While Wilder said he wanted Brooks to direct Young Frankenstein from the start, Brooks has told the story on multiple occasions, including in the official Young Frankenstein: The Story of the Making of the Film book, as noted by Newsweek, on how he first became involved and his first payment for his work.
Mel Brook is typically the creative force behind all his movies, but Young Frankenstein was actually an idea born of Gene Wilder.
Brooks and Wilder were working on the irreverent western Blazing Saddles when one day when they weren’t filming Brooks noticed Wilder writing on a legal pad and saw the title Young Frankenstein.
Brooks asked his star what he was working on and Wilder gave him the pitch, saying that it would be his dream for Brooks to write the movie with him and then direct it.