Hollywood needs more women directors, and Mama Ava needs a carafe and a half of that sweet vino divino.

The documentaries were something that I could do for a small amount of money, and then I felt like as long as I found the truth in the stories I was telling as a doc, I could teach myself filmmaking through doc filmmaking.

I make films about Black women and it doesn't mean that you can't see them as a Black man, doesn't mean that he can't see them as a white man or she can't see them as a white woman.

It's very nourishing and collaborative - kind of the true essence of what one would want an artistic collaboration to be [the collaboration with Oprah Winfrey].

I think there are a lot of people in this industry that have the ability, that have the position, they have the opportunity, they have the privilege to call the shots and could do it too.

I wish I could be the black woman Soderbergh, and put the camera on my shoulder and shoot beautifully while I directed.

It was easy for me to show the films to the studio and the network and say, "This is who I'm hiring."