I'm half Jewish half WASP.

I think that people in the phase between being someone's kid and being someone's parent have always been uniquely narcissistic, but that social media and Twitter and LiveJournal make it really easy to navel-gaze in a way that you've never been able to before.

I was raised on the Internet.

It's interesting how we often can't see the ways in which we are being strong - like, you can't be aware of what you're doing that's tough and brave at the time that you're doing it because if you knew that it was brave, then you'd be scared.

I felt highly anxious in a way that I didn't think other children were.

I refresh Twitter as thoughtlessly as some twirl their hair.

While I am not a musician, I love music. I have over 15,000 songs on my iPod. Everything from hard core rap to the soundtrack from the original 'Cinderella.'

I was the oldest of five children, each about a year apart, and my mother, bless her heart, had her hands full.

I knew that I'd end up directing because I'm so hands-on with my films.

I didn't have the sensibilities of your ordinary filmmaker, let alone your ordinary African-American filmmaker. My heroes were John Waters, Pedro Almodovar, and actors that were part of that world.

I worked at Warner Bros. for a while. I was the head of the minority talent casting. It was like pre-Spike Lee and post-blaxploitation era.

I thought I could write. So it was my intention to start off as a writer. But I wasn't really great at delivering the word at the end of the day.

Some of the most provocative TV that I'm inspired by is in the U.K. You guys take it for granted, but in America, we can't do it.

Most times when I do a film, it starts out with one idea and ends up not being what I thought it was going to be.

My mom knew early on that I was gay, and she knew that I had to get out of the ghetto.

My mom had five kids. And she came home after working three jobs, and I'd rub her feet. We'd all rub her feet. We were lucky to get any time with her.

When you have a lot of siblings, you always do something to feel special.

'Empire' was a very traumatic experience for me. It was very schizophrenic, and it wasn't what I expected it to be.

I think the father-son love story is a universal one which transcends color.

I'm always more comfortable and in a good place when I'm with friends because I know they trust me. I'm able to get great performances from people who trust me.

I don't read the reviews, the blogs, or anything else. Instead, I feel the audience when I show the film.

I think that, as African-Americans, oftentimes we have to put ourselves on pedestals as opposed to really looking at ourselves and trying to understand ourselves and become better people. We always have to be on pedestals.

'Shadowboxer' was based on my life.

I had 'Push' and 'The Paperboy' next to my bed for many years. Those are some of the great, great novels.