Ball began writing "American Beauty" as a play in the early 1990s, partly inspired by the media circus that accompanied the Amy Fisher trial in 1992. He shelved the play after deciding that the story would not work on stage. After several years as a television screenwriter, Ball revived the idea in 1997 when attempting to break into the movie industry. The rewritten script had a cynical outlook influenced by Ball's frustrating tenures writing for several sitcoms. Producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen took the script for "American Beauty" to the fledgling DreamWorks studio, which bought it for $250,000, outbidding several other production bodies. DreamWorks financed the $15 million production and served as its North American distributor. "American Beauty" marked acclaimed theater director Mendes' movie debut; courted after his successful productions of the musicals "Oliver!" and "Cabaret", Mendes was nevertheless only given the job after twenty others were considered and several A-list directors reportedly turned down the opportunity.