I found out over the weekend that a friend of mine from South Carolina is an extra in Nailed, the David O. Russell movie that’s been shooting in Columbia in the past few months. I’m starting to worry I won’t get to see his screen debut, not because his part will get cut, but because God knows if Nailed will ever get finished. Variety is reporting that production of the movie has shut down for a fourth time, once again because crew members aren’t getting paid. Not only that, but production company ThinkFilm’s Toronto office has shut down, which might be a sign that all these payroll issues are happening because the company is going under.
The article quotes an unnamed source who says that production may resume at some point in Washington, D.C., which is where the movie is actually set (South Carolina’s State House is standing in for the United States Congress). It seems likely that Nailed will get finished one way or another, but the future is less clear for ThinkFilm itself. Randy Manis, one of the last two employees left in Toronto who founded ThinkFilm in 2001, had a weird parting statement for Variety: “It has not been the easiest time in the company with so many people we worked with wanting things." I realize he’s trying to be conciliatory, but what on earth does that even mean?
I don’t know nearly enough about Hollywood to figure out how a production funded by a bankrupt studio can go on, but Nailed is a high-profile project in the indie world, and has to find life somehow. The real question is whether or not this bizarre drama will get even more interesting before this production finally gets back on track. And, of course, whether or not my friend Bryce will ever see his Hollywood debut.
