I watch movies all the time, so it's hard to pick certain specific directors that have inspired me in the aggregate.

There are days when you're in a good groove and the actor really understands the part and comes as prepared every day as you are and is so inside it. And then there's the day where, for whatever reason, it's just a harder slog. And I feel like those are the days where all the preparation and everything becomes more necessary because you have to find a third route there.

I realize how much I rely on the actors to really know the lines because I tend to forget what they are exactly, even though I've written them. I don't have them memorized. But when it's going well, there is that point where the actor starts to know more about the character than I do.

Adaptations are fun for me because they connect to the idea of filmmaking I had when I was a kid. I would see a movie and think: 'I'm gonna make that movie.'

I try to write 'and it's all very funny' after each scene description so that the reader can imagine the movie in their head.

I'm always looking for overlooked post-Dylan singer-songwriter records from the '70s.

I wouldn't say 'Frances Ha' is autobiographical, but it's definitely very personal.