21 Quotes by Aaron Ruell

All of our clothing came from thrift stores or Wal-Mart, and we did our own stunts.

There was no money for a set photographer.

It's just this little comedy about this group of guys, and their local hangout is a pool hall, and it's starting to get taken over by this big corporate, evil kind of guy. And it's just about them trying to save the day and their little pool hall in the process of it all. It's called 'Think Tank.'

It's allowed all of us to do what we were doing before, which was making small movies, but now we get paid for it. It legitimatized all of us after the film became such a success. I'm directing my first feature that I also wrote this spring called 'Warm Blue Day.' There are a couple of movies that I'm acting in this fall. I'm also a photographer, and I've got three gallery shows left to do this year. And when I'm not doing that, I'm directing commercials.

The mindset that I have on every project I take on is, 'How do I make this interesting enough for me to want to stop and look at it?' So in that regard, what I do behind the camera, whether it's still or motion picture, is the same.

I never expected the movie to become as big as it has. I thought that we'd be lucky if a handful of people outside of our small group would get to see it. Everyone involved with the making of this film was shocked that all of a sudden, lines from the movie had become lines that people would say to each other in everyday life. None of us expected that.

I like to mix pieces in my art direction from the '60s or the '40s and the '90s and present-day stuff. To me, that feels very real. When I go into people's houses, it's not all today.

I get asked if I am Kip about once a week.

If I do a certain number of ads, I have to do a personal project in between, just for my own sanity. I still consider myself a punk-rock kid.