Music is, for me, a great tool of a filmmaker, the same way cinematography, the acting, editing, post-production, the costumes are. You know, to help you tell a story.

I am very fortunate I can send my kids to private school, but everybody does not have the money. If you cannot get your kid in a good school today, your kids are going to be behind the eight ball.

I'm just trying to tell a good story and make thought-provoking, entertaining films. I just try and draw upon the great culture we have as a people, from music, novels, the streets.

There's an unwritten law that you cannot have a Jewish character in a film who isn't 100 percent perfect, or you're labeled anti-Semitic.

I respect the audience's intelligence a lot, and that's why I don't try to go for the lowest common denominator.

I live in New York City, the stories of my films take place in New York; I'm a New York filmmaker.

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