Spike Jonze

“I just want to make whatever is exciting.”

“You can go on Nike's website and choose exactly what fabrics and colours and shapes you want your sneakers to come in.”

“I am better at math than spelling.”

“The best videos were the ones where I became friends with the artists first.”

“There was definitely a point in my thirties when I thought, 'Oh, wow, I'm not the youngest person on the set anymore.' But I like it. Working with younger artists is totally exciting.”

“There are a lot of kids in the world. People seem to keep having them.”

“I don't want to make a movie till I have an idea I have to make. I don't want to make a movie just to make a movie.”

“After 'Where The Wild Things Are,' which was this big, long five-year project, I spent a year making small things.”

“Is an audience open to seeing a film that isn't what they expect when they see a film that's been adapted from a children's book?”

“I'm always inspired by other filmmakers, whether it's a shot or the way they handle tone.”

“Kids are so fiercely opinionated, that if they love the Harry Potter books and they go see the movie, they'll be the first to say, 'That was wrong! They didn't get that right!' They're storytellers themselves. They're critics. They're going to have the critical opinion.”

“Obviously, movies and music videos are different because they're different lengths, and in a movie, you have more time to explore an idea. But I feel like they're all the same, really.”

“What I learned from the Beastie Boys was to be independent. They set up their own world separate from the label. They built their own studio.”

“I never knew how to do anything before I did it, really.”

“I just want to be who I am, as I am.”

“Pop music, I think there's a reason why kids connect to it.”

“I think the way Win Butler writes, I really identify with it. He writes very emotionally and very cinematically, and I just connect with his sensibility.”

“Doing a documentary is about discovering, being open, learning, and following curiosity.”

“The world is becoming nicer and easier, but that doesn't mean we are any less lonely or any more connected.”

“As creatives, it's a hard thing to push, to make something you're truly excited about, especially if you've written 100 different concepts and they keep getting shot down.”