Before becoming one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood, Christopher Nolan struggled with the transition from independent to studio filmmaking. In 2001, Nolan’s directorial resume included two low-budget films: Following and Memento. After the success of Memento, Nolan was interested in the script for Insomnia, but Warner Bros. would not grant him a meeting. Enter Steven Soderbergh, who would help Nolan get in the door at the studio.
How Did Steven Soderbergh Help Christopher Nolan With Insomnia?
While speaking with Rolling Stone, Soderbergh shared how Nolan’s agent first reached out to him to screen Momento, a movie he loved.
“What happened was, I got a call from Chris’ agent, Dan Aloni, who I had known because he screened Memento for me after Memento couldn’t find a distributor after being on the festival circuit for a year,” Soderberg said. “Dan calls me up out of the blue and says, ‘Could you watch this movie? I have this client of mine who has this movie, and we think it’s really good, but nobody will pick it up and we don’t understand why. Maybe we’re all crazy.” I see the movie, and I think it’s a fucking instant classic.”
Despite the success of Memento, Nolan could not secure a meeting with Warner Bros. to discuss the possibility of him directing Insomnia. Nolan’s agent called Soderbergh again for help, and the Oscar-winning director was happy to oblige.
“Cut to months later, Dan calls me and he goes, ‘Look, there’s this script over at Warner, Insomnia. Chris is really interested in it, but Warner won’t take the meeting.’ And I go, ‘What do you mean they won’t take the meeting?’ And he goes, ‘Well, the executive there didn’t like Memento.’ And I said, ‘Well, so what? Why won’t they take the meeting?’
“So, I called that executive and I said, ‘Take the meeting. You’ve got to take the meeting.’ And he goes, ‘But I didn’t like the movie.’ And I go, ‘Well, did you like the movie-making?’ And he goes, ‘Well, yeah, it’s brilliantly made.’ And I go, ‘Take the meeting.’ That is all I did. I knew Chris well enough to know that if he gets in the room, he’s going to get that job. The executive came back and said, ‘I really love Chris.’ And I go, ‘Well, yeah.’ And he asked if Section Eight would come on as producers, and I said, ‘Sure.’ That was it.”
Warner Bros. hired Nolan to direct 2002’s Insomnia, kicking off a longstanding relationship with the studio. Despite his help, Soderbergh insisted that Nolan would have found a way to break through because of his talent.
“If he didn’t make Insomnia, he’d have made something else and still had the career he has,” Soderbergh added. “That was just a fortunate set of circumstances where I could get on the phone and advocate for him.”
