Cameron Crowe

Cameron Crowe is an American writer and film director. Before moving into the film industry, he was contributing editor at Rolling Stone Magazine, for which he still frequently writes.

Crowe has made his mark with character-driven, personal films that have been generally hailed as refreshingly original and void of cynicism. Michael Walker in the New York Times called Crowe "something of a cinematic spokesman for the post-baby boom generation"  because his first few films focused on that specific age group, first as high schoolers and then as young adults making their way in the world.

His debut screenwriting effort, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, grew out of a novel he wrote while posing undercover as a student at a California high school years after he actually graduated. Afterward, he wrote and directed one more high school saga, Say Anything, and then Singles, a story of Seattle twentysomethings that was woven together by a soundtrack centering on that city's burgeoning grunge music scene. Crowe landed his biggest hit, though, with Jerry Maguire.

After this, he was given a green light to go ahead with a pet project, the autobiographical effort Almost Famous. Centering on a teenage music journalist on tour with an up-and-coming band, it gave insight as to his life as a 15-year-old writer for Rolling Stone. In late 1999, Crowe released his second book, Conversations with Billy Wilder, a question and answer session with the legendary director.