I use something that is a real staple in the directing world. It's called a dance floor. You lay it down so that it's so smooth you can roll around, and you can put furniture on top of it. It's seamless and you don't see it.

The radio for these women is like television is for us today, which is really like looking at the radio.

I design my shots. I walk the rehearsal as the camera and say 'this is where I want to be... I want this look.

It goes back to a style of moviemaking I remember seeing as a child, in movies like The Man With The Golden Arm, which I think was shot all on a sound stage.

As one who loves literature, art, music and history, I've been deeply rooted in the Harlem Renaissance for many years.

That's the only way I can control my movie. If you shoot everything, then everything is liable to end up in the movie. If you have a vision, you don't have to cover every scene.

Michael Ralph brilliantly plays the street prophet, a West Indian who foreshadows the Harlem riot.