Writer Sam Wasson’s books take readers inside some of the most important moments and personalities in film. His deeply researched books include the biography Fosse, The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood, and Hollywood: The Oral History, which he co-wrote with Jeanine Basinger. His latest is The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story, a deep dive into the life and career of the Oscar winning filmmaker.
Wasson tells The Treatment that Coppola’s so-called career failures were just as illuminating as his successes. He talks about Coppola’s desire to create an almost utopian community while making his films. And he explains why 1988’s under-the-radar film Tucker: A Man and His Dream might be Coppola’s most optimistic.