Bert then ingratiated himself with some second-rate screenwriters and directors who could get him into Hollywood parties. There, he would casually pass copies of his scripts to producers and directors. This tactic eventually paid off when one such producer, Dimitri Giroux, actually read Bert’s script for Crime Pays and convinced a major studio to buy it with the well-known filmmaker Scott Thompson attached as director.
Crime PaysBert was trying to raise money to finance his independent directorial debut Bullets & Broads when he learned that a major studio wanted to buy the script for Crime Pays. The $30,000 he received from the sale of that script combined with an additional $300,000 raised by his lead actor Dominic Cartuzzi made it possible for him to begin shooting. Both films debuted a
