I guess I knew my dad was into photography, so a part of me was interested in picking it up to understand him a little better.

I've always been very comfortable in a set environment. All the collaborating going on, seeing how actors work - it all excites me.

After college, I drove across the country twice with friends. It was one of the most fascinating experiences of my life. I find it really inspiring seeing the country that way.

I liked to drive around, just playing music for everyone.

As a teenager, I wanted to be sophisticated and avant-garde, and I was really judgmental. But when you're a teenager, you're fearless because you don't know the repercussions to anything.

I don't really wear makeup. I don't like the feeling of it. I just put mascara on, and that's kind of it.

I love Serge Lutens orange blossom perfume; my mom got it for me. It's my favorite. It just smells clean.

I'm Italian, so I need to get someone to wax my eyebrows, but I'm not so good at keeping it up.

I studied photography at Bard, but I just felt tired of it. Someone asked me to be in a video but didn't want to be in it, so they told me to make my own, and that seemed more fun to me.

To a certain extent, I like fashion, but sometimes I just want to be comfortable and don't really care.

I don't like shopping, so I'll look online. I like going to the flea market at the Rose Bowl every once in a while. I like the same stores, Opening Ceremony and APC.

I enjoy fashion photography and textiles, that whole aspect of it. As more of an art form, I like Proenza Schouler. Those guys are really cool because they seem to have an interesting approach to it all.

We definitely have to support other female directors because there's not enough of us.

I think what's so great about making your first feature film is that you're so naive in some ways; you don't know what to expect, and you don't question things as much because you're just trying to figure it out as you go.

I really learned a lot when I worked on my grandpa's film 'Twixt' and got to be with him start to finish and sit next to him every day. That was my film school.

So many of the kids on television have really nice clothes, perfect skin and hair.

I love working with other people and bouncing ideas off them.

I knew I wanted to make a movie that hadn't really existed in a while in terms of being a teenager.

I always knew my mom was a good actress.

When I graduated, I felt a little burned out on taking pictures after so many years of churning out so many for classes.

Chanel is a brand that is so inspiring.

Most people think of Las Vegas, and they think of extravagance. But it's really a mix between fantasy and laziness.

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.