Director

My first job was at Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati, my second job was at a pharmaceutical company in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. My third job was at Palmolive. And I realized, three jobs in three years, maybe it wasn't the job. It had to be me.

Growing up, I was very aware that there weren't many people like me on the screen.

My ultimate dream was just to be an auteur.

Going into a room and saying, 'I'm a black lesbian' - it's a strike against you.

I'm always excited about stories that allow me to explore a character and create interesting stories and worlds that we haven't seen before.

History informs where we are and how we got here.

I'd go to lesbian parties. I felt like I wasn't hard enough to be butch, but I wasn't wearing heels and a skirt - I wasn't femme - so I felt like I was sort of invisible.

It's a failure of imagination if you can only write what you know - we have to be able to imagine different worlds.

The only advice I can give is to surround yourself with people who are friends and people who believe in you and your material and who are going to help you take it to the next level. It doesn't mean you don't listen to criticism, but you listen to it and edit it, and you figure out what you can take.

I've always liked to write, but I never thought I could make a career out of it.

For me, Sundance always felt big. It's not the only way to make your way, but for me, it was definitely that critical link between struggling artist, kind of working on my own, to actually working professionally and being connected and being seen.

With friendship, it's hard sometimes - you don't outgrow your friends, but you do question how people are friends to you in different ways and how it's okay to cultivate other relationships outside of that.

We shouldn't be discriminating against each other. The whole 'light skin versus dark skin' is an idea we need to break down.

It's okay to be yourself and to love and accept yourself however you are.

When I'm on set, I know what I want.

I want more images onscreen because when I was growing up, I think, like, that one kiss in 'The Color Purple' was the one thing that I had. Or 'The Watermelon Woman.'

People have almost been lulled into complacency because there are no signs over the water fountains. But the signs have been in the policies. There's still housing discrimination and wage discrimination.

For 'Pariah,' people were surprised Kim Wayans was there, but comedians have a dark streak; they're comedians for a reason.

When I first came to New York, I was surprised by all these out teenagers who were openly on the street being who they were. That intrigued me because I was 27 and still struggling with being myself.

Actors need to know why they're saying what they're saying, more than just learning their lines.