Growing up in Texas and Oklahoma, Ben Johnson was more famous than John Wayne to some of us. I knew him. I worked with him on a low budget film years ago, and we'd sit around at night while waiting for a shot.

I came out to Hollywood when I was just 18, and my dad, he was really into Hollywood and theater and art, and I guess growing up, he exposed me to a lot of culture, and I just started making Super-8 films in high school and decided I wanted to be a filmmaker.

I got to direct a human interest sports drama - to this day, one of my proudest achievements in my career and a source of undying pride.

In the old days the studios guided your career. Now it's all up to you.

But death's acquisitive instincts will win.

Following Michael Brown's death, I went to Ferguson and met with his parents. I stood with them as they tried to hold their heads high and deal with both their immense loss and the larger issues of police-community relations.

The death penalty is discriminatory and does not do anything about crime.

Whenever I prepare for a journey I prepare as though for death. Should I never return, all is in order.