‘The Apprentice’ Launches Kickstarter Campaign, Screening at TIFF

Ali Abassi’s “The Apprentice,” a movie about Donald Trump, just had its North American premiere at Telluride, and is now set to screen for press, as a late addition, at TIFF tomorrow evening.

Before it acquired “The Apprentice,” I hadn’t heard much about Briarcliffe Entertainment. Now Briarcliffe has just launched a Kickstarter campaign, which went live yesterday, to raise $100,000 for the film’s marketing. In less than 24 hours, that goal has been reached, having already amassed $176,500.

…legal threats have caused major media companies to shy away from distributing the film, fearing potential retribution if Trump is re-elected. Despite this, the filmmakers are pursuing a grassroots, independent approach to distribution.

A $25 donation will allow contributors to stream the movie after it hits theaters. For a $100 donation, they will have their names added to a special section on the end credits roller. The high rollers, those who are willing to contribute thousands of dollars, can win one of three toupees worn by Sebastian Stan’s Donald Trump in the movie, as well as VIP tickets to attend the film’s New York City premiere.

The whole thing is rather shady. It hints at Briarcliffe just not having enough money to position “The Apprentice” well enough to aware the moviegoing public of its existence. They lack funds for marketing, and fear legal repercussions, even though yesterday it was reported that the Trump campaign would not be suing the film.

Puck’s Matt Belloni recently reported that the big four streamers (Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and Apple) all passed on the film. So did Warner Bros, Paramount, Universal, Searchlight, Sony Pictures Classics, Focus, A24, HBO and Lionsgate.

The end result is that Briarcliffe, which is headed by former Lionsgate President of Theatrical Tom Ortenberg, was the only viable option for the film. Their past history in distribution is limited, at best. They distributed Michael Moore’s anti-Trump documentary, “Fahrenheit 11/9,” which lost them money, and only a handful of other films (“Dogman,” “Marlowe,” “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down”).

Suffice to say, we’ll have to wait and see if there is actual hunger from moviegoers to see this film, which premiered at Cannes to mixed reviews, but has been getting some Oscar buzz for Jeremy Strong’s performance as Roy Cohn.

Showbiz411’s Roger Friedman has confirmed that The Apprentice” will be released in 2,000 theaters nationwide on October 11. It’s being treated as a major release, with a big premiere and lots of publicity for the stars.