An Auteur Finds Funding in Recyclables

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ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

Now, the story of a movie that has an unusual source of funding. Reporter Sky Rhode introduces us to a filmmaker who is reading from a different financial script.

SKY RHODE: Scene one: Exterior - early evening - a small Mexican restaurant in a tony(ph) city of Brentwood. We see a young L.A. filmmaker as he swings his SUV into the alley behind the restaurant - medium shot.

Mr. BILLY "BLUE" de GAULLIER (Filmmaker): Have you seen any beer bottles? They got pairs.

RHODE: Meet Billy "Blue" de Gaullier(ph). Here's the pitch, a man believes he has the power to turn glass and aluminum into gold. And the kicker? De Gaullier says he'll finance his first film entirely by collecting and recycling cans and bottles.

Mr. de GAULLIER: Look at that. Oh, we got a lot of bottles. That's good.

RHODE: The total budget is $75,000. That's 1.5 million cans and bottles. So far, de Gaullier has more than 270,000.

(Soundbite of bottle dumping)

RHODE: Close up - de Gaullier dumps a plastic trashcan full of bottles into a bin in the back of his SUV. De Gaullier's creative funding method was inspired by the main character in his film. The working title? "Noah's Ark". Here's the plot. Noah's a homeless man in Los Angeles who collects recyclables. He's got terminal cancer from years of breathing in bus fumes.

He fixes up a boat and sails to Costa Rica to die in paradise. Close up - de Gaullier's hands, they're calloused; they're a little dirty. He forgot his gloves today.

Mr. de GAULLIER: At the end of the day, my fingers are like webbed toes sticking together every single night.

RHODE: Cut to interior - small production room.

Mr. de GAULLIER: To collect cans and bottles is crazy, you know, as far as funding a movie is concerned.

RHODE: Medium shot - we see David Moon(ph), director of photography for de Gaullier's film.

Mr. DAVID MOON (Director of photography, de Gaullier's film): To see someone do this every day and to see how he is sacrificing, basically, his life to fund a movie, that's more drive than I've ever seen anyone else have. That passion is just infectious.

RHODE: Cut to interior car - Wilshire Boulevard. De Gaullier grips the steering wheel. The gaslight is on, but he doesn't notice.

Mr. de GAULLIER: I sent this project to Morgan Freeman's assistant and we'll see what happens. Morgan Freeman is an amazing actor and, you know, he could pull it off, grunt it out the payment cans. I don't know how many cans - I'm doing the math here. I don't feel like we're acting, but...

RHODE: Daytime - campus of the University of Southern California. Cut to interior - an older man with piercing eyes sit to the desk. He's film school professor and a veteran producer, Larry Turman. He says de Gaullier has one important attribute: perseverance.

Professor LARRY TURMAN (Veteran Producer; Film, University of Southern California): To Billy, from Larry Turman: I admire you. Go for it. Keep going for it, and go for it in your terms. Although, since you've seem to care so much for the subject, I would diffidently suggest you get money wherever you can, not just from bottles.

RHODE: Cut to interior car - evening; turning left from the alley outside Hooters, back onto the street. De Gaullier says no matter what, he's sticking to his cans.

Mr. de GAULLIER: Yeah, maybe I do look like a bum taking out the garbage for bottles and cans. But you know what? They will never see me coming, and that's what happens when you underestimate people with passion and drive.

RHODE: Cut to exterior - a recycling center in Santa Monica, nestled between the 10th Freeway and the dumps. We see de Gaullier haul in his third load of the day.

Mr. de GAULLIER: I made about 70 bucks today. Fourteen (unintelligible), 51 glass bottles, 80,000 cardboard. Stick in time, but you know, it's like anything. You know, Rome wasn't built in a day. I made a felon, too, I think.

RHODE: Camera pulls back to reveal huge bins of recyclables behind de Gaullier. They dwarf him. He's sweating lightly, but has a determined look on his face. Long shot - de Gaullier turns away from the microphone and walked toward the recycling center's cash-out counter. Fade out.

SIEGEL: "Recycling Cans" starred Billy "Blue" de Gaullier. Written and produced by Sky Rhode.

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