I think all my movies are about transitions to some degree.

I'm interested in the way major events don't necessarily announce themselves as major events. They're often little things - the drip, drip of life that changes people or affects people.

Manhattan is so tailored. It's driven by appealing to the very wealthy and tourists.

I feel a real connection to Brooklyn, certainly, because I spent 20 years of my life there, but I don't think of myself as a Brooklyn artist any more than I think of myself as a male artist.

I'm curious how people build up the codes that they live their life by, and how they come to think that that's the best way for them to function.

When I make a movie, I have both a specific and vague, amorphous dream idea of what the movie is going to be. Of course, I don't actually know what it's going to be, but I'm still striving to get to some place with it.

Other people have worked with big studios and maintained control over their movies. I see no reason why it wouldn't work for me.