Mike CernovichVerified account

We went into production for Hoaxed in July 2017. Raised the cash. Set up interviews. Hit the road. We went HARD. I figured we'd have a good movie to release. I did my last interview in December 2017 and let the directors do their work.

In June 2018 my wife texts me, "Michael this is the film you always wanted." The directors had sent over a rough cut. (I hadn't talked to them about the film since it wrapped in December 2017.) Hoaxed was, well it was amazing. I can say that cuz THEY made it, not me.

When you have a good-enough film (like Silenced my first film), you release it. 80/20 Rule. Ship the film. When you have a potentially great film, the calculus changes. Hoaxed, I realized from watching the rough cut, had "Pumping Iron level potential." What I mean....

If you go to the gym, it's because of a movie. George Butler made a documentary about an obscure muscleman and an odd subculture. Pumping Iron created gym culture. It's one of the most culturally significant films of all time. I've wanted to make a Pumping Iron level film.

Once I saw the Hoaxed movie rough cut (2 hours 45 minutes), I realized the directors were waaaaay waaaay waaaaay better than I thought. Luckily they are Christians, and because of that Hollywood has discriminated against them. There's no way I / we could have afforded them.

Hoaxed goes from a project that I think will be a step up from Silenced, make backers happy, and I won't lose much money on - I put in 50K of my own money into Hoaxed - to....a potentially massively impactful film. Then I got more involved.

I wanted to make sure Hoaxed had maximum impact, and that meant talking to a real producer and tightening up story telling. To get a sense of the productive value of Hoaxed, watch the trailer here:https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1051653017035001856 …

First question the new producer of Hoaxed asks - DO you have E&O insurance? Uh...What? "Hoaxed looks like it had a multi-million dollar budget. People will sue you for the f-ck of it." (Even though Hoaxed is indie, it looks expensive.) Thus insurance review. 16 weeks worth.

My First Amendment lawyer cleared Hoaxed in August, but insurance companies have a different level of review. For them, it's not enough that you'd win if someone sued you. They want a film "lawsuit proof." Thus more re-cuts and clipping clips and delays.

I produced Hoaxed with some "modal viewers" in mind. We didn't want to do another generic MAGA film. Talked with the directors, and gave them the names of some lefties in media who were open-minded and not hacks. "What if THIS guy / gal saw Hoaxed?"

Well known people, who have to remain anonymous because of hate mobs, have seen Hoaxed. We nailed messaging. A film with crossover appeal is possible, even in the current year.