Dumb Money's director got GameStop story from his son and his star from Swiss Army Man

"Again, I'm not looking to do real stories," said Craig Gillespie, the director ofDumb Money, a fictionalization of the GameStopstock short squeeze, half laughing at himself. "Somehow, they find me."

The Australian director's joking denial stems from what can only be called a damning track record when it comes to "based-on-a-true-story" movies. Beginning withthe Disney sports biopicMillion Dollar Arm, to the coast guard thrillerThe Finest Hours, on toI, Tonya,Pam & Tommyand the upcoming exotic-dancing true-crime flickChippendales.

But when it comes to his newest film, the story wasn't pitched to him by a professional. Instead, Gillespie came to the subject of Dumb Money organically during the pandemic, watching his son take part in the GameStop phenomenon, the very story he would put to the screen just two years later.

"He was 24, and he was on WallStreetBets, and he was living this experience," Gillespie explained.

"He'd done his homework; he'd been following a lot of different other platforms as well. And he timed these options he got out perfectly."

What exactly he got out of was the infamous 2021 stock short squeezeofostensibly undervalued brick and mortar GameStopvideo game stores.

WallStreetBets was the engine under the hood: a Reddit page largely dedicatedto the wisdom of digital deity "Roaring Kitty," who nearly single-handedly inspired a working-class revolution in stock trading and "collective effervescence."

That is, if we are to believe Gillespie's screenplay.

The movie which saw its limited release today follows the actions of Roaring Kitty, also known as Keith Patrick Gill, a real-life financial analyst and YouTuber whoargued his followers should immediately scoop up stock for GameStop a video game retailer that seemed about as relevant as your neighbourhood Blockbuster.

They did, and the stock pricebegan to skyrocket. When some opportunistichedge fund managers looked to "short sell" that stock effectively betting theprice would soon fall, a strategy usually only open to wealthy investors Gill implored his followers to hold onto their options, and continue buying more.

As Gill's message became a rallying cry, thousands did exactly as he asked.

Soon the stock price rose astronomically, and the short-selling hedge fund managers stood to lose billions until regulatorsstepped in to halt it all. Those actions turned the initial David and Goliath story into something many felt was a worrying sign of our times.

"The outrage and the frustration and the anger that was happening online and the chatter around this," Gillespie said of what he witnessed, watching his son experience it all in real time. "I was privy to all of it through him."

Finding their Roaring Kitty

The narrative immediately struck himas worthwhile and already had its hero built in. Gillespiecentredthe movie around Gill and found their Roaring Kitty fairly early on.

Inspired by Paul Dano'sperformance as a stranded man using a corpse as an all-purposes tool in Swiss Army Man, Gillespie says the actorstoodout not only because of his range, but because of the "joy" he put into that performance.

Andhis tendency to research didn't hurt, either.

"I mean, Roaring Kitty for a year was posting these seven-hour videos once a week," Gillespiesaid. "I think Paul may have watched all of them."

That contrasted with Pete Davidson, who plays Gill's brother, a constant improviser whose dynamic Dano apparently loved.

Despite the film'scomedic tone, Gillespie saysit exists because of growing unrest and feelings of injustice. In the vein of recent movies like Triangle of Sadness, The Menu and The Hunt, it channels anger towardthe wealthy though with the added element of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gillespie says the isolation people felt then, and the ensuing re-evaluation of their lives, is the main undercurrent of his movie.

"That was the lightning rod that made GameStop happen," he said. "I think it's like there was this real discontent, this real frustration. GameStop became a way to voice that frustration, to like,really stick it to the man, as it were."