Director Stephen Gaghan and producer Teddy Schwarzman came to Deadline’s all-day awards season event November 5th, The Contenders Presented By Deadline, as part of the Weinstein Company panel to tell the story of the making of their contender, Gold, a true movie adventure in the tradition of The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre merged with The Wolf Of Wall Street.
Gaghan explains the film is inspired by some true-life events mixed with the fictional character of Kenny Wells, played by Matthew McConaughey. He’s a financial trader who hits upon a get-very-rich-quick scheme to uncover lots of gold in the mountains of Indonesia. With the help of a local guide played by Edgar Ramirez, the film is a full throttle adventure and the story of a man who follows a dream. BUT as Gaghan and Schwarzman explain the shoot in Thailand nearly turned the whole thing into a nightmare when monsoon season took over and almost put the entire set under water. Gaghan also has high praise for McConaughey who put on a lot of weight and started balding for the role.
To watch our conversation in front of a packed house with invited Oscar voters and key Guild members at the DGA Theatre click the link above.
