Being articulate, my parents could make anything sound reasonable.

When I meet certain filmmakers, sometimes you sit down and you do have some kind of shorthand. It can be fun to see them as someone who has been through similar experiences, but also as someone who just loves film. You can talk with them about films in a way that feels really free.

There's always some generational-guys-hanging-out movie that is made every few years, I think, and some of them are great.

That's the nice thing about collaborating with someone: Your work becomes a conversation.

There was a telemarketing job one summer in high school that I was rejected for. I still walk by the building that I actually had the interview in. It's still in New York, and I always think about that job and why I didn't get it.

I like having associations with locations beyond their meaning for the specific movie.

I'm sure I've said some pretty bad pick-up lines.