From Yale to Hollywood: A Journey in Film Directing with John Badham

John Badham is a film and television director whose creative works are notable for the ways they have influenced a range of American cultural norms and attitudes, especially in the 1970s. Indeed, his commercial and creative success, Saturday Night Fever (1977) was recognized by the Library of Congress in 2001 for its cultural, historic, and aesthetic significance. The director began his career in theater and television and quickly broadened into feature filmmaking. His films have been nominated for five Academy Awards and two Emmy Awards, and he has won three Saturn Awards from the Academy of Science Fiction and Fantasy. In this interview for Film Matters, John Badham—also a professor at Chapman University—shares his early influences, his formative years in Hollywood, and his creative approach to filmmaking, including the importance of sound and innovative adaptation.