I always find myself gravitating toward stories of transformation, and one of those periods is teenage life. When teenagers are figuring out who they are and have one foot in childhood and the other in adulthood - I think that's a really mythic moment to tell stories about.
No matter how much you've done before, you wonder if there will be a light at the end of this particular tunnel. It's the nature of the beast, and it's a part of what compels us. Every movie is a new lesson you learn making your way through it.
Whatever storytelling muscles you've developed as a documentary filmmaker will be extremely helpful as a narrative filmmaker.
I discovered the theater when I was in the first grade.
I first thought about doing a project about Anna Wintour and 'Vogue' when I read an article in 'New York Magazine' about the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Ball, the annual fundraising gala that Anna oversees. It created such a fascinating portrait that I couldn't help but be compelled.
I think the biggest challenge we faced in making 'The September Issue' was the fact that people in the fashion world are very suspicious of cameras. They're used to a camera being the enemy, something that is prying and looking to catch you in a compromising position, something that's judging you.
With 'If I Stay,' I want you to feel that the whole story is being told from a larger, spiritual point of view. So the beginning is very theatrical.
I'm very curious to know what it's like, death - I always say to my wife, 'I wonder if we'll have the 'New York Times' when we're dead.'
I work in the film business, where schmoozing is an art form, lunch hour lasts from 12:30 until 3, and every meeting takes an hour whether there's an hour's worth of business or not.
The only thing documentary filmmakers have to work with, at least the way I make films, is trust. That's been true of everyone from James Carville and George Stephanopoulos to the kids in 'American High' to the soldiers in 'Military Diaries' to Anna Wintour to Dick Cheney.
As a filmmaker, my approach is to come in not with preconceived notions, but with curiosity, and in that way, whether my subjects are James Carville or Anna Wintour or Dick Cheney, I am always surprised.
I'm big into not drawing conclusions for people. I think that's what makes for the most exciting, compelling films. I get bored when the politics of the filmmaker are the subject of the film that I see.
We're having such a great time on 'Nashville' that building on the relationship seemed an obvious next step. Lionsgate is the perfect home for the kind of scripted television I want to produce and direct.
The great thing about 'American High' is that, every year, you can do a completely different environment.
We hope the stories of the 14 kids in 'American High' provide something for many people to relate to.
'Taxicab Confessions' always cracks me up. And if you are in the mood for a good game show, I like 'Survivor' because it's well made.
I will say this: I think 'Big Brother' is the biggest snooze known to mankind.
As with the subjects in all of my films, the incentive is left to the subject to determine on their own. I never ask someone why they say yes to me. After all, if you invited someone to join you for dinner, and they accepted your invitation, your next question wouldn't be, 'Why are you saying yes?'
In both the world of fashion and politics, what's required to succeed is passion, dedication, and vision.
Cheney refers to his vice presidency... as one of the most consequential vice presidencies in American history. And it clearly was.
