There was no way I was going back to school to study anything for another three or four years. I was done with that. So I tried working on other people's projects, but didn't find any where I felt I could learn what I needed to learn.

I was having tea with a guy I was introduced to, about the possibility of working with him at his production company. He asked me if I'd written anything, and I said yes. Then he said 'why don't you just shoot it'? And I thought, "duh!" Best advice I ever got.

I prefer to discover new talent by holding open auditions.

I definitely don't intend to only make films about Nigerians or Africans. I want to make films about people, any people.

Three directors whose work directly influences mine are Paul Thomas Anderson, Darren Aronofsky and Susanne Bier (her Danish films). You'll notice that they all don't make feel good movies, same as me, and their films are always visually simple but beautiful (and I hope mine are!).

I entered the film industry sprinting, but not for long.

Nollywood is a genre, and not the entire Nigerian film industry. However none of the 'New wave' of directors in Nigeria would know what was possible without the Nollywood model, so I'm grateful to them for showing us that our stories are of interest to people other than Nigerians. I would describe myself as a filmmaker, period.