I was nearly a teen-ager before I stopped assuming that everyone I met was Jewish.

I'm always struck when I go somewhere I've never been before, especially if it's in my home town, by just how different the atmosphere can be, and how disorienting it can be - especially if there's any kind of trouble.

I often find myself writing about people taking care of each other, or trying to. And often seem to write about situations that are too big for the characters.

I wanted to be a director first to protect my writing. I'm a playwright and you don't need to protect your writing when you're in the theater because everyone's there to protect the writing. When I had an idea for a film that I really cared about as my own, I wanted to direct it, and then I immediately became interested in directing in and of itself because it's such a deep art. You suddenly have all these tools at your disposal to tell the story.

I feel like if you can describe something fully and accurately, then people will be able to see it themselves - they don't need be told what to.

There's something about the impact of a big screen that means something to me, even though I realize almost every film is fated to be seen for a year in theaters, and then forever after on television.

There's a few people who I've accumulated over the years who I really trust to show a first cut to and to be helpful rather than unhelpful.