He lost millions on a disastrous car movie and helped bring down the global economy. Let’s go back to the 2000s, when underground car culture was at its peak. It was the decade of Fast and Furious, Torque, and Driven… Ah, Driven… If only I could forget it. I still see that flying manhole cover when I close my eyes at night.
Redline: The Cinematic Fiasco Funded by a Subprime Lender
But if Driven was bad, Redline was worse. Not only was it a spectacular cinematic failure, but it also had the “privilege” of being funded by one of the architects of the 2008 financial crisis: Daniel Sadek, the owner of Quick Loan Funding.
Sadek may not be the only aspiring Hollywood producer to have lost 18 million dollars on a film that cost 26 million, but he is the only one who destroyed a Porsche Carrera GT and a Ferrari Enzo in the process. Technically, it was Eddie Griffin who killed the Enzo, but who’s really counting? Certainly not those writing NINJA loans on the eve of the Great Recession.
A Film with an Exorbitant Budget and an Absurd Plot
Redline‘s B-list cast could have made for a fun racing movie if someone competent had been in charge. But it was clear that wasn’t the case. Between the convoluted plot and the lead role written specifically for Sadek’s girlfriend, the red flags should have been enough to scare off the entire production team. But Sadek’s money was good—at least at first—and his lending business was booming.
The Fall: From Cinema to the Subprime Crisis
What could go wrong? The answer turned out to be “just about everything.” The two destroyed supercars didn’t help the already overpriced project. But most importantly, don’t think the link to the financial crisis is clickbait: Sadek’s company held the records for nearly 4 billion dollars in subprime loans when the bubble burst. He even made Vanity Fair‘s list of the 100 people responsible for the 2008 crisis. Sure, he was only 86th, but his aggressive pursuit of uncreditworthy clients earned him the nickname “Predator Zero.”
The Bankruptcy of a Credit-Based Empire
He was so over-leveraged from financing the film that he couldn’t cover the torrent of defaults, which ultimately cost him his company. The resounding failure of Redline was the catalyst for the dizzying collapse of an empire built on easy credit, thus contributing to the global economic crash.