I was in a cult for thirty-four years. Everyone else could see it. I don’t know why I couldn’t.

I just always try to find an interesting story and tell it well. That's a hard enough thing to do, whether it's a piece of fiction or it's a small piece of reality. I just look for good story.

Always write from your gut, no matter what the project is.

Walk through Santa Monica and try to find somebody who knows a young man or woman who's in this war. Here, war is an intellectual concept. If you lose your son or daughter, it's no longer an intellectual matter.

If you change the right mind, then that person can perhaps change the world.

You don't make a film because the audience is ready for it. You make a film because you have questions that are in your gut.

I try not to think of actors as I'm writing because I think you do them a disservice by writing for things they've already done.