It comes down to this: black people were stripped of our identities when we were brought here, and it's been a quest since then to define who we are.

You know that first of all your films have to make money no matter who you are.

Stick around long enough, you'll get some grace.

I collect names for characters. Names are valuable; they can be your first source of insight into a character.

It gets dangerous when you start allowing people to validate your work.

I used the principles of Kickstarter to make 'She's Gotta Have It.' We filmed that in 1985 to 1986. The final cost was $175,000. I didn't have that money. It was friends, grants, donations. We saved our bottles for the nickel deposit.

The truth is I've been doing Kickstarter before there was Kickstarter; there was no Internet. Social Media was writing letters, making phone calls, beating the bushes.