Of course, Sam [Fuller] was like, "No problem," because he treated it like a newspaper deadline. We worked long hours, often very late into the night, in his garage, which had been converted into an office. It was freezing cold outside and there was no heat in the garage, so he had a little space heater over by his side and I had a blanket that he graciously gave me to drape around my shoulders like a Navajo Indian. And he gave me cigars, too, of course.

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

On the surface, Wonder Boys seemed like such a departure from L.A. Confidential - it's funny, it's contemporary, and so on - and yet at a certain point, I had a feeling that reminded me how I felt when I was shooting L.A. Confidential. I analyzed it for a while, and thought about how emotionally involved I was with the characters. Then I realized that in both movies, there are three main male characters and one female, and all of them are struggling to figure out what they're doing with their lives, independent of each other.

I wrote a couple of scripts on spec that didn't get made but got some attention, and I then got offers to write professionally.

That love of movies is very much alive in me.

When I'm casting a picture, I think who I'd like to see in it if I was sitting in a theater. Who would surprise me?

Put simply, there are many people who want to make movies and very few opportunities for them to do it.