Aged 36 he wrote the Screenplay for the 1980 Movie "Fame" which gave him an Academy awards Nomination for Best Screenplay. He stated that he got the idea after watching "A Chorus Line" where one of the Characters mentions going to the School of the Performing Arts. Although David De Silva states he was the one that had the concept for "Fame". Then when Christopher moved to New York in the late 70s David helped him find an agent and then took his ideas for the movie to Christopher and they developed the concept together.