I think with 'Tangerine' we were taking that gamble - it was a risk - that we could tell the story in a comedic fashion to attract an audience and shed light on an issue.
Shooting on the iPhone has become more of a directors' tool to lower inhibition of first-time actors and nonprofessionals. While it's helped me become more mobile, no pun intended - running around, finding tight areas and different ways of moving the camera - to me it's more about using this device to catch candid moments. That's the biggest thing.
I went to NYU thinking I was going to make a 'Die Hard' sequel, or maybe action and genre films for the studios, but I ended up falling in love with personal cinema.
When you're a child, the colors are brighter, sounds are louder and whatever.
I'm an advocate of all mediums - it's a larger canvas for us as artists - but we have to keep in mind that celluloid film is what created this wonderful art form, and we have to keep it alive.
If more stories are told about marginalized communities, subcultures, and minorities, the less marginalized they will be.
I don't see myself as a short-film director, and I'm not a commercial director.
Like with 'Starlet,' we intentionally did not look at 'Boogie Nights' before making 'Starlet,' and I should have. Because there are one or two scenes that come too close and it looks almost like - because it's about the same industry, and you're going to be covering certain subjects.
With a lot of these social realist films, the first thing you do is drain the color.
From a filmmaker's point of view, there is something undeniably cinematic about a location like Santa Monica Boulevard, which is so chaotic and busy and over-stimulating.
Filmmaking has been my love since my mother brought me to see James Whale's 'Frankenstein' at the local library at the age of six.
We're all getting in trouble on Twitter - just get off and use your Instagram.
If you look over the history of cinema, changes happen when directors embrace new tools and technology and think outside the box.
I'm always looking for authenticity in my films. They're based in realism.
'Greg the Bunny,' the comedy television show that I co-created, happened almost by accident. Dan Milano, Spencer Chinoy and myself made a public access show that caught the eye of IFC, and it has had three incarnations since then with a season on Fox.
Somebody who doesn't understand my directing style could be pretty taken aback by it if I start going off the schedule and focusing on something because I'm inspired in the moment.
I don't have a family. I'm not planning one. I don't have to support anyone but me and my dog.
I want my films to be different, to use different techniques, not just make a calling card film.
There's an alchemy that happens in my eyes when you mix it up, when you have a seasoned actor on set and your first-timer.
So many films are being shot on the DSLR, that they're all starting to look the same. There's a shallow depth of field. It's a nice look, but I can always identify a film shot with a DSLR.
