'Nailed' shuts down production again

Union quarrels linger on Biel, Gyllenhaal film

By DAVE MCNARY

Production of "Nailed," starring Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal, has been shut down for a second time due to financial problems as below-the-line crews refused to work Thursday.

Members of the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical & Stage Employees were ordered by IATSE leaders not to show up at the South Carolina set after not being paid.

Capitol Films, which is financing the political comedy, was not immediately available for comment. IATSE also would not comment but a source familiar with the situation said production's expected to resume today.

The Screen Actors Guild told its members last week to stay off the "Nailed" set after Capitol failed to deposit enough required money in SAG accounts set up to pay the actors. After a one-day shutdown last Friday, production resumed Monday.

Pic, directed by David O. Russell, began shooting April 15 and is due to wrap in mid-June. Catherine Keener, James Marsden and Tracy Morgan also star.

The troubles with "Nailed" come as Capitol Films topper David Bergstein insists his company is on firm financial footing despite growing rumblings about unpaid bills and lawsuits.

Bergstein has blamed a bridge financier for last week's shutdown of "Nailed" and said that Capitol, which has already invested $12 million in the project, has found another bridge financier to ensure its wellbeing.

"We had fully escrowed the salary of the two leads and left significant deposits with SAG," Bergstein told Daily Variety earlier this week. "This dispute was something beyond money. It was to do with the structure of the financing."

"Nailed" is produced by Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher through their Red Wagon banner and by Persistent Entertainment. Script by Russell and Kristin Gore, centers on a woman from a small town who goes on a crusade for better health care after a nail is accidentally shot into her head.