Dumb Money director Craig Gillespie explains the surprisingly personal reason he wanted to get involved in the film.
I hope it fans that ideology."
What about this particular real-life tale caught your eye?
Shailene Woodley and Paul Dano in ‘Dumb Money’.Claire Folger/ Sony Pictures
So he was going through this journey while it was happening from very early on.
So when you got the script… And then theChippendalesproject fell apart.
I was immediately in.
America Ferrera in ‘Dumb Money’.Claire Folger
It’s relatable, in a very simplistic term.
The stakes are so high for the individuals.
Talk to me about that decision and why they were the right fit for those parts.
Nick Offerman and Seth Rogan in ‘Dumb Money’.Lacey Terrell/ Sony Pictures
It’s kind of twofold.
What I loved about Rebecca and Lauren’s script is it’s not black and white.
We have a go at make these characters as fully formed as possible.
Pete Davidson and Paul Dano in ‘Dumb Money’.Everett Collection
And we wanted to show that there are individuals behind this.
So you’ll draw different parts of the film out and relate to it in different ways.
Were you or Paul or anyone involved in the film able to speak with the real Keith Gill?
No, but we reached out many times along the way.
Keith posted, I think, a seven-hour video every week for a year.
There’s so much footage available and conversation and him talking about different things.
COVID plays a very big part in the film.
At what point in the pandemic were you filming and how did it influence the final product?
We were very much in COVID when we were filming.
This movie is so much about COVID.
Honestly, this would not have happened without COVID as a backdrop for the whole reason this transpired.
It was a win-win-win.
Besides COVID, what were some of the most creatively challenging parts of making this film?
Paul would be doing press onThe Fabelmans, and Pete had his show he was shooting simultaneously.
Anthony had only three days in a whole shooting schedule that he was available.
So we’d have to figure out, all right, what are we doing?
How do we adapt this scene?
What are we changing?
And some of that inspired some of these really fun moments.
And they said, yes.
And all of those reactions in the film, that’s just off the cuff Pete improvising.
What are you hoping people take away from the film and the experience of watching it?
I just hope it fans that ideology, and starts dialogue again.
It starts people writing to Congress, and holding people accountable in whatever form that protest is.
So I think it’s all hopefully fueling those conversations.
Dumb Moneyis now playing in theaters nationwide.
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