There were certain things that I watched, and I screened a series of period films as well, not because I wanted to copy those, because I wanted to be different. “Far from the Madding Crowd” was one I looked to because I thought it looked so good. “Doctor Zhivago.” Unrequited love is always a great thing. “Tess” was something I looked at, I thought Polanski got the period right.

If we put the camera on ourselves, our friends and neighbors, we'll come up with some scary stuff.

We live in a disposable society. It's easier to throw things out than to fix them. We even give it a name - we call it recycling.

Sitting in an automobile was where I first remember understanding how drama works ... Hidden in the back seat of a sedan, I quickly realized how deep the chasm or intense the claustrophobia could be inside your average family car.

I have a healthy view of what one can do with art.

There is a lot of absurdity sometimes, not just in Mormonism but often in other religions that want to pretend that no bad happens in their church, rather than taking care of what bad does happen.

Movies are - all I've found is that they're just tougher and tougher to make.