If I'm not comfortable, I just look awkward.

With my aunt, I definitely can relate to how she makes a movie because she does it with her own demeanor, which isn't this loud presence.

I love making movies. But it's a lot of investing your heart and soul. It can be exhausting.

I enjoy seeing how my friends - Proenza Schouler, Zac Posen, Rodarte - use clothes to create their vision and art.

Costumes say a lot about a character. When it came to 'Palo Alto,' it was important for me that the kids didn't look perfect. In most teen movies today, all of the clothes are expensive. I remember wearing a lot of dirty vintage clothes.

I watched a lot of movies about teenagers, including 'The Last Picture Show,' 'American Graffiti,' 'Rumblefish.' It's one of my favorite genres.

The teenage years are such a great subject because everything is heightened and on the surface, and it deals with universal emotions that we face even as we get older.

I think there's always this idea in your head, but you have to allow the film to take its own course.

Making a movie is a lot of problem solving.

I just remember that pivotal moment when you're a young adult, and you realize that these authority figures are human beings, too, and they're figuring out their lives just as you are, and they're flawed.

I love to play with the gadgets that come with film.

I don't like being in front of the camera.

I've only ever taken a playwriting class, but I like creative writing and writing screenplays.

Usually when I get nervous and don't know how to prepare for something, I just don't do anything at all, which is not necessarily the best idea.

I'm not so vocal. I try to get loud, but my voice will just crack or something.

I remember having crushes and longings, but there were all these missed opportunities or things that seemed like such a big deal, but you really don't understand what the other person is going through.

When I went to college, my mum was really sad, so she preserved my bedroom, like a weird time capsule.

'Virgin Suicides' was such a big movie to me as a teenage girl. It blew me away.

I was really nervous working with actors, since I come from a photography background.

It's hard for me to articulate myself.

It's tricky to take a book of short stories and turn it into a feature film.

Visually, I love the setting of suburbia.

My grandpa showed me how to build stamina onset behind the scenes on 'Twixt.'

I'm so proud to be American.

I went to a private all-girls school where I didn't feel I fit in.

My name does help me get in the door, but it doesn't do the work for me.

As a first-time director, you act a lot like a teenager. I made decisions because I was hotheaded. My skin broke out. I was trying to understand who I am.

I knew I wanted to be creative but didn't know how.

I want to learn and challenge myself and grow.

I never particularly liked it in New York City.

Working with a great actor is really educational.

I have so much appreciation for movies because I understand how hard it is to make one.

Women need to support women.

I just love seeing other females work.

I was always a big James Franco fan.

My family get so mad at me when they come over. All I'll have in is milk and eggs. I mainly keep film in my fridge - it's better for it; it stops it from going old. I'm bad at eating healthy; I usually just run across the street and get cheeseburgers.

My only vice is 'Keeping up With The Kardashians.' I can't really explain what it is that fascinates me so much, but it just sucks me in.

In high school, I didn't always relate to my friends. I was more of a spectator.

I think my job is hopefully to connect with people emotionally and to feel less alone or understand things in a certain way.

I get to collaborate and tell stories with moving photographs.

I have a lot of game apps I need to delete.

If I were to save one possession in a fire, it would have to be my dad's camera, an old, broken Nikon. I always keep it with me - his personal things mean a lot.

I'm so drawn to photography because you can convey a complex story in a single frame.

I feel like I can communicate much better using images than words.

Once I found these sticker things for your nails - Sally Hansen - those were really fun to do. They're really fun to do when you're bored, and it's better than painting your nails because you don't mess up. It looks really good, very professional. I tried a zebra one that was really pretty, but I always get a little bored of it.

I've been going to the same person for haircuts since I was thirteen.

I remember people - not my family - always asking, 'Oh, so are you going to make movies when you're older?' I felt pressured, and that always kind of deterred me.

I got my GED my senior year and ended up taking community college classes before I transferred to Bard.

It was kind of intimidating to make a feature without that much experience.

Most movies use older actors, but I thought, if I could just put kids on camera and get them to be themselves, what could be easier?