I finished American Graffiti.

I was broke because I didn't get paid very much to do American graffiti.

It took me two and a half years to do it.

And so I was desperate to get another job

when I had gotten the deal to do American graffiti.

The United Artists who I made the the deal to do American graffiti. I, the United

artists who I made the first deal

with the development, said, you've got any other

ideas? And I said, well, I've been thinking about kind of a space

adventure, Saturday matinee,

serial kind of movie. And they said, okay,

well, we'll do that too. So

when I finished American graffiti,

the studio was, the Universal was not going to release it. I was dead broke. And so I had to get a

job just to live. And so I had this deal to do this space film. And so I went to United Artists with this idea of the space film,

and they turned it down. And then I went to Universal for the idea of the space film,

and they turned it down. And finally, in the process of us screen the film for anybody and everybody who would look at it

in order to try to get it released, Merring Refidi, Al-Lad Jr. saw it, who was the head of 20th Century Fox.

And he said, I love this movie. You're very talented, and what do you want to do?

And I said, well, I'm trying to get this space thing off the ground.

And he said, okay, well, I'm trying to get this space thing off the ground. And he said,

okay, well, I'll fund the screenplay. And so I got the deal to do the screenplay. And it

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