Movies

Oscar-Nominated Director Brady Corbet Reveals He’s Broke and Other Nominees Can’t Pay Rent

BBG News

Despite A24’s “The Brutalist” being a strong contender for the Best Picture Oscar, its director, Brady Corbet, has recently shared some insights into the film’s financial hurdles he’s encountered.

In the early stages of his professional journey, the 36-year-old director initially worked as an actor, appearing in independent movies such as Thirteen, Funny Games, and Melancholia.

Eventually, he shifted his focus to independent filmmaking, with the 2015 release “The Childhood of a Leader,” featuring Berenice Bejo, who gained recognition from “The Artist.

Afterward, he added the 2018 film Vox Lux featuring Natalie Portman and Jude Law to his list, and more recently, he’s involved with the 2024 release The Brutalist, which garnered a total of 10 Oscar nominations, among them Best Picture.

Regardless of his movie receiving rave reviews and being shown in cinemas, Corbet admitted during a recent chat on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast that he’s still financially struggling.

In my recent projects as a filmmaker, collaborating with my partner Mona Fastvold on the scripts, I’ve shared that our last two films didn’t yield any financial returns, a fact I disclosed during a podcast interview.

Maron was taken aback when Corbet confessed that, in fact, they hadn’t received any recent income. Instead, they were surviving on an old paycheck from three years back.

Corbet confessed, “For the first time in years, I’ve actually earned some income from directing three ads in Portugal.

The filmmaker emphasized that they don’t get compensated for merely advertising their movies, a fact that exacerbates their financial struggles.

Speaking about some movies that were shown at the Cannes Film Festival around a year back, he mentioned that our own movie was premiered in September.

For the past six months, he’s been engaged in something and has not earned anything due to lack of time to hold down a regular job. Furthermore, he shared that he can’t accept any writing assignments either.

He likened the intense promotional grind to an extended interrogation process lasting about six months. Furthermore, he stated that media interviews could be relentless or endless.

According to Corbet, it’s a continuous journey for him, and he even works on weekends – Saturdays and Sundays. He hasn’t taken a day off since the holiday season around Christmas.

Apart from his remarks, the director casually mentioned that financial difficulties are often encountered by independent filmmakers, a fact he himself is aware of, having interacted with fellow Oscar-nominated peers who face similar struggles.

He’s talked to numerous filmmakers whose movies were nominated this year who can’t afford their rent. That’s an unfortunate reality, he added.

Corbet will be vying for his first Oscar for Best Director at the Academy Awards next month.

He’ll face off against Sean Baker (Anora), James Mangold (A Complete Unknown), Coralie Fargeat (The Substance), and Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez) in the competition.

In addition to being nominated for Best Film, “The Brutalist” is also a contender for the Best Actor award (Adrien Brody), the Best Supporting Actor category (Guy Pearce), and the Best Supporting Actress category (Felicity Jones). Furthermore, it’s been recognized for its original screenplay written by Corbet and Fastvold.

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2025-02-18 09:33

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