girlfriend Susan Sarandon introduced him to a good friend of  hers, John Guare, a playwright ("House of Blue Leaves", "Six Degrees  of Separation", and "Four Baboons Adoring the Sun" among others).  Over dinner, Malle and Sarandon (who was attached to star) discussed  the problems they had with the script and offered suggestions as to  how Guare could possibly fix it so they could beat the pending  deadline and start filming. Guare quickly reworked the script (it  was his idea to set the film in Atlantic City) and filming got  underway within a few months of the trios initial meeting.