Cameron Crowe

Films feature pop songs by leading acts
His films frequently contain scenes where a character sings a song in a car (John Mahoney sings "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" in Non per soldi... ma per amore (1989), Tom Cruise sings "Free-fallin'" in Jerry Maguire (1996), the band sings "Tiny Dancer" in Quasi famosi (2000)). The one to note specifically is Cameron Diaz in Vanilla Sky (2001), who does not sing in the car but plays a CD in which she is the singer.
His films frequently have characters who are single parents
His films often feature male protagonists who are misfits or outcasts; "the uncool", as he calls them in Quasi famosi (2000).
His films often revolve around a dynamic successful person who loses everything and is forced to reevaluate their lives

When he won his Oscar for Quasi famosi (2000), he dedicated the award to "Audrey and Billy". Most people assumed this was for Audrey Hepburn and Billy Wilder but, in fact, it was for Billy Wilder and his wife Audrey Young, who were close personal friends of Cameron.
Admires Billy Wilder very much and uses a lot of what Wilder taught him in his films. In addition, his favorite movie is Wilder's L'appartamento (1960).
He wrote the screenplay to Fuori di testa (1982) based on his book. He wrote the book after posing as a student at Hollywood High School, the school that everyone from his side of the tracks wanted to attend.
Steven Spielberg did a cameo in Crowe's Vanilla Sky (2001) and Crowe did a cameo in Spielberg's Minority Report (2002); both films starred Tom Cruise.
Wrote the liner notes for Lynyrd Skynyrd's "One More From the Road" album.

Making a big Hollywood film that really affects people is as hard as making a small movie on a credit card.
It used to be, like, the sanctity of rock was that you could never let a song of yours be used in a commercial. It was like, 'Oh man, we'll never let our music be exploited that way.' Now they'll call you up and say, 'You gotta use this song in your movie, man. It's the new VW ad! People love it.' And you realize, boy, have times changed.
I'm proudest of the fact that I've been able to make a few movies in the studio system that are slightly unorthodox and personal. But it's never quite as easy as you dream that it could be.
Little did I know that work-in-progress is a code for many things. In a press situation, it can mean the movie's not going to come out. It can mean the movie's not going to change at all, but if you don't like it we'll change it. Or it can mean the truth, which is it's a work-in-progress.
I mean, Internet radio, which is basically a guy with his iTunes putting it over the computer, is the only way you're going to get true eclectic music programmed.