Influences

Jeffrey Brown

Jeffrey's book, "Clumsy," is an influence not only in content, but also form. He cuts to the meat of a relationship, and through his lack of chronology, he puts the emphasis on the individual moments, rather than the narrative. He is also unafraid of using his own life as subject matter for his work.

Larry David

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" continues to prove that great comedy can be captured on handheld miniDV in real locations. Larry David did away with the slick sets and production, but stayed focused on the everyday moments and the result is one of the best shows on TV.

Caveh Zahedi

''The medieval view of the artist is one I feel much closer to than the Enlightenment view. In the middle ages, the artist was seen as a humble servant of God, doing God’s work to the best of his ability. Starting with the Renaissance, this view gradually started to change. The artist became increasingly self-important as his faith in God increasingly diminished. The cult of personality replaced the ancient mystical cults, and the artist was increasingly seen as more than human.''

"I am trying to explore this thing called "life" as deeply as I can, and I feel I can do this most deeply by using my own life (which is the only life I have any real access to). Put differently, I believe that all works of art are autobiographical in some sense, and therefore why not be as direct as possible? It's not that I'm not interested in other people's lives - I am."

Michael Winterbottom

''You put talented people in position and try to capture a moment. It's not that complicated.''

Winterbottom's pace is just as admirable as his devotion to capturing moments. He has made 13 features in 11 years.

"I am happiest making films and least happy waiting around to make them."