Nightcrawler is a 2014 American thriller film directed and written by Dan Gilroy and co-produced by and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, with Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, and Bill Paxton in supporting roles. Gyllenhaal plays Louis "Lou" Bloom, a stringer who records violent events late at night in Los Angeles and sells the footage to a local television news station. A common theme in the film is the symbiotic relationship between unethical journalism and consumer demand.
Theatrical release poster
Nightcrawler was the directorial debut for Dan Gilroy, who had previously spent several years as a screenwriter.
In addition to portraying the role of Lou Bloom, Jake Gyllenhaal (pictured) became heavily involved in the pre-production of Nightcrawler, from choosing members of the production crew to watching audition tapes.
Daniel Christopher Gilroy is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for writing and directing Nightcrawler (2014), for which he won Best Screenplay at the 30th Independent Spirit Awards, and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 87th Academy Awards. His other screenwriting credits include Freejack (1992), Two for the Money (2005), The Fall (2006), Real Steel (2011), and The Bourne Legacy (2012)—the last in collaboration with his brother Tony Gilroy. His wife, Rene Russo, has also been his frequent collaborator since the two met in 1992 and married later that year.
Gilroy at Fantastic Fest 2014