MAGGIE'S NOT HERE was shot in five days during L.A.'s rainiest week in the past 10 years. Photographically, this was a blessing for us. The film feels like it is in upstate New York, which was all the better, because the nondescript, northeastern town I set the film in was based partly upon my experiences in grey and dull Ithaca, New York. The essence of the story lies in Maggie's gradual realization that the physical pain that she is experiencing during sex with Richard may not be from a dissatisfaction with him, but instead, perhaps it stems from an unhappiness with herself. For me, the film is about the difficulty we often have as humans to look honestly at our lives. Sometimes it is easier to blame our dissatifcation with life on other things, rather than to see ourselves honestly; to see our deepest fears and our greatest weaknesses for exactly what they are.