Give some more information about your films that you have made so far, about your experience.

I did a lot of short films- micro-micro budget films- very fun to make. Crazy experiences that will be with me forever. To give you an idea about my early days in filmmaking, I once jokingly referred to the movie “Bowfinger” as “a documentary on independent filmmaking”. 

Of course, I never ran across a freeway with oncoming traffic, but I did once have my mother brace my ankles for me while I leaned 

completely over the side of a bridge to get a water shot. Another time, I wrapped my body around a statue to get a unique angle on a ceiling shot. Another time, I filmed in a ditch on the side of a highway while my dad stood beside me and made sure I didn’t get run over by a car. 

You take risks. And, for a lot of things, when you can’t afford the trick, you do it for real. I used a GoPro in the ocean- more frequently 

than I’d like to admit. And I did a lot of outdoor shooting in lightning storms. And, one time, I filmed at the ocean in a lightning storm. 

Not my finest hour, perhaps, but we got the end result we needed. Speaking of not being able to do the trick and having to do something for real, the final shot in “Saints” is actually real. It’s not recolored. We had one shot at getting the apex of the sunrise at the ocean during a five-minute window of time on the beach. And we actually made it! We all did our own stunt work in “Saints”, too. And yes, when Marie is swimming, 

I’m really swimming underwater, and when Marie is riding her horse up behind Joseph, that is really me riding. I used to ride horses 

when I was a kid and it was so much fun to incorporate that into the film- especially the whole unique thing of horseback riding in the water. 

When you have nothing and no one, you learn to do things yourself, then you realize that you’re actually good at it, and then you enjoy it. 

For example- I never knew that I could design costumes. But then it came down to it that it needed to be done and I did it. 

And I enjoyed it immensely. It was fun. You always learn something from walking in someone else’s shoes that you can take away as a nugget of wisdom and use to grow yourself mentally in your own work.

What are the films or people that had impacts on you and deeply inspired you to become a filmmaker?

I was born and raised on films. It was never something that had to be taught to me. It was just a natural part of my life. 

I remember that I was maybe 8 or 10 years old by the time I realized that different films were from different eras and that some of them 

were “old” and some of them were “new”. It didn’t make a difference to me, though. I still thought of all film as the same- as “fun”. 

And I wanted in on the action from day one. It was the most creative art form of its time. Therefore, it is where I felt I belonged. 

Where I could be creatively free- that was the place for me. Film. So, when I mention people both living and dead and films both new and old, 

don’t be surprised- it’s just because of my upbringing. Charlie Chaplin- I was heavily influenced by Chaplin. 

Fred Astaire- the minute the camera started following his amazing dancing, cinematography entered a whole new world of possibility. 

“Citizen Kane” because it perfectly encapsulated my worst nightmares on screen so beautifully. “Days of Wine and Roses” because it has probably the strongest performances I’ve ever seen. Watching Jack Lemmon in the greenhouse scene- I wanted that feeling in my own films-

 the feeling of pushing beyond the limits and setting the actor free to give complete magic- and a bit of danger- to the camera. 

That feeling of complete surrender to your film and to your performance therein. The ability to tear emotions right out of people’s heart. 

I love it! The “Before” trilogy- it made me appreciate the power that a camera can give to an intimate conversation. 

It’s like a romantic experience with the very cities they are in. And it makes you listen and derive and conclude your own interests in them. 

And I have to put Chris Evans’ 2014 film “Before We Go” in that category, too- of just letting a camera capture a situation and letting 

the scene and the actors and their thoughts and words and feelings be their own “bells and whistles”. Because I’m from New York, 

I have great respect for anyone who can successfully pull a sweet, touching, romantic- even beautiful- feel out of that city and 

make me remember why I still love it. “Titanic” was probably the film that made me want to make films because 

I saw the medium’s potential to create worlds and draw audiences in. It was a way of taking all the limits off of imagination and 

just being able to say “welcome to my world”. You can do anything. Watching the film itself was a very freeing experience. 

You can tell your story and- there it is for everyone to see. And then everyone can find their own ways to relate to it. 

It is just as personal as it is universal. And I continue to be inspired by actors, directors, and films. Viggo Mortensen in literally everything he does- he’s just the ultimate in becoming a character down to his thought process and making you believe every moment. 

I always love watching him because I’m always surprised. Robert Downey Jr. in the film “Chaplin”- for me, that was a no-brainer that 

it would be one of the greatest things I’d ever seen. The level of commitment to that film- to that genius- inspires me to this day. 

I’m from New York originally, so I have to put Robert Zemeckis’ “The Walk” up there with my biggest modern inspirations. 

Besides the fact that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a miracle of an actor who gives an absolutely perfect performance, 

the visual effects make me cry every time. It lets me mourn, yet simultaneously look forward and be inspired. I love it. 

The Twin Towers and the old downtown Manhattan were recreated down to the last detail. It looks and feels like I remember it 

and how my parents remember it. You really can create anything with film. And the two films that inspired and helped motivate me while 

I was actually working on “Saints” were “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Knives Out”. “Bohemian Rhapsody” because I love stories about people 

who forge new paths and do the impossible. And “Knives Out” because the good person wins because she’s a good person- 

and because she was good at what she did. When you’re like me, you go to the movies and project the way you would have done things. 

You can’t help it. The brain just never shuts off. The reason I enjoy “Knives Out” so much is because I couldn’t find a single thing I’d have done differently. So, therefore, I can just always sit back and enjoy it. To me, Rian Johnson created a perfect film.