'Cease and desist': How an Irish film company reacted to a letter from Trump's lawyers
Julianne Forde and Ruth Treacy of Tailored Films at their offices in Dublin. Picture: Gareth Chaney
It was applauded with a standing ovation at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. But within hours of showing their film about a young Donald Trump to the world, two Irish producers received a ‘cease and desist’ letter - from the US president.
The then-former president instructed his lawyers to issue the letter to the producers of The Apprentice. Among them were Irish producers Julianne Forde and Ruth Treacy from Tailored Films - whose next film project brings them to West Cork.
The letter sparked urgent efforts to save and release the film - and last month, The Apprentice was nominated for two Oscars.
The film has been enormously well-received, but bringing it to the world proved a challenge - especially in the aftermath of the ‘cease and desist’ letter, recalls Treacy. “What it achieved was it scared off distributors. We’d had private conversations with distributors who really enjoyed the film, who backed away quite quickly.” Determined to bring the film to audiences, Treacy, Forde and their production partners in Canada and Denmark succeeded in getting the film released throughout the world - including in the US.
“It became quite a difficult journey to get the film released. We knew that it had to come out before the election if it was to have any chance of ever coming out,” says Treacy.
The Apprentice, released in Irish cinemas late last year and now on rental platforms, is directed by Ali Abassi and stars Sebastian Stan as the young Donald Trump. It charts Trump’s ascent to power through his connection to the right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong).
Last month, the film received a further boost when both Stan and Strong were nominated for Oscars for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively. For the film’s Irish producers, the news came as a delight and a pleasant surprise.
“Even though it had got a number of nominations for the Indie Spirits and things like that, it felt like the Oscars was the most traditional and difficult one to penetrate,” says Treacy, adding that some pundits were predicting that both actors could narrowly miss out on a nomination. “We were always slightly on the edge. We might be number six out of the top five.
“When the two of them were nominated, it was just amazing. They’re really great guys - they're so passionate about the film, they're dedicated to the message behind the film, and showing up all the time to talk about how proud they are of it and how important it is to them.”
Stan’s nomination has been particularly welcomed in US film circles as the star took on his portrayal of Trump on the eve of the country’s elections. “It was a tight enough shoot, just under six weeks, and it was in -10 degrees in Toronto in December, January last year,” says Forde of their leading actor. “He was having to flip between being young Donald Trump one day, older Donald Trump the next day, and the nuances of the performance that he had to move between.”
Treacy and Forde became involved in The Apprentice after meeting one of the film’s other producers at Cannes in 2023. Intrigued by the Danish-Canadian production and fans of the work of director Ali Abassi (Holy Spider), they - with the backing of Screen Ireland - become a third-country producing partner.
The filmmakers studied at the National Film School in Dun Laoghaire, where Treacy focused on sound design and Forde on cinematography, while both of them also directed. Unconnected to the film industry while trying to build up their body of work, they worked together on a corporate video and found that their skills complemented each other. They gained further corporate work and ran summer filmmaking courses for young people. They were in their early twenties when they set up their production company, Tailored Films - but even at this point, there was no master plan, they say, to work as film producers.
“We always wanted to be in entertainment and making entertainment, but it wasn't where we started,” says Forde. “We didn't really know anyone in the film industry, which at the time was rare enough not to have some family contact or friend contact.
“We were like: ‘Right we'd better get this sorted ourselves’. We were relatively young setting up the company and doing it 20 years now, it's been a big journey.” The duo worked with filmmaker Conor McMahon on a web series called Zombie Bashers and when McMahon went on to direct Stitches - a 2011 comedy horror starring Ross Noble - they came on board as co-producers.
Since then, Tailored Films has produced several screen stories across film and television, including 2017 gothic horror The Lodgers. Their latest film, Bring Them Down, centred around two warring Irish shepherding families and starring Barry Keoghan, is currently in cinemas.
“Our vision is to produce edgy stories that are underpinned by strong societal themes,” says Treacy. “Bring Them Down and The Apprentice both really adhere to that, because Bring Them Down is really about the toxic element of men not talking, and how things can build up for so long before they erupt into something that they never needed to erupt into. The allegory of what it takes to stop a war, and how easy it can be for a war to start.
“Then with The Apprentice, it's obviously not just about an individual. It's about a system, and the relentless pursuit of power at all costs. We want to be able to take risks in the projects we take on. We want to work with filmmakers that are bold and brave. If we could continue to work on projects like Bring Them Down and The Apprentice like that would be amazing. Films that have something to say, but that are also exhilarating to watch.”
In fact, their next film comes from one of Ireland’s most exciting filmmakers - Bantry’s Damian McCarthy - and follows the international success of his smart and suspenseful horror, Oddity, shot on the grounds of Bantry House.
Severance star Adam Scott stars in Hokum, currently filming at West Cork Film Studios. It centres around a horror novelist who visits a remote Irish inn to spread his parents’ ashes, unaware of rumours it is haunted by a witch.
“It's been really great,” says Forde of the project so far. “We've got a huge amount of West Cork crew on board, as well as other talented members that we worked with from all corners of Ireland previously. All the accommodation providers, all the crew, all the talent, everybody's just been really nice and welcoming.” On the first weekend of March, Treacy and Forde will head to Los Angeles and the Oscars, to cheer on their two actor nominees and celebrate Ireland’s creative involvement in a major international movie.
“We have never been before, so we don't fully know what it looks like, but we have our flights booked, and we're heading over,” says Treacy, adding that many Irish people worked on the film, including cast, hair and make-up and on post-production.
“Hundreds of VFX people worked on this. If you look at the credits and all the Irish people that worked on it, it was very much an Irish creative co-production that everyone should be very proud of.”
- The Apprentice is available to rent on streaming platforms including Apple TV and Sky Store. Bring Them Down is now in cinemas.
