Producers: In their own words
Folks behind the films talk about the process

“Rabbit Hole”
Nicole Kidman, Gigi Pritzker, Per Saari, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech
ORIGINS: “Nicole Kidman, who was in Nashville at the time, read a review of David Lindsay-Abaire’s play and thought it sounded amazing,” says Blossom Films’ Per Saari. “I flew to New York that night and saw the show in its opening week. We met with David, and it was clear everyone was on the same page — namely about David working collaboratively and adapting himself.”
FUNDING: “I knew we could do it for well under $10 million,” says Olympus Pictures’ Leslie Urdang. “Olympus could cashflow the estimates plus the New York tax credit. Odd Lot Entertainment/Affinity offered to join as producers making an upfront investment in the movie.”
HIGH HURDLES: “One of the biggest challenges was to be able to make creative deals with the talent,” says Urdang. “It was extremely useful that Nicole set the bar. It took a long time to hammer out a deal with Nicole’s reps that made sense, but once that was in place, the other actors’ deals followed suit.”
DOMINO EFFECT: With Nicole attached to star, “John Cameron Mitchell read the script and showed such passion and insight, it was clear he needed to make it,” says Saari. “Nicole called Aaron (Eckhart) and begged him to squeeze his four weeks of work between two other projects he had committed to.”

- Variety