Her initial choice for a director, her friend Orson Welles, proved unavailable and after considering Welles' friend and fan of hers, Peter Bogdanovich, she eventually agreed to have Schell direct—primarily, it seems, because he spoke both German and English. In 1982, with Schell on board, she agreed to participate in what she intended to be a television documentary.
Her initial directorial pick, Orson Welles, was unobtainable; after evaluating Peter Bogdanovich, who was her friend and admirer, she chose Schell. Primarily because he could speak both German and English, she agreed to participate in the television documentary that year.