Thoughts on filmmaking from "First Snow" director Mark Fergus: "I tried to lose the word 'no' from my vocabulary"

Mark Fergus has just capped an exhuasting - but exhilarating - two weeks, thanks to the premiere of his directorial debut, First Snow starring Guy Pearce as a man driven to reverse a psychic's warning of his death, riffing on the "Appointment in Samarra" theme in a tense, broody psychological thriller. Fergus and writing partner Hawk Ostley, who co-wrote the script with him, lucked out with a great cast - Piper Perabo (doing so much more than dancing on the bar), Spiderman stalwart J.K. Simmons, and William Fichtner (Empire Falls, Crash). Fergus, who may well be the nicest guy we've ever met, gamely agreed to chat with HuffPo yesterday instead of flopping into bed for two weeks, and we took advantage of the opportunity to ask him about the film, the actors, the writing process and what he learned as a first-time director. Thanks Mark!