I wanted to tell a story that interested me as much in the telling as in the watching.

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.

Everyone has a little bit of Howard and Chad in them. I think there's Christine in all men as well.

I see bits and pieces of me in all the characters in my films.

I wanted to tell a story that interested me as much in the telling as in the watching.

Just in the past few years - since I've been making movies, which isn't a very long time - you now have a culture that is fascinated and informed about the box office in a way that sometimes filmmakers weren't even.

People think my work is therapeutic. I don't see it that way. It's not like I'm saving money from a weekly therapy visit by writing down my life.