Judd Apatow

“Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), written by Cameron Crowe and directed by Amy Heckerling. Crowe went back to high school to research and he combined broadly comedic characters, like Sean Penn’s Spiccoli, with a grounded storyline: Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Stacy having to get an abortion. It was an inspirational movie for me because it combined comedy and drama so well.” The Big Sick opens Thu Aug 3.