Through her work with Cruze, Arzner gained considerable leverage and threatened to leave Paramount for Columbia if she was not given a picture to direct. "I had an offer to write and direct a film for Columbia," Arzner said, "It was then I closed out my salary at Paramount and was about to leave for Columbia." Before leaving, Arzner decided to say goodbye to "someone important and not just leave unnoticed and forgotten" which led her to Walter Wanger, the head of Paramount's New York studio. When she said she was leaving Wanger offered Arzner a job in the scenario department and a discussion about directing sometime in the future. Arzner replied "Not unless I can be on a set in two weeks with an A picture. I'd rather do a picture for a small company and have my own way than a B picture for Paramount." Wanger then offered her a chance to direct a comedy based on the play "The Best Dressed Woman in Paris", which would later be titled "Fashions for Women" (1927), Arzner's first picture.