Allison Anders

When you're traumatized, you pick out one thing you remember more than anything else.

You still get the movies made. A filmmaker can always scrape up money to do a movie. The passion drives it. And you'll get the money. Money's the easiest thing. But the hardest thing is finding a way for people to see your movie.

I love showing off my tattoos.

This practice of skinny actresses donning fat suits is essentially the new and acceptable blackface in Hollywood.

In the early '90s when the American independent movie started, it held personal vision as a premium. That was brilliant timing.

Music has always been a great solace for me. It's still something that gives me far more joy than movies, I must say. I love movies, too. But somehow, music can transport you. There are so many different kinds of experiences you can have with music.

I think that with the success of, like, VH1's 'Behind The Music' and stuff like that, the fact that it's so successful, it's clear that people are interested in rock lives.

Let's face it - no matter how independent you are, you still have this nagging need to be desired.

Nothing feels worse than knowing that people didn't see your movie. That they wanted to and the critics loved it but nobody knew where it was because it didn't do what it was supposed to do opening weekend. It used to be that independents were allowed to stay in the theaters, build word of mouth.

Unless it's something very clever like 'Memento,' most independent films have a very tough life out there.

Do we have to be rail thin to possess 'outer beauty' and sex appeal and to be capable of attracting lovers?

I was a big fan of X. I've probably seen 100 X shows during their time in the late '70s and early '80s.