A prominent West Hollywood art dealer, Stuart Regen became interested in motion pictures while living in Hollywood. His first film project was serving as associate producer on the 1990 drama "Bright Angel", featuring Dermot Mulroney, Lili Taylor and Sam Shepard. His passion for film was especially ignited after he picked up a copy of John O'Brien's semi-autobiographical novel "Leaving Las Vegas". Struck by the cover and later by the content, Regen was determined to make this story of a suicidal alcoholic into a motion picture. He met with O'Brien and paid several thousand dollars for the movie