The Apprentice producer faces lawsuit threats

(Toronto) The controversial film about the rise of Donald Trump is released this week in North America, despite statements from the Republican candidate’s campaign team, which called it “election interference by Hollywood elites” – and who threatens to sue.

“It makes me laugh a little, because I really don’t see myself as a ‘Hollywood elite’ here in Canada,” says the film’s lead producer The ApprenticeDaniel Bekerman, whose offices are in Toronto.

The film was well received when it premiered at Cannes last May, but it had difficulty finding a distributor, after legal threats from Donald Trump, who is not happy with the content. The Canada-Ireland-Denmark co-production, filmed in Ontario, hits theaters Friday via national distributor Mongrel Media.

The drama, directed by Danish filmmaker of Iranian origin Ali Abbasi (At the border), stars Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump at the start of his real estate career, under the direction of famous New York lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong, who was Kendall Roy in the series Succession).

The film contains many controversial scenes, including Donald Trump taking diet pills, undergoing scalp reduction surgery and, most disturbingly, raping his then-wife Ivana Trump, played by Maria Bakalova.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers sent a formal notice threatening to sue the film’s producers and any potential distributors. But Daniel Bekerman argues that the film is more of a “character study” of Donald Trump than an “accusation” against the billionaire or even a political film.

“We have continually invited [l’équipe Trump] to watch the film, including Mr. Trump. And who knows, maybe he would be surprised and like it,” the Toronto producer said in an interview. “A lot of people thought, I think, that it was surprisingly fair to him, even though it doesn’t water down any of the story. »

Mr. Bekerman assures that the sexual assault scene was the subject of “meticulous research” and that it is “a faithful representation of what Ivana herself recounted under oath”.

Ivana Trump, who died in 2022, accused her husband of sexually assaulting her in a deposition for her divorce filing in 1989. But four years later, she clarified her comments, specifying that although she had felt ” raped” at the time, she did not intend to imply that she had been raped “in the literal or criminal sense” of the term.

Industry members were scared

Although Mr. Trump’s team has not yet taken legal action against The ApprenticeMr. Bekerman admits that the threat alone had “a deterrent effect” on many distributors.

“Here we have someone powerful, who is simply unhappy with the portrayal that has been made of him, and he is capable of intimidating an industry,” declared the producer. “What worries me, actually, is the emergence of a potential culture of fear, where companies simply won’t even risk telling important truths if it becomes too risky. »

M. Bekerman assure que The Apprentice benefits from a “clearly non-American perspective” and filming outside the Hollywood system. “I think American industry is incredibly conservative and incredibly risk-averse on projects that raise high stakes,” he says. “So I think a bold project may be better suited to the independent system outside the United States. »

One of the film’s main financiers, the company Kinematics, backed by billionaire Dan Snyder, a supporter of Donald Trump, withdrew from the project in September, citing “creative differences”. Briarcliff Entertainment, led by major studio veteran Tom Ortenberg, then acquired U.S. rights to the title from Kinematics.

“It’s encouraging to find someone like him, who believes in a good narrative and doesn’t believe in industry intimidation or threats from powerful people,” Mr. Bekerman said of the partner Ortenberg, who produced films such as Spotlight: Special Edition in 2015, on the cover-up of sexual assault of minors within the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.

Mr. Bekerman adds that Mongrel Media also did not hesitate to release the film in Canada, since this distributor is known for “its boldness and its support of artists who have their own unique point of view”.

The film’s producers also launched a crowdfunding campaign in September to help with the film’s promotional costs, raising more than US$400,000.

Mr. Bekerman has “no idea” whether a lawsuit from Mr. Trump is still pending, but says the former president ultimately failed to block the film’s release on Friday.

“He’s been quiet about it lately. I think he probably knows he doesn’t want to give him oxygen right now,” said the Toronto producer.

And while the film’s release date is certainly timely, some 25 days before the US presidential election, Mr Bekerman says the impact it will have on the vote is “totally unpredictable”. He nevertheless hopes that the film will give voters a more complete image of Donald Trump.

“What we’re trying to do with this film is understand how we got here and really look behind the curtain at how this character named Donald Trump was created. »