When I first went to Pittsburgh, I had never been there before, and we hadn't even decided to shoot there yet. I just went to see the location of Michael Chabon's novel. Once there, I became aware that Pittsburgh is a "wonder boy," in the narrow sense of the term, just as the human characters are.

Bad Influence, which is an early movie of mine that I'm very fond of. It was an unhappy experience when that picture got released, because it coincided with that ridiculous Rob Lowe videotape scandal.

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.

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

Samuel Fuller pictures were both written and shot in such an unusual way that his voice came through loud and clear, and it made a big impression on me.

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

My very first professional writing credit was on a movie called The Dunwich Horror, and Roger Corman was the executive producer.