A24 agreed to let Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim abandon their Elizabeth Holmes documentary entirely if the filmmakers failed to uncover a worthwhile new approach.

The unusual arrangement was secured before production began on “You Can See Everything,” according to Oppenheim. Fielder wanted to investigate the story but questioned whether another Holmes project could offer anything distinctive after multiple previous treatments.

Before the documentary entered production, the scandal surrounding Holmes had already inspired a popular podcast, a bestselling book, an Alex Gibney documentary and “The Dropout,” Hulu’s scripted series. Against that crowded backdrop, Fielder proposed what the directors came to describe as a “kill switch.”

A deal that allowed them to deliver nothing

Speaking to IndieWire, Oppenheim recalled Fielder asking A24 to finance an initial search for a film while giving the directors the contractual freedom to discard everything if they came up empty.

“Well, do you think if Lance and I were to go and see if there was something there, would you be comfortable with giving us money and essentially just leaving us alone, and giving us a provision in our deal, whatever the money was, that we could just kill it at any time?” Fielder asked, according to Oppenheim’s account. “If we didn’t find something, we could just throw it all away, we could throw it in the garbage can.”

A24 accepted the proposal. For Oppenheim, that decision transformed the conditions under which he and Fielder could work, particularly because they were operating against a tight clock: Only 34 days remained before Holmes was scheduled to go to prison.

Oppenheim said the agreement gave the pair space to investigate without feeling that they had to force their material into a finished documentary. He described it as a chance to work from curiosity rather than under the pressure of people monitoring the production.

“I wish I could have that for every project, because then it really feels like you’re just operating purely out of curiosity,” Oppenheim said. “You can essentially fish.”

Fielder began without a fixed angle

Fielder separately told Wired that he approached A24 without knowing exactly what form the film might take. He had an instinct that there could be unexplored material, but Holmes’ approaching prison date created uncertainty about what would happen once filming started.

“I don’t really know what the angle is, but there is something tickling in my brain,” Fielder recalled telling the company. He offered to begin filming and wait to see what emerged, provided the filmmakers could ultimately hand A24 nothing if the experiment failed.

That option also affected how Fielder interacted with both Holmes and the company. Because there was no obligation to turn uncertain footage into a completed project, he said he did not have to hold back with either side.

Fielder acknowledged that making a film or any other project can be stressful, but said the possibility of pulling the plug would have brought its own sense of relief. He and Oppenheim initially believed that, even if no documentary resulted, the experience could still give them an interesting personal story from a week or two of filming.

Instead, their exploration became “You Can See Everything,” with Fielder and Oppenheim serving as co-directors. The Holmes-focused documentary ultimately reached theaters rather than being consigned to the proverbial garbage can.

ShowBiz Take

The “kill switch” matters because it reframes the project’s origin. Fielder and Oppenheim did not begin with a predetermined thesis or an unconditional requirement to finish a movie. They started with skepticism about whether another Holmes documentary was justified at all.

A24’s willingness to accept that uncertainty gave the filmmakers permission to decide that no film was better than one without a new perspective. As Oppenheim described it, the lack of conventional delivery pressure created room for open-ended exploration at a moment when the subject had already been extensively covered.

The fact that “You Can See Everything” survived its own escape clause is therefore central to its story: The documentary reached theaters only after beginning as a project its directors were explicitly empowered to scrap.