“There also aren't many people who can understand the creator, especially with something like this. Something that they've never seen before.”
Kojima interpreted NOPE from a production perspective: he judged that Jordan Peele must have filmed it during the pandemic and under a great deal of pressure from his surroundings, probably facing people who questioned the project, because a concept like that is hard for others to grasp from the pitch, the script or the storyboards — the immediate reaction being disbelief that someone would attempt it. He said that getting a project like that made requires persuading many people and securing their approval, since few understand a creator when they bring something no one has seen before. That the film nevertheless became a success, Kojima said, demonstrated how good Jordan is; and when he learned who the cinematographer was, he was genuinely impressed.
“Jordan Peele must have filmed this during the pandemic under a lot of pressure from those around him. […] Looking at the storyboards, the reaction was probably, what is this? Are you really going to make this? In order to make a project like this happen, you have to persuade a lot of people, and you have to work to get their approval.”