I did The Newton Boys and during the whole process of making the film, I may have spent a week in Los Angeles.

Everyone is encouraged to see their lives, the world through the eyes of the rich.

All I've learned is that you need the studio system sometimes, if your budget is a certain size, and other films you can do independently. When I think of a studio, I generally think of distribution. Since I'm a director, I have a similar creative experience on every film I do, because I can control that. But then it's a different film, I think, as it reaches the public, depending on the way it's marketed. I don't know. I haven't learned much of anything. Sometimes you need them, sometimes you don't. Sometimes they want you, most of the time they don't.

The big nut to crack is to how to tell a story, what’s the right way to tell a particular story.

No one is asking what happened to all the homeless. No one cares, because it's easier to get on the subway and not be accosted.

I do find myself at the moment, due to the success of School of Rock, to be on people's radar a little.

My sisters would swear that I was the spoiled kid who got everything he wanted, and I would go "No way! I worked my ass off and you guys got everything." We're all kind of in our own narratives.