My first teacher was Steven Spielberg. I worked on Amazing Stories. That was my first job, as a writer and as a story editor. Watching him and his command of the tools of filmmaking, and his admiration for writing and the story itself, was the greatest lesson I ever had.

Having been a singer in a band, back in my youth, music is really important to me.

Fighting the wild branches of a haunted tree is not something that every actor is confident enough to attack, literally and figuratively.

For me, it's important that a movie is the congregate of all art forms, from writing to art composition to music to performing. Trying to keep a balance of all those is what I think a director's job is.

The best actors in the world are the actors who don't keep the walls up all the time and allow themselves the potential to be embarrassed.

The only features I've done have been on the lower-budget end, for what they were. It's really all about getting the best people aboard and committing to doing the best work possible and prioritizing where your time is going to be spent.

It's exciting not knowing what I'm doing next, but it won't be long before I'm going to feel like I needed to be doing something, whatever it is.