The Treatment
Daniel Schechter: Life of Crime
Daniel Schechter loved Elmore Leonard's book The Switch so much, he wrote a script for it on spec. Years later, the film became a reality.
By Elvis Mitchell • • 28m ListenMost directors have to wait decades to get to make their "pie in the sky" passion project. For writer/director Daniel Schechter, that dream project is only his third feature. A lifelong fan of writer Elmore Leonard, Schechter thought Leonard's novel The Switch would make a really good movie. So, he wrote a script on spec, and sent it around. A couple years later, the rights to the book became available, and Leonard gave Schechter his blessing to make the film. In Life of Crime, Jennifer Aniston plays Mickey Dawson, an unhappy housewife who gets kidnapped and held ransom by two unlikely criminals (yassiin bey, aka Mos Def, and John Hawkes). The cast is rounded out by Tim Robbins, Isla Fisher and Will Forte. Schechter talks about what he learned from working with Lena Dunham, and recalls getting to chat with Leonard before his death in 2013.
Banner Image Credit: Barry Wetcher
