If I'm writing something I generally don't want to tell the world about it because it dissipates the energy you need to write it.

There are directors who are 20, 30 years older than me and their perceptions of youth, I hate to say, are entirely wrong. As much as I do, at times, like Larry Clark (Kids, Bully), to be brutally honest, I think he prefers to get his rocks off over his own films. Everyone went on about the brilliance of Kids, but I didn't love it. I don't want to do what Larry Clark did. I don't want to do teenagers again. I don't want to repeat myself. If, before 25, I make three films that are entirely different, I think I'll be setting myself up for a good relationship with my audience.

I was thinking about this the other day because when I decided to make this movie I didn't know much about cinema. I hadn't seen much. All these film buffs that I'd talk to would ask me about certain films and I'd pretend I'd watched all these Kubrick movies when I didn't even know their names! I still do it sometimes because I feel kind of guilty that I don't know half as much about cinema as I should.

Acting is about empathizing with people who more often than not, don't exist... I guess it's my job to help my actors do that to a degree, where the outcome is a mixture of my vision coupled with the unique and personal creative choices that only an actor can bring to the table.

The importance of a film crew is often under-appreciated, a director is only as good as his cast and crew will allow him or her to be...