird circles, I was this guy who found these kids on the streets.

I don't set out to do something weird, but if you see something a certain way and it's a little left of center, and you can realize it, that's a real thrill.

At some point, you have an opportunity to not be a first-time filmmaker anymore. You can embrace the genre and show the world how you can tell stories on a bigger scale.

It's a great asset to you, on your first film, to bring some people with you from the television world because they understand the speed that you have to work with to get your grand ideas down.