There are a lot of male directors who are directing female-driven pieces. I think that its good to get the girl's point of view and they should write stuff that they know.

I met Shannon Hale through some friends and family. I was interested in her book called Princess Academy, which is just a very sweet, Newbery-nominated fairy tale for young readers. She was like, "Oh, actually I have something else for you." She gave me Austenland. The next morning, I'm sure I called her and I was like, "Let's make this movie." It is so fun. It just felt so girly and great and a great vehicle for the weird Hess comedy.

When you are nice to people, they bring their A-game.

I was just ready to make a movie for the girls. It was just really fun to write for a girl. It was really indulgent and sweet. The whole movie feels indulgent, doesn't it? It's such a romp in England.

I never think that being a woman is so hard. Maybe don't think about your gender and be confident as you go forward rather than try to single yourself out as some underserved part of filmmaking.

The costume designer, her name is Anne Hardinge. She's done "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." She's really comedic costume designer, which was right up my alley. She was a joy to work with. She was like fabulous Geena Davis. She was just floating with her red lip and kind of fabulous.

I can't handle my own voice, even hearing it echoing on a cell phone. It's horrible.