We asked Cameron to share a few words about the 30th anniversary of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It was released in theaters on August 13, 1982.

On the last day of filming Fast Times at Ridgemont High there were high-fives and happy/sad goodbyes. Amy Heckerling had powered through a tough schedule, and we’d snuck the movie through the studio system, in no small part thanks to our fiercely funny and protective producer Art Linson. Sean Penn, who’d been in character the entire filming, arrived in a brown corduroy jacket and introduced himself. “I’m Sean,” he announced. We all felt instantly nostalgic for the blonde stoner we’d known and called Jeff for the previous three months. I looked around, and saw one of the red trash cans that had followed us from location to location, from the Sherman Oaks mall to Van Nuys High. It’s been in my writing room ever since. Happy 30th Anniversary… and thanks to all the cast, crew and fine friends we still have from those bitchin’ summer days of not so long ago….