Where did the idea for the series come from?

It started as a series based around movie disasters like "Waterworld" and "Heaven's Gate". Three one hour films were commissioned by BBC Two, but once a research team arrived in LA it was clear that getting stars and studios to talk about their major failures would be an uphill battle. After much thought it was turned into a series about the big hits as well as the major flops. The sugar coating of success would mean more people speaking to us and would provide a balance of interest.

How did you choose which talent to interview?

As a parameter for interviewing people, each person had to have been involved in a successful movie as determined by box office receipts in excess of $100 million. We set our ambitions very high and the list of contributors is of a very high calibre, but inevitably we didn't get everyone we wanted.

Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts were the stars who we wanted to get but failed. It's always really disappointing because so much effort has gone into something which the viewers never see - endless phone calls, faxes, and lunches would be had and you think it's going to happen so when it's a definite no you certainly feel deflated for a while.

Was it difficult to get the interviewees to open up about the industry?

What I discovered was that as long as we talked about success first, most people were willing to discuss their failures. What was harder was to get them to name people - interviewees would be referring to someone and we'd know who they were talking about but they'd refuse to name check them.

Who was your favourite interviewee?

Pierce Brosnan was one of my favourite interviews. He's such a nice guy - letting us film all over his beautiful Malibu home. And when we'd finished, he went off and returned carrying a tray with five pints of perfectly poured Guinness. Apparently the brewery deliver a fresh keg to him every few weeks to remind him of his Irish roots.

Ex-studio head Peter Guber was probably the most fascinating interview. He is phenomenally clever and is such a character in the industry. He's been around as a major player since the 60s and literally knows everyone in town. He's a billionaire living in probably the largest home I've ever seen - his home cinema is the size of a multiplex cinema!