The brutality that can take place in a crime film heightens the tenderness that can also be there.

Characters who experience great trauma will sometimes create an escape.

I don't think there's enough breadth to the stories told about African-Americans.

My M.F.A was in directing, and all the films I've made, for film school and after, I've written, directed and shot.

I was always writing scripts, and I had made several shorts, before and after film school. But I worked a variety of temp positions over the years.

It's always healthy to be taken down a notch, even though it's humbling.

My brothers were the ones who taught me about mythology and storytelling, and showed me how to do stop-motion animation.