Pittsburgh has this rich industrial past, when it was the heart of the U.S. steel industry, and it burned out as the industry burned out and moved elsewhere.

I had written the script a few years earlier for Paramount, then later got hired with Sam [Fuller] to write an entirely new script that he was going to direct. And that was one of the great thrills of my professional life.

I was a journalist and wrote about filmmakers, but I didn't review movies per se.

Consequently, their school [film-school ] was the school of life, and it was very much reflected in their work.

I'm still a great movie fan, and I guess that's the answer to your question.

Here [in Wonder Boys] I had this group of characters where you didn't know which were the important ones or what direction they were heading.

I was never a critic. I was a journalist and wrote about filmmakers, but I didn't review movies per se. I make that distinction only because I came to it strictly as someone who was just a lover of storytellers and cinematic storytellers. And I still am. I'm still a great movie fan, and I ,that love of movies is very much alive in me. I approach the movies I make as a movie-lover as much as a movie-maker.