I spent the majority of my teenage years in hospitals, rehabs and halfway houses.

I was never interested in acting on film or in television, but I was always more inclined to writing and directing, and the exploration of character.

Sometimes you can just have a dialogue with an actor beforehand and shape the performance then, but other actors need more guidance on the set.

As a child I’m sure I was no different from any other human being struggling to navigate the difficulties and complexities of their childhood and adolescent years. I feel it’s a time when all of us need an escape, a place where we can leave the world behind and just disappear. For me, it was film."

I was a pop freak. I love music. Of course, I knew soul because I grew up in it. Writing it and everything. I love soul. But I love a tune that has some meat in it. Something I could hang my hat on. Because music is universal. Therefore, I felt no boundaries.

Our thoughts and imagination are the only real limits to our possibilities.

I started writing poetry as a teenager in suburban Chicago out of emotional desperation.

Music was something I had put aside to make movies. Somehow I earlier felt there was only so much creative energy allotted to your life and only that much time to pursue your creativity. But I was wrong.