I look at racism as one of the social demons. And, in its worst, it's violent and it's a systemic commitment to oppression.

Anyone who's really utilized collaboration has a philosophy like, 'Let's throw it all against the wall and see what sticks.' That's how we do it. At a certain point, we're cutting scripts that we love.

I think that is also something he [Barack Obama], in the beginning of his presidency, he couldn't really explore and couldn't show. He had to be almost a one-dimensional, stoic leader during that first election.

We haven't done enough work to encourage minorities to strive to make movies. Hollywood is a place full of white male directors - there are many good ones. We just haven't nurtured our voices.

I've been very lucky to have a family who has welcomed me and not been hung up on anything racial, almost overlooking the fact that there was a racial difference. But I can honestly say I do feel like I missed out on some lessons of what the African-American experience is like growing up.

Any time I claimed to be white, that would be unacceptable. It just doesn't make sense in people's minds. If I'm white, how can I walk through a department store and still have people scared that I'm going to rob them? Which, that can still happen.

For me, the social thriller is the thriller in which the fears, the horrors, and the thrills are coming from society. They're coming from the way humans interact.