A Pure, Honest Piece of Work
Schrader then sent his script to a couple of his friends in LA, but there wasn’t really anyone to show it to until a few years later. He was interviewing director Brian De Palma, and the two hit it off. Schrader said, “You know, I wrote a script,” and he said, “OK, I’ll read it.” Michael Phillips, the producer of Taxi Driver, was living next to De Palma at the time.
Production crew and Martin Scorsese on set of ‘Taxi Driver,’ June 1975. Photo by Fairchild Archive / Penske Media / Shutterstock
De Palma said to Phillips one day: “There’s this guy who has written a screenplay. It’s not really for me, but I think it’s your taste.” According to Phillips, the script was a pure, honest piece of work. He went to hid two partners at the time and proposed they buy the script for $1,000. And so by a two-to-one vote, they acquired the script.