I want to make accessible movies for bright people, but I don't want to play games and be coy..

I've wanted to direct for a long time, but it had to be a story I wanted to tell. The writer's job is to find the story that he should tell..

I would hope that people might view their fellow beings, all beings, with more empathy, more compassion, with a desire to understand. Even if they ca….

I spent so many years trying to become an actor, trying to be a person that I wasn't..

The bigger the budget, the less an audience is trusted, and that's the difference between a big-budget film and a small-budget film..

There is nothing more depressing than toast that no one eats..

I feel like there's a certain kind of laughter missing in the world..

I don't want to write my life. I live my life. I want to make up a new world..

People are usually pretty hungry after a funeral. I guess it's because we all realize that time is running out and we better eat all we can. Please d….

In a cement park across the street is this giant sculpture. It is a giant umbrella frame lying on its side. It's green. Stand under it, during a rain….

People love conversation, and movies are conversations, and an audience has to participate; it has to fill in some blanks..

I want to write stories that don't help you escape life, but embrace life..

I've always written for actors, and if you want to write for good actors, you have to write parts that are surprising, that are human, and that allow….

I think it's a fantastic thing to be alive..

The better the script, the less money there is. That's just the economics of the studio system..

I learned early on that there are all sorts of stories I have no place telling..

GOOD AS NEW was born out of the idea of writing a play where the stakes were high and the collisions were of a verbal nature. Also I wanted to write ….

I can't stop terrorism; I can't cure cancer. But I can put some stories out there in their own quiet way that talk about tolerance..

I don't know anything about directing, but if you love actors, know your story and hire a great company, then anyone can direct a film..

My job as a dramatist is to find out where these characters want to go, and make it as hard as possible for them to get there..