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Cameron Crowe wrote, directed and produced the critically-lauded Almost Famous, the comic, semi-autobiographical film that follows a fledgling, teenage reporter as he travels with the rising rock band Stillwater on tour, circa 1973. The highly-successful film, which was included on over 150 Top Ten Movies of the Year lists, won Crowe the 2000 Oscar for Best Screenplay, as well as a nomination from the Directors Guild of America for Best Director. The film also earned numerous other accolades, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture, the AFI's Movie of the Year Award and a nomination for the Golden Laurel Award from the Producers Guild of America. In addition, its luminous star, Kate Hudson, received a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and an Academy Award nomination in the same category.

Before Almost Famous, Crowe had already achieved a great deal of success when he wrote, directed and produced the 1996 hit, Jerry Maguire. The film, which provided Crowe his first opportunity to work with Tom Cruise, became a worldwide blockbuster, and Crowe earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, as well as his second nomination from the Writers Guild for his inventive screenplay.

A true native Californian, Crowe was born in Palm Springs and raised in San Diego. He began his career in journalism at the age of 15, writing for such publications as Creem, Rolling Stone, Playboy and The Los Angeles Times. When he was only 16 years old, he joined the staff of Rolling Stone, where he was a contributing editor and later an associate editor. During his tenure with the magazine, he profiled many of music's most influential artists, including Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, David Bowie and Neil Young.

In 1979, Crowe, then 22, returned to high school to research a book, which resulted in the best-selling novel Fast Times at Ridgemont High, published in 1981 by Simon and Schuster. But even before the book came out, Crowe was tapped to write the screenplay adaptation, marking his screenwriting debut. Directed by Amy Heckerling, the 1982 hit film became a classic, launching the careers of such actors as Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Forrest Whitaker, Nicolas Cage and Eric Stoltz. In addition to the film's success, Crowe himself received a Writers Guild award nomination for Best Comedy Screenplay Adaptation.

In 1989, Crowe made his feature film directorial debut with another of his original screenplays, Say Anything..., starring John Cusack and Tone Skye. He subsequently wrote and directed the widely praised romantic comedy, Singles, starring Matt Dillon, Bridget Fonda and Kyra Sedgwick. Finally, before taking the helm of Vanilla Sky, Crowe spent a year and a half researching and writing Conversations With Wilder, a series of interviews with the legendary filmmaker Billy Wilder, which was published by Knopf in 1999.