Steven Soderbergh spoke to a studio exec about meeting Christopher Nolan so he could make INSOMNIA

Christopher Nolan he is known for creating intricately crafted epic-scale films for the big screen, with advanced storylines and repeated actors lined up to work with him. Many of his films have become masterpieces, including I remember, The prestigehis Batman trilogy, Start, InterstellarAND Principleas well as his recently released landmark summer blockbuster, Oppenheimer. But a dramatic thriller in his early career nearly didn’t come to fruition, as the director still couldn’t get a meeting with the studio to hear it.

After directing only two films, Following AND I rememberNolan had his eye on the film’s script Insomnia, but Warner Bros. did not want to meet the upcoming director. So his agent brought in a friend with a bigger name.

Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh he is best known for making films such as Sex, lies and videotape, Erin BrockovichTHE Ocean’s 11 trilogy, The informant!, and much more, and is also a huge fan of Nolan. While speaking to Rolling Stone, Soderbergh shared how Nolan’s agent first contacted him about the screening I remember:

“What happened was that I received a call from Chris’s agent, Dan Aloni, who I knew because he had screened Memento for me after Memento couldn’t find a distributor after being on the festival circuit for a year. Dan calls me out of the blue and says, ‘Could you watch this movie? I have a client of mine who has this film and we think it’s really good but no one is going to take it and we don’t understand why. Maybe we are all crazy.’ I see the movie and I think it’s an instant fucking classic.

“Months later, Dan calls me and says, ‘Look, there’s this script at Warner, Insomnia. Chris is really interested, but Warners won’t be attending the meeting.’ And I’m like, ‘What do you mean they won’t attend the meeting?’ And he: “Well, the manager there didn’t like Memento”. And I said, ‘Well, so what? Why don’t they attend the meeting?’

“So, I called that executive and said, ‘Attend the meeting. You must attend the meeting.’ And he: “But I didn’t like the film”. And I say: “Well, did you like shooting the film?” And he says, “Well, yeah, that’s brilliantly done.” And I say: “Take the meeting.” That’s all I did. I knew Chris well enough to know that if he walks in the room, he’s going to get that job. The executive came back and said, “I really love Chris.” And I say, “Well, yeah.” And he asked if Section Eight would come in as a producer, and I said, “Sure.” It was like this.

Warner Bros. hired Nolan to direct 2002 Insomniahero Al PacinoRobin WilliamsAND Hilary Swank, and this led to a longstanding relationship between Nolan and the studio. Despite his help, Soderbergh insisted that Nolan would find a way into the industry with his talent. He continued:

“If he hadn’t done Insomnia, he would have done something else and still have the career he has. That was just a lucky set of circumstances where I was able to phone and defend him.

This is a good story. It’s great when a director can see raw talent in another director and help point him in the right direction.