I remember the first time that I realized that being black meant that I wasn't allowed certain things. It was in the fourth grade, and it was who I thought was my best friend not inviting me to his birthday party because I would be the only black kid there. It was the first time I ever felt restricted, and it certainly wasn't the last time.

That is just the reality of being a marginalized person in this country: you have to deal with the psychological impact of your oppressor - whether that's being a woman dealing with men or gay people dealing with straight people or trans people dealing with everybody else.

Stories teach us empathy. They reveal to us ourselves in the skins of others.

I grew up in the working class suburbs in the 80s so I do love Hollywood movies but what I don't like is when they take something that's successful and they recycle it.

After 'Furious 6,' that was a natural break for me. It was a good time to step away.

You hear nightmare stories from young filmmakers working in Hollywood, being told what to do.

At the end of the day, if you're living by fear, you're gonna get screwed in Hollywood.

As a society, we're not perfect by any means.

Star Trek' is not just about literal exploration, but also the exploration of ourselves.

Growing up as an Asian American, we're lucky to have two sentences in a history book about the Chinese-American experience.

I get that a lot of people love 'Star Wars' - and I could see that you can love both and they can coexist in our lives. But the DNA of 'Star Trek' is different in as far as it's human beings, it's us in the future.

Space is a big place.

I'm so sick of independent films being co-opted by Hollywood. You're making a project that's small, really personal, and the first thing anyone asks in any meeting is, 'Who's in it?' I'm like, 'Are you kidding?'

Studio films are driven by marketing. The currency is literally money. But in the indie world, the currency is passion.

Every time you try to do something different, you have to expect obstacles.

I always found it interesting when you went off to college, people would talk about how you go and search for your own identity. A lot of suburban middle-class kids would be shopping for identities and they would co-opt identities from other cultures.

If you watch 'Fast and Furious 6,' you do see that it's a culmination of something and I think it's the end of a chapter.

As a filmmaker, if you want to write a script, all you need is some paper and a pen or a computer, that's it.

My brothers and I would try to talk our dad into letting us stay up and watch 'Star Trek.' I remember watching it and feeling that a family is not just by blood, a family is a shared experience and that really stuck with me.

They never complained, that's what I love about my parents and it's something that inspired me.

I left 'Fast and Furious' because I just felt like, at a certain point, after number six, there wasn't another story that I wanted to tell.

As an Asian immigrant coming in, for the longest time I still had problems getting in the lot because they're just not used to seeing someone like me who's directing these films. I do think ultimately there's a point where we can kind of just shed that label and become filmmakers.

Boxing is a big part of American cinema.

Annapolis' is a very personal journey about this working-class kid trying to find out who he is, and every time he steps into the ring we get a sense of who he is as a person.