HUFFINGTON
06.17.12
CINEMA VÉRITÉ
recalls, “but I became very
close with them.”
All this time, Knudsen and
Van Hoy were looking for a
way to become independent
producers in their own right.
They knew they needed to
gain experience in every aspect of a film’s life, and now,
thanks to Knudsen’s experience on The Manchurian
Candidate, they were close.
“We thought at one point
that we would partner up
with all these other young
people that wanted to produce and get some land in
Jersey or something,” Knudsen recalls, “but no one really wanted to quit their jobs
and go do it with us. Jay and
I were the only ones. So we
just said, ‘O.K., let’s do it.’”
I’m Not Celebrating Christmas
Developing a project from
scratch would take months,
even years, so Knudsen and
Van Hoy set out in search of
a filmmaker, with a script,
who was willing to take a
chance on two would-be
producers who didn’t know
what they were doing.
In the spring of 2003, Van
Hoy was volunteering for a
non-profit called Cinematexas, screening student films,
when he came across Gretchen & the Night Danger, a
short about an awkward high
school girl. Lars watched the
film and liked it too, and the
partners made a pitch to the
filmmaker, an Austin-based
writer/director named Steve
Collins: let us help you turn
your short into a feature film.
After numerous trips to
Austin to scout locations and
recruit a crew, Van Hoy and
Knudsen put the budget at
$350,000 — a modest sum
in filmmaking terms that still
proved murderously difficult
to raise. They had no stars,
no experience, and no idea
how to find serious investors.
“We made a list of people
we knew who we thought
had money,” Knudsen says.
“I remember sending it out
to friends of my parents, and
then you realize that this is
the real world and of course
they’re not going to give you
$15,000 or $20,000.”
“We chased down every
single possible lead,” adds
Van Hoy.
COMING
UP RUDIN
“WHAT I LEARNED
WORKING FOR
RUDIN WAS THAT
YOU’D BETTER FIND
YOUR LIMITATIONS
BEFORE HE DOES.
IF HE FINDS THEM,
YOU’RE FUCKED.”
—Van Hoy on Rudin
“HE PUSHES YOU
AND PUSHES YOU.
I THINK YOU DON’T
KNOW UNTIL
YOU LEAVE WHAT
IT IS THAT YOU
LEARNED.”
— Knudsen on Rudin
“THEY’RE DOING
THE HARDEST
THING THERE IS
TO DO IN THE
MOVIE BUSINESS,
BY FAR. THEY’RE
DOING IT ALL
ON THEIR OWN.”
— Rudin on Van Hoy
and Knudsen