Aaron Sorkin

“The first thing I’m seeing is Tanner ’88. Way before The Sopranos, way before Larry Sanders, even, there was Tanner ’88 from Robert Altman and Garry Trudeau. Truly my inspiration for The West Wing, actually, it was… it was one of the first pieces of original programming on HBO. It followed a fictional campaign around New Hampshire... During the primaries... But great show. Largely improvised. Very much in the Robert Altman style of long Steadicam shots, and it is terrific.”

“And here is Broadcast News. This was really the movie that reminded me that people write movies. I was a young playwright sitting in a movie theater watching this movie and saying, “Jeez, I wish I had written that. That must have been a lot of fun to write. I want to write things like that.” The whole cast is great.”

“Well, The Graduate is on my top five. I wrote the last movie Mike Nichols directed before he died... I couldn’t stop asking him questions about The Graduate. I asked him how he landed on that score, the Simon & Garfunkel score that’s so memorable... They played him a couple of verses of a song they had written called “Mrs. Roosevelt.” Only right there on the spot, they changed the lyrics to “Mrs. Robinson” and history was made. This movie is so phenomenally well done.”

“Network, Paddy Chayefsky. You should watch this movie, you’ll feel like it was written last week. And I’d give anything if Paddy was alive today to write a movie called The Internet. If there’s one moment in it that’s worth the whole movie, it’s not “I’m mad as hell, I’m not going to take it anymore.” It’s the woman who’s the head of the domestic terrorist outfit shouting, “Don’t fuck with my residuals!” Network.”

“The Princess Bride gives me a chance to talk about two people who were important to me coming up: William Goldman and Rob Reiner. William Goldman... Took me under his wing, and he made me a screenwriter... Rob directed A Few Good Men... He told some great, funny stories about The Princess Bride. André the Giant liked to drink... They couldn’t have André the Giant sitting on a horse... Immediately read the novel. You’re in for a real treat. The Princess Bride.”