John Singleton

“The plain truth is, 'Fruitvale Station' was made totally outside the Hollywood studio system, and every ounce of the picture feels authentic. The lives of the people involved in the movie will never be the same.”

“I really took filmmaking very seriously... It was an honor and then a crutch also, because at a young age, I was like, I guess I'm a serious filmmaker. I never set out to be a serious filmmaker. I just set out to make movies.”

“I like to be an idea person. I like to pull different people together and find new talent.”

“At heart, I'm a dude from South Central Los Angeles. We roll the way we roll because we had survival tactics; we had to learn how to adapt. That's just me.”

“One of the biggest regrets of my whole career was turning down an offer to direct on the first season of 'The Wire.' That would have been so perfect for me.”

“There's this guy: his name, Sedik Ali. He's like the African Kurosawa. You know how Kurosawa does stuff from feudal Japan? This guy does the feudal system of Africa.”

“When I was in my 20s, I was out of control in terms of what I would do to defend my vision. There are black film-makers and storytellers who take a back seat to just get it done. It's good, but it's not right there. It's been compromised.”

“The freshest moments in my films have always been with unknown actors.”

“We have these rules, the 'hero rules.' Like, a hero doesn't slouch. A hero walks proudly with his head up. A hero walks with a purpose. A hero's always a gentleman.”

“I've become more relaxed. When I was younger, I had more erratic, nervous tension when I was working.”

“All the kids looked up to my father because he was known to be that dude who knocks people out.”

“I try to keep focused on the things that really make me happy and just do those same things.”

“I just try to make the best film possible, and once the movie's done, we deal with the DVD.”

“I'm a huge DVD fan.”

“I met Tupac through Queen Latifah in New York at this party that we were at, at a place downtown called Big City Diner.”

“I've been nominated for Academy Awards, I know what I'm doing.”

“I've got passion, and for people who don't, I make them see how trite their lives are.”

“I make notes about things I see in films that really affect me, like the ending of 'Jules and Jim.' I think about how I can utilize things in my work. And I have a team of people who keep me down to earth.”

“You can only really write about what you know about.”

“There's hardly any precedent for a guy like me to have the career that I've had. Because I grew up the way I grew up, I'm an in-your-face kind of guy. I developed that as a defense mechanism to survive in the streets. I do that in Hollywood in the service of my passion.”