Felix Mooneram
Audio By Carbonatix
Even those of us living well outside the sunny glamour of Hollywood know that filmmaking is an extremely laborious process that requires a number of minor miracles to result in the most moderate of a success story. Beyond the fact that creative conception is not easy, finding the adequate resources necessary to pull off a production is often more intensive than the filmmaking process itself.
Although many artists would prefer to work on projects outside of the studio system, in which they are ensured more significant artistic freedoms, one Dallas filmmaker has learned that a “DIY” production faces an even harder uphill battle.
Cooper Raiff distinguished himself as a filmmaker of immense talent when, at 23 years old, his directorial debut Shithouse took home the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the SXSW Film Festival in 2020. Raiff immediately followed up this achievement with the romantic dramedy Cha Cha Real Smooth, which earned rave reviews upon its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, landing a release on Apple TV. Although Raiff proved to be a critical darling, the production of his ambitious crime drama The Trashers was met with an abrupt halt.
The Trashers was inspired by a peculiar true story about a minor league hockey team with connections to the mafia. Raiff’s early films featured casts of up-and-comers, but The Trashers managed to court the talents of Stranger Things‘ star David Harbour and Licorice Pizza‘s breakout performer Cooper Hoffman. Despite expressing his affinity for the script, Raiff confirmed that the project would not be moving forward due to a lack of funding.
While independent filmmaking has never been a particularly rewarding business financially, a multitude of factors have made it even more challenging for artists to survive. The Brutalist director Brady Corbet, who was recently awarded the top prize at both the BAFTA Awards and the Golden Globes, admitted to being “broke” after spending years developing his passion project. The Brutalist was considered a minor miracle, as the ambitious epic came in at a surprising budget of $10 million and grossed $48.5. Nonetheless, Corbet revealed that he had been taking gigs making commercials in order to make ends meet.
Artists like Raiff and Corbet have avoided the “one for you, one for them” model, in which filmmakers make a passion project after making a more commercially viable feature for a major studio. While legendary directors like Martin Scorsese have railed against the rise of populist cinema, earning credit on a major production with a robust marketing campaign is certainly an attractive offer. However, recent shifts in the entertainment industry have made it so that building up this resume is an even greater hurdle, as the number of films that are half-completed and never released grows exponentially.
Film abandonment is not an entirely new concept; some films were forcibly halted due to tragic circumstances, such as the classic thriller Dark Blood, which was shelved after the tragic death of its star, River Phoenix. Occasionally, a halt in filming leads to an unsustainable situation, such as the infamous shutdown of the romantic drama Lily and the Secret Painting, which was left unfinished after its star, Winona Ryder, suffered a health crisis. These situations occurred as a result of unforeseen circumstances, but it’s become more common for a film to be shelved as a result of corporate greed.
The industry was forced to reckon with the reality that filmmaking is seen purely as a business by those in charge when the newly formed Warner Brothers Discovery announced that two completed features would be canceled entirely. A Batgirl superhero origin film had been intended to launch a new chapter in the DC Universe and even featured the return of Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight of Gotham; the animated film Scoob! Holiday Haunt was an intended prequel to the CGI-animated Scooby-Doo feature released in 2020.
CEO David Zaslav cited a dearth in quality as the reason for shuttering these projects; both films were supposedly canned because they could “devalue” the quality of Warner Brothers’ output and would not be profitable if additional funds were allocated to reshoots and editing. The truth turned out to be a lot more sinister: By not releasing the films, the company could take advantage of a tax break that would serve as a more “financially sound” strategy.
The outrage over the termination of these projects was relatively moderate given the quality of the films themselves. Early reports indicated that Batgirl was never intended to receive a wide theatrical rollout and the first Scoob! film had been a critical disappointment amidst the unusual film calendar of 2020. However, there was a more widespread backlash when Warner Brothers targeted the highly anticipated Coyote vs. Acme, a live-action/animation hybrid comedy based on the beloved characters from Looney Toons.
Test screenings of Coyote vs. Acme had reportedly earned rave reviews and comparisons to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The LEGO Movie. It also wasn’t a film lacking talent in front of and behind the screen; director Dave Green had helmed the acclaimed science fiction adventure Earth to Echo, and the cast included Will Forte, John Cena and Lana Condor. Although there’s no guarantee that the film would have been a success, it’s hard to imagine that the first Looney Toons cinematic event in over two decades wouldn’t earn some attention given the characters’ continued prominence on the Max streaming service.
The tricky issue that films like Coyote vs. Acme have faced is that they no longer belong to the artists. Although it was hinted that the film could be shopped to other studios, reports indicated that Warner Brothers Discovery had gone out of its way to prevent it from being seen.
A similar fate was met by Horizon: An American Saga–Chapter 2, the second installment in Kevin Costner’s ambitious Western franchise. After the first installment bombed in theaters, the second film was removed from the release calendar and held for a year ahead of a select screening at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Costner has remained invested in completing his story, but it’s up to Warner Brothers Discovery if audiences will ever be able to see it.
No-Show Business
The prospect of abandoning a completed film may seem like a financial impossibility, but in some instances, shelving a project could result in losses spared. After Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Michel Gondry and artist Pharell Williams determined that their planned musical project Golden wasn’t salvageable, Universal made a collective agreement to cancel the project. Despite over $20 million being sunk into the film’s production, the reshoots and edits needed to make the film fit for release would’ve cost more money than it would to accept a loss. Although it’s unusual that it took so long to make this determination, Universal’s contracts ensured that the cast and crew were paid in full for their participation.
While Universal had to bite the bullet on what could have been a commercial misfire, some films didn’t have the benefit of being able to recoup losses. In the case of the action thriller Wake, filming was shut down after unforeseen funding issues caused both its director and stars to opt out. While major studios are able to negotiate for additional filming days by thrusting more money into reshoots, the same opportunities aren’t afforded to smaller companies that are only given a finite production window. Bullet star Bruce Willis was already in three films the same year and was unable to commit more time to a tumultuous shoot.
Whether or not a film can be saved after an initial cancellation period is ultimately determined by whether or not the studio is willing to give up the rights. In some cases, a studio may make decisions that are in the best interest of its public relations campaigns; in the aftermath of a #MeToo scandal, Netflix decided to completely bury a biopic of Gore Vidal starring Kevin Spacey, with concerns that it would damage the streamer’s image.
Conversely, a studio willing to drop the rights could result in a rival taking control and utilizing controversy to its advantage. After the bodybuilding drama Magazine Dreams sold to Fox Searchlight after rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival, it was abruptly dropped due to the allegations of assault leveled against its star, Dallas actor Jonathan Majors. While Searchlight didn’t see a future for the film, Briarcliff Entertainment swooped in to give it a route to theaters. Instead of downplaying Majors’ involvement, Briarcliff opted to take a controversial stance by promoting the film as a “comeback vehicle” for the disgraced star.
Perhaps the overwhelming sea of content available to viewers across different streaming services has devalued individual filmmaking works to the point that the loss of just one film seems inconsequential. However, even those with no interest in Looney Toons, Batgirl, or mob-adjacent hockey players should be concerned about the precedent that this sets. Filmmakers can certainly have their feet held to the fire for making bad films, but it’s up to the audience to make that determination.
