Hollywood Reporter – Daniel Bekerman and Amy Baer talk about the legal threats from Trump that spooked distributors and why crowdfunding was right for their film: “We wanted to do whatever we could to make sure that the movie was seen.”

* NOTE: If you want to donate to the kickstarter click here: RELEASE THE APPRENTICE

Yesterday, the filmmakers behind Donald Trump movie The Apprentice launched a Kickstarter campaign to assist with the October theatrical release of the film with a goal of raising $100,000. A day later, it has already topped that goal, raising more than $139,000 for the campaign, dubbed “Release The Apprentice.”

A Kickstarter campaign is not the go-to move for a splashy, albeit independently financed, feature with award-winning stars like Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong, and a debut at the Cannes Film Festival. But The Apprentice has had a long and embattled journey to get to theaters.

Since the film’s festival debut, its potential release has been mired in uncertainty. Dan Snyder, the pro-Trump billionaire, is involved with Kinematics, the company that put up equity for the film against domestic rights. Snyder was reportedly was displeased with the film’s depiction of Trump and sought to block its release. After the film’s Cannes debut, Trump’s lawyers sent a cease and desist letter also in an attempt to block the film’s release.

The Apprentice, from director Ali Abbasi, explores Donald Trump’s (Stan) rise to power in 1980s America under the influence of the firebrand right-wing attorney Roy Cohn (Strong). Among the scenes that reportedly earned the ire of the former president and his backers are a sequence where he rapes his first wife Ivana and also scenes that show Trump getting liposuction.

Ahead of the film’s screening at the Telluride Film Festival, it was reported that Briarcliff Entertainment would release The Apprentice on Oct 11. And, in addition to yesterday’s Kickstarter, it was announced that Kinematics exited the project over “creative differences,” with fellow producer James Shani’s Rich Spirit buying out the company’s interest.

After a whirlwind couple of months, The Apprentice producers Daniel Bekerman and Amy Baer talked to The Hollywood Reporter about Trump’s threats, the Kickstarter campaign and their hopes for the film.
Continue reading