Filmmakers have all kinds of advice to young moviemakers about how to get their films made, but the Coens’ approach to finding financing for their debut feature, “Blood Simple,” is something all directors hoping to make their mark should pay attention to. And it’s a lesson they learned from their friend and mentor, Sam Raimi.
“Sam taught us that if you call on the phone and ask people to invest in a movie they’ll tell you to go hell,” Joel Coen said (via Vanity Fair). “But if you tell them ‘I have a piece of film to show you,’ then some of them would let you come into their living room and set up your little projector and show it to them.”
So that’s just what he and his brother Ethan did. The pair rented a camera, and over a single weekend, put together this pretty terrific trailer for potential investors, featuring the talents of Raimi regular, Bruce Campbell. It’s evocative, chilling stuff, and it’s easy to see how this reel helped them drum up $550,000 to add to the budget line of “Blood Simple,” which would go on to win the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, and kickstart the Coens’ careers.
“Blood Simple” arrives in a new 4K restoration on The Criterion Collection in September, with a theatrical re-release of the film kicking off on July 1st.