I realized that food was actually a metaphor for bringing us all together. It's about us communicating and being like family.
— George Tillman, Jr.
I used to get so upset with my father. I'd ask him, 'Why do I have to be around all these women all the time?' But in time, I learned that was an advantage.
I call it soul food, and I call it compassion food because it kind of bonds loved ones together. It kept families together for a long time.
It's my responsibility to make the movie work with the schedule and money we have. It's my job to get the best movie we can do in the time we have.
As the director, I try to go in and know as much as I can about the material. I really try to go in and understand what all the characters are about, what the movie's going to look like.
Even looking at my last film, 'Notorious,' you got a perception about B.I.G. and who he was, but there was a different side to him.
I never paid attention to many of the Nicholas Sparks films. 'The Notebook,' which my wife liked, I felt that Ryan Gosling was a genius in it and Rachel McAdams has this thing about her that you just want to take care of her. I remember that chemistry between them.
I want to see that 'Anita' documentary. I want to see 'Lovelace'; I want to see 'After Midnight,' because I saw the other two and I loved them. I thought the last one was great.
I shoot a lot of film - that's one of the things I try to do, and it's one of the things I learned how to do with Robert De Niro on 'Men of Honor.'
I wanted to make a movie about a black family in Middle America. I wanted to make a film where everyone can look at them and say, 'This is my family.'
I didn't understand the Los Angeles atmosphere.
There was a group of six women in my household. My mom, aunts and grandma. I watched them in the kitchen.
I think it's important that a director be able to know his characters inside and out.
I don't really consider myself a writer.
Sometimes I get into the movies and into the roles; it's hard for me to move on.
These guys at Fox knew that as a filmmaker, I could always tell different types of stories and each can emotionally connect to a universal audience.
It's called 'Miles Davis, Prince of Darkness,' and it's about Miles Davis, the genius, and why he was the way he was, and how he changed music so many times. He changed music six times. So, I'm excited about that movie.
I'm in this business to make films, not get deluded by the system. The system is set up to give you a headache.
Food was a labor of love you felt by cooking it and eating it.
Several hundred years ago, the only thing that slave families had was cooking and their family meals.
When I was working on 'Men of Honor' with Robert De Niro, there's a pipe that he has in the movie, and it took us about six weeks to find the right pipe for him to use and feel comfortable with. It was a great choice, because it was really about what worked with the camera at that time.
Steve McQueen was the guy who said less, and everything was all behind his words and what he didn't say, and you still felt emotionally connected and rooted behind him.
You can't make an action movie without action, and so, you can't make a romance movie without romance.
Filmmakers are always in a bubble; along with our crew or writer, we don't really get to socialize with other filmmakers, so the great thing about Sundance is you can see many other filmmakers doing the same thing you do.
I love telling stories from a kid's point of view because they don't really see all the obstacles in front of them. They're resilient, and sometimes adults can steal that from them.
