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

I can't speak to how Michael [Douglas] approached it in terms of his process.

There was a long period of time when Sam Fuller had a lot of projects fall through and had a lot of difficulties getting a project off the ground. And I was able to observe him during that period, and see his incredible resiliency and courage as he faced this difficulty and just kept working.

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.

I very much had wanted to do a picture with more humor than what I had been allowed to do earlier, which is what attracted me to Wonder Boys so much. I found it funny in a very serious way, which is the best kind of comedy.

What you care about [movie] is whether it's moving you, or whether you're caught up in it.

I was never a critic.