Quotes

[on the making of Retina (2015)] The whole process took six years but five of those years were dedicated to post-production. I realized how little I actually knew and decided to educate myself when creating the music, sound, color correction and visual effects, to ensure the quality would be as good as I imagined it being.

[on completing all post-production for Retina (2015) himself] Well it certainly wasn't about ego. It was actually more about collaboration than anything, being able to communicate my ideas and bring out the best in others in my work as a director. The process was humbling too. I would dedicate 3 to 4 months studying each aspect of post-production;. I'd work on studying music for a few months, then editing and mixing sound, visual effects and each time I switched hats I would see things from a new perspective. It's often thought that by doing everything yourself, you lose perspective but because of how this process went, I was able to hold onto it. Unlike a lot of filmmakers who might leave loose ends to be tied up by others later, everything I did in post production is 100% ready for distribution - for instance, the surround sound mix is separated into M&E tracks for dubbing of foreign languages. I was very careful to put this amount of detail into everything I did on the film. I didn't want to just do everything myself, I wanted to do it properly and professionally.

I think it's exactly because I have no serious gremlins in my background that I've made such dark films; it intrigues me to tell a story that I'm not necessarily familiar or comfortable with and brings me to places I never thought I'd go as a filmmaker. What's most important is that I find something or someone in the story I can relate to and no matter how unreal or abstract the story that I can connect personally on some level.

When I was really young, Spielberg, Hitchcock and Kubrick were my favorites because all three make totally different movies. You could watch one of their films without credits and still know who made it. I feel the same way when listening to a score by a talented composer - you just know who it is. I don't have one favorite movie - I appreciate what makes each one different and enjoy learning from them. I might see one now that I love and then another later that I like even more so my favorites keep changing.

[on shooting Retina (2015)] You have to believe you're making a Hollywood film even with a small budget and no real crew. Once you convince yourself that's what you're making - and you know how to handle all the technical aspects - you can do it. With very little money and the help of only two close friends, who assisted during production of the film, I still kept thinking we can make this something special. I knew what it had to look like and wasn't going to settle for less.