They needed someone to write a script of The Great Gatsby very quickly for the movie they were making. I took this job so I'd be sure to have some dough to support my family.

This was his UCLA thesis project that also received a theatrical release via Warner Bros. Coppola graduated from Hofstra university in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts. Amongst Coppola's classmates at Hofstra were James Caan and Lainie Kazan.

Brooks to be honored three times for the same film. In 1970 Coppola won the Oscar for best original screenplay as co-writer with Edmund H.