When Oh, Canada writer-director Paul Schrader speaks with potential investors, he gives them a simple three-pronged pitch: Number One: “Forget about getting rich. You're not gonna get rich, but I think I can make you whole,” Schrader tells No Film School. If you give Schrader $100,00 to make his film, he’ll ensure you get that money back. Number Two: “I'm gonna give you a film if you bring it up at a dinner party, people are gonna be impressed.” This is a very prescient observation of how rich people operate: they love bragging at dinner parties. That clout-chasing leads directly into point three for Schrader… Number Three: “I'm gonna put you on a red carpet in Venice, Cannes, or Berlin. You've made a lot of money selling tires, wouldn't you rather spend some money trying to do this?” Having written some of Martin Scorsese’s greatest films (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) and directed many of his own, Schrader can safely assure that a new film of his will secure a buzzy opening at one of these premier film festivals. Richard Gere and Uma Thurman in 'Oh, Canada' via Kino Lorber Schrader has been making independently financed films using this equity financing approach for over a decade now. It kicked off with 2013’s The Canyons, which was a slightly different experiment in film financing. Back then, Schrader said to novelist Bret Easton Ellis: “The economics of film are such that we could probably just make a film ourselves. You, Braxton [Pope], and...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Friday, 13 December