Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski has spoken out regarding the financing landscape for independent cinema, explaining the challenges of securing backing for her upcoming feature project, The Hunted.
Speaking in an interview on KCRW’s The Business podcast, the co-director of The Matrix franchise discussed taking the dystopian political thriller to potential film financiers with an estimated production budget of approximately $10 million. Wachowski stated that while industry executives responded positively to the screenplay itself, traditional studio backers were hesitant to commit production funds due to the film’s cast being composed entirely of transgender performers.
Wachowski co-wrote the script alongside her creative and romantic partner, Mickey Ray Mahoney. The narrative follows two transgender women investigating a crime that exposes a political conspiracy reaching the upper tiers of government. Wachowski described the writing process as an essential artistic outlet to channel her personal responses to global social and political pressures facing the transgender community.
In response to funding hurdles in the traditional studio pipeline, Wachowski organized alternative avenues to present the project to audiences. This included hosting a live, multi-night script table read at the Dynasty Typewriter theater in Los Angeles alongside a full ensemble cast.
The Hunted remains in development under Wachowski’s production company, Anarchists United, led by producers Lawrence Mattis and Sarah Marie Flores, alongside actress and filmmaker Natasha Lyonne producing through her banner, Ariadne Collective.
Wachowski previously co-directed the original Matrix trilogy, Bound, Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, and Jupiter Ascending alongside her sister Lana Wachowski, and co-created the Netflix science fiction series Sense8.
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