Nobody forgets their first time - and film directors are no exception.

In these vivid and revealing interviews, a collection of film-makers as diverse as the Coen brothers and Ken Loach, Ang Lee and Kevin Smith, Anthony Minghella and Gary Oldman, Neil Jordan and Mira Nair, talk in extraordinary detail and with amazing candour about making their first film. Each chapter focuses on a celebrated debut - be it Angel or Blood Simple, Clerks or Diner, Muriel's Wedding or Truly, Madly, Deeply - and tells its story from the inside: from writing the script to raising the money; from casting the actors to assembling the crew; from shooting to editing; from selling the movie to screening it. Along the way, every aspect of the movie industry is explored; from dealing with agents and moguls for the first time to pitching your movie as a debutant director; from languishing in developmental hell to confronting test audiences from hell.