Eric Steel is a Yale graduate who's been active in publishing and producing for some 20 years now, but has only just made his own feature debut as director with "The Bridge." Inspired by an article in The New Yorker ("Jumpers," by Tad Friend), Steel set out to record the phenomenon of suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge, shooting it daily for an entire year. In an interview with The Japan Times, Steel discussed his reasons for making the film, and what he's learned about suicidal impulses.
I heard the film was inspired by a magazine article you read, but was there anything else?
I was at my desk in New York when the World Trade Center was hit by the planes, not that far away, and I was very aware that certain people had chosen to jump from the inferno rather than die in it.