Quotes

Holidays have been commercialized. It has become about material things. But the holidays are about sharing stories and being in each other's presence.

I did no research on 'The Best Man.' That was something that came out from my own head.

I had a strong vision for 'The Best Man Holiday,' so I was able to translate that to the actors and ultimately to the screen. Things can't get too heavy or too outrageously funny; it has to strike a balance. Tone is everything. If you've set the right tone, you can get away with a lot of stuff. You can get away with making people cry.

I'm driven more by my heart more than anything else, and my head, and sometimes those things are counterintuitive.

When you're in your 20s, you're a little more carefree; you're single. You have a very different way of looking at the world and experiencing the world. But later in your 30s when you have children, a career, career obstacles, mortgages, car payments and relationships you have to negotiate, that's a very different life. There's a little more angst.

I've made it my mission to make movies starring African American actors and about the African American experience and put them in the mainstream. They're very universal stories I've told - every movie I've done.

Kids are taking music for free all the time. They have Spotify, Pandora...The record companies aren't making the kind of music that they used to make. Artists make their money on tours, not from album sales.

'The Big Chill' had a bunch of really talented actors, a great soundtrack, and the college connections that the characters shared. It's one of those movies I glean something different from every time I watch it.

I love soundtracks that really play well into the movie and work in a symbolic way. You watch the movie, you hear this great music. You hear the music, it reminds you of the movie and it makes you want to watch the movie again. It all works in that way and it evokes memories of the first time you saw the movie. That's how the best soundtracks work.

If you look at 'The Best Man,' there's a lot of humor in that, but I never consider that movie a comedy. I felt that it was a drama with comedic elements and comedic parts to it.