I don't dictate, you don't dictate to Stevie Wonder, not successfully.

A lot of times, we censor ourselves before the censor even gets there.

I didn't dream about being a director. I didn't know I wanted to do something with film until the summer between my sophomore and junior years at Morris College in Atlanta, Georgia.

I think black people have to be in control of their own image because film is a powerful medium. We can't just sit back and let other people define our existence.

There’s always been this hocus-pocus or magical, mystical thing associated with the making of film that sort of psyches people out and makes them think that this cannot be done; that this is a craft that cannot be learned.

I'll be vilified if I shoot a film in Toronto for New York. And rightfully so!

Any time you talk about the look of the film, it's not just the director and the director of photography. You have to include the costume designer and the production designer.