Interview: "Reel Time Interview With PTA"

Georgia Mason University, Written By Skylar Miller
October 20, 1997


Paul Thomas Anderson, director and writer of Boogie Nights, sat in the lounge at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C., dressed in a 70s style shirt. Before we had a chance to speak, we heard a loud humming sound coming from somewhere in the distance.

"What is that noise? A vibrator?" were the first words out of Anderson's mouth. I knew from the start that this would be an interesting interview. Along for the ride was a reporter from The Hatchet, George Washington University's student newspaper.

Skyler Miller: What was your inspiration for writing this film?

Paul Thomas Anderson: There was a couple of different things. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, which is where 90 percent of all pornos are made. You know, its really the capital of porn. So, it was always sort of surrounding me in a peripheral way. And it was just sort of a fascination with ... pornography. Probably on a filmmaking level just it was really liking the concept of it as a genre and always wishing it were better. There was a camp aspect that certainly is there, but there's also a really sort of sad and depressing element that's there.