When you boil it down, it's all a visual expression. In a sense we are all storytellers through what we wear, who we want to be, how we want people to perceive us. Life, people and the stories they consciously or unconsciously tell inspire me everyday.

On Stranger Than Fiction, the script was so good that I stuck to every line because it was just such brilliant writing from Zach Helm that I felt like I really just want to shoot the page.

I always think it's interesting to switch genres, because if I read a script and I know exactly how to manifest a story, I don't really want to do it anymore, because I've already done it in my head. It becomes less interesting. If I read something that's challenging, I get really passionate and usually fall in love with it, because I feel I need to do it. I need to tell the story; I need to find a way to make it happen.

It's important to keep up with technology, to constantly move with it. Striving to do so keeps me alert and creates a sense of fluidity but at the same time I like to distance myself from it. It's key for my process to try and remain outside the bubble.

I always wanted to do an action movie, not particularly Bond.

The goal is to align with your core group of collaborators, who understand your vision and aesthetics. I usually show them visual material of what I have in mind, as well as a color spectrum of mood boards.

I realized that a lot of the great directors that I admire from [Ingmar] Bergman to [Fredrico] Fellini re always shooting, then going into the editing room, and shooting again.