Mudlark, Sayles has been & is "a player" all right. He has acted, strictly for the money, and written, strictly for the money, and done a lot of things, strictly for the money. He is quite clear about it though. When he acts in or writes for something truly dreadful, it doesn't bother him much if at all, because he knows the game.

See the Internet Movie Database for a complete list of all the stuff he has been involved with, wearing many different hats, over the years:

http://us.imdb.com/Name?Sayles,+John