What are the stories you want people to tell about you?.

"A meteor hits planet Earth" - that's a story idea but that doesn't give me any indication of what the character is..

There are people who are originals and the stuff they make really is new. It isn't based on anything else. But I've decided I'm not that-I was never ….

When things go right it's hard to figure out why, but when things go wrong it's really easy..

You can create meaning where there was none, you can create feeling where there was none, you can create narrative where there was none. Two frames c….

There's a big difference between a movie about relationships and a movie in which people talk about relationships. It seems like a lot of people have….

A real litmus test for me is how people treat someone who is waiting on them. That's a dealbreaker for me.If I were on the verge of getting into a se….

In nature, if a cell gets too big, it divides. You can't come up with a set of rules that's going to work for 350 million people. You're just not..

I always have a plan, but then I'm always ready to throw the plan out, and everyone's ready to make a radical left turn if necessary..

I've begun to believe more and more that movies are all about transitions, that the key to making good movies is to pay attention to the transition b….

We're all standing on the shoulders of what other people have done. But you're supposed to take that and add your own sauce. It can be intimidating, ….

There's a difference between failures and things that are bad..

We have to have a version of our own story that we keep telling ourselves that allows us to get up in the morning. This version of yourself is what y….

I'm probably more character-driven than plot-driven. It's rare for me to attach myself to an idea for a story..

In the land of ideas, you are always renting..

I can make a movie about Lee Harvey Oswald and make you feel what he feels and make you understand why he believes what he believes. That doesn't mea….

We [people] are a species that's wired to tell stories. We need stories. It's how we make sense of things. It's how we learn..

If you're going to make a movie for ten thousand you can talk everybody into doing it for free. You could make a really good-looking movie right for ….

To me the director’s job is to leave it in better shape than you found it, literally..

You’re supposed to expand your mind to fit the art, you’re not supposed to chop the art down to fit your mind..

You can't get good at anything unless you do it day in and day out, over and over..