Quotes from Joe Swanberg

I've done a lot of movies that don't have any music in them, and I've always sort of had a kind of wary attitude about music because it can be so manipulative, and also because with pop music, I feel like everybody kind of has their own relationship to songs.

There's something really nice about missing the person you're with. To have someone be apart enough to force independence and to also look forward to seeing that person.

It's very difficult to have any kind of romantic feelings for a movie where you know exactly what's going to happen in the first five minutes.

There's a lot of cultural pressure around specialness and seeing your family. I feel like everything gets jacked up a little bit because of all of these expectations of love and family bonding.

I want to try and be as involved in the art of filmmaking as possible. I feel that the only way to really do that is to take on as many roles as possible, whether it be as an actor, an editor, a director, a cinematographer.

In the pre-production process, I am emailing with the actors or jumping on the phone, and we're sort of figuring out who the characters are and trying to build the relationship dynamic and things like that. Then, also, I am outlining.

I think I'll try to keep working in film for a little bit. There's something still kind of magical about it, that I don't want to let go of.

My relationship with my wife is fraught with all of the problems that any couples face, but there is a sense of humor that we have about it and a real desire to want to make it better.

The more that I work with people that I don't know, the more I invite somebody in who's potentially going to really hate being there.

On a really big budget movie you do chemistry reads, and you sort of hedge your bets a little bit more and make sure that these people get along. But on the low budget side of things, I have to trust my gut that when I cast these people, the various elements are going to play together.

Just because you married doesn't mean you're not an individual person with your own wants and desires and needs.