André Holland Says Financiers ‘Didn’t Quite See the Value’ in Black-Led ‘Love, Brooklyn’ Before Steven Soderbergh Signed On | Video

Sundance 2025: The film’s star and producer says he “knocked on all the doors” before partnering with his “The Knick” director

André Holland’s Sundance romance “Love, Brooklyn” almost never saw the light of day.

The actor and producer recounted the long process of finding financing for the Black-led project from director Rachael Holder and writer Paul Zimmerman, sharing in TheWrap’s Sundance Studio presented by World Hyatt that “we knocked on all the doors and did all the pitches,” but nothing was sticking.

“We had this script and were out to all the places that everyone goes to to get financing,” Holland told TheWrap executive editor Adam Chitwood. “People just, I think, didn’t share the vision. They didn’t quite see the value, but that’s often the case.”

Holland said it wasn’t until he chatted with his former “The Knick” director, Steven Soderbergh, who soon signed on as an executive producer, that things got moving with production for the film.

“Steven and I started a relationship many, many years ago. We worked on ‘The Knick’ together and he was and is such an incredible collaborator. He’s so generous with his time, with his advice,” Holland explained. “I sat down with Steven one day, and we just had made this movie, ‘High Flying Bird,’ together a couple years before, and he said, ‘What’re you up to?’ And I told him the story of this and he said, ‘Let me read it.’ I sent it to him and we met a couple more times, and then he said, ‘I like it.’ He said, ‘Why don’t you start tomorrow?’ And so he put a chunk of financing in and through my company I put some in and we got going.”

Holland said he’s happy he and his crew moved forward despite hitting some roadblocks with funding.

“Thankfully, Rachael did [see the vision], we all did, and we stuck with it,” Holland said. “Then the fun part started, which was being able to call up friends from, like, back in the day, and be like, ‘Yo, y’all want to make this movie?’ and everybody said yes. And these are some of the people I admire the most in the world as artists. The fact that y’all showed up, it really means the world to me. I think it’s a testament to making stuff with community and friends.”

The film, which centers on the lives three Brooklyn natives who are navigating their personal and professional lives as their home experiences rapidly change, was directed Holder and in her feature film directorial debut. The main cast includes Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise, Roy Wood Jr., Cassandra Freeman and Cadence Reese.

Watch Holland’s full interview with TheWrap in the video above.

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