I love mentoring young filmmakers and girl filmmakers.
— Tamra Davis
I always had to genuinely like the actors I worked with and use my enthusiasm and vision to give them confidence to push their creativity and their humor.
I had all these tapes in my closet that I had shot years ago with my friend Jean-Michel Basquiat. I was working on a film about him when he died, and then I just put everything away. It was too sad.
I read the script for 'Guncrazy' in 1985 and loved it because it was one of the few scripts I'd come across that revolved around a strong female character.
It's incredible what happens when you explain to kids what good food is - they get so excited! They go home and tell their parents... and they're excited to cook the recipes themselves in class.
What's so fun when you shoot in a car is you get to research all the other road movies that have ever been done, and you try to figure out where do they place the cameras and how many shots can you get with your people in the car. So just doing the research on the films is so fun.
I am so inspired by new media.
Helping out in your kid's classroom is a great way to get involved with your child's school.
Pesto is such a great standard. It's so simple to make and always tastes good.
I do have a priority in my house, and that is I want my kids to be healthy, and if I give them the right food, I am headed consistently toward that goal.
A mom can't afford to be sick.
I started making music videos in my twenties and made my first feature, 'Guncrazy,' at 29. I then spent the greater part of my thirties directing features.
I've been lucky enough to work in pop culture, especially with people right before they popped.
All of my main characters have been under 30.
Basquiat will continue to show us new things about who we are and why he was so important.
It was hard for me to hear anyone saying they didn't like 'Billy Madison.'
I learned early in my career to not let myself get in the way of humor but, instead, find what is great in a talented person.
My grandparents lived in Hollywood, and I was surrounded by the romanticism of movies ever since I was a child.
I'm extremely determined and ambitious.
I came up with this statistic that if a kid makes something himself, he's 90 to 95% likely to try it. And of course, then, if it's good, he'll eat it!
If you think you are a filmmaker... make a film, and then show it. You need to be able to finish what you started so it is presentable. When you screen it and see if your film has an effect on an audience, you will understand what it means to be a filmmaker.
It's hard to have people talking about you and trashing you in the media and saying they think your career is over... and you are only 25.
My kids like their eggs with catsup. I like mine with salsa.
Having someone cook all your meals is the best vacation ever!
Getting four people awake, fed, dressed, and out the door on time is a challenge. Add to that making a school lunch, and you can tilt over the edge. Unless you are well prepared and have a simple method to follow.
I discovered television is a great way to deal with the chaos of new motherhood. I would put the babies to bed and get lost in a trashy reality show.
I love making films, and as long as I love the subject, I just have a crazy amount of passion and energy for the project.
My connection with Basquiat was really in Los Angeles, which really was a whole different world to what he was experiencing in New York.
How do you make it to the top when all you have is ambition and talent? You believe in yourself and surround yourself with other idealistic and talented friends that fuel each other and push against the establishment to take you seriously.
I have been lucky in my life to have met people that are special, so extraordinary talented that they somehow are on a different plane. Sometimes these amazingly talented people find a way to keep reinventing themselves to stay relevant and alive. Some fall under the crushing vibrancy of their own intensity.
Many of the stranger but most frequently quoted scenes in 'Billy Madison' were unplanned.
I hope to work till I'm an old lady.
Music video played a huge role in developing my sensibility as a director.
I understand that in some families both parents have to work, so the kids are home alone eating more processed foods. But if the kids know how to make oatmeal or eggs in the morning or pasta or a lentil soup at night - we're giving them real survival tools.
In 1983, I was working at an art gallery in Los Angeles and going to film school at Los Angeles City College. At that time, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a young painter and was visiting L.A. for his first show at the Larry Gagosian Gallery.
I have a great little camera, and I had a theory that if the story is interesting, it doesn't matter what medium you shoot it on. You just have to make a good film.
Many classrooms are overcrowded, and splitting the class into smaller groups gives the children more one on one attention.
I have this concept that I call 'Combo Meals.' The idea is that I start with the kids' meal and then add a few more ingredients, and it becomes the adult meal. This way I'm not making two entirely separate dishes. I'm just simply adding on to what I'm already making.
A diet that is high in fat, sugar and salt makes it really hard for a body to function efficiently.
A school morning is usually a pretty hectic time in any household.
It felt amazing to be one of a handful working female directors in Hollywood.
In 'Billy Madison,' I worked with Adam before anyone really knew he was Adam Sandler.
There's no continuity in videos... you can jump around all over the place. In features, you can't throw in a close-up of a musician stomping on a guitar - you have to film a scene.
When you are talking about someone's art, it is usually so personal.
