It was heading towards the end of the 1990s. At this stage, writer Aaron Sorkin – a future Oscar-winner for The Social Network – had a few credits to his name. He’d penned films such as A Few Good Men (based on his play), Malice and The American President. And it was off the back of this that his agent bagged him a meeting with producer John Wells.

Wells had clout, too.He was riding high off the success of ER, and the night before the meeting, Sorkin had a dinner. One of the guests was future Oscar-winner screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind), and the pair nipped out for a cigarette break. A break that would have ramifications.

Because at this stage, Sorkin really had little idea what to talk to Wells about. But as he and Goldsman had their cigarette, they did so in a basement that had a poster for the movie The American President on the wall. As Sorkin remembered to Total Film, it was Goldsman who looked at the poster and said “do you know what would make a good TV show? That. Forget about the relationship between the president and the lobbyists. Focus on the stories of the senior staffers”.

“That’s a terrible idea”, Sorkin replied, insisting he had no plans for a TV show. Cut to the lunch with Wells, and in lieu of any other idea, a TV show about the senior staffers in the White House was exactly what he pitched.

He got a deal on the spot, and The West Wing was born.

Sorkin would go on to write nearly 90 episodes of the show, that ran for seven seasons between 1999 and 2006.

The full interview with Sorkin is in the new issue of Total Film. More details on that here.