'Cabrini' producer Jonathan Sanger says filmmaking takes determination, too

“Ultimately, I had to still stick with things that were most important, which is finding a great story and finding people who believed in me so that I could tell them why they should invest in me,” he says.

Taking home the trophy for a short subject, “Ray’s Male Heterosexual Dance Hall,” Sanger says it’s always a matter of getting in the door and getting calls answered. “It’s a challenge. But I still enjoy it.”

For his latest film, “Cabrini,” Sanger wasn’t the one pitching. J. Eustace Wolfington, a giant in the car leasing business, wanted to make a film about Mother Cabrini, the first American saint. Her tenacity – to help the immigrant population – was something Wolfington admired.

“She was someone who never took no for an answer,” Sanger says. When Wolfington heard her story, he became intrigued and saw her has his own patron saint. He met with Sanger, shared the story and asked if he’d make the movie.

“I didn’t think I was the right guy to produce it,” Sanger says. “I like making movies about people that other people can relate to and I don’t know how to relate to a saint. And he said I was missing the point. It’s about a woman who believed in herself and, as a result of her own gumption, was able to make amazing things happen.”

Sanger, the producer of films like “Marshall,” “Frances” and “The Elephant Man,” suggested a writer for Wolfington’s project and volunteered to serve as adviser.

During the time others were researching the story, Sanger had done his own legwork. “I realized that she had such an extraordinary life you couldn’t tell her story in one movie. This would be at least a 10-part miniseries.”

Thanks to his work on “Marshall,” a look at the early days of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Sanger knew an origins story could work. Suggesting as much, “Cabrini” became more manageable. Then, it was a matter of getting over the religious angle. “I certainly was never interested in doing a kind of typical faith-based stor…and it isn’t. She’s a woman who actually goes out and finds a way to make things happen herself.”

On the project since 2018, Sanger ultimately agreed to produce. He set up shop around Buffalo, New York (which provided the necessary locations for a story set in the 19th century) and, under the direction of Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, completed filming in 2021.

Now in theaters, “Cabrini” stands as a testament to its creators’ tenacity.

“Making movies is like building an industry from the ground up,” Sanger says. “And then you get it off the ground and you move on to another industry. Some of the things are the same but a lot are different.”

Cabrini’s determination, he says, is something he can relate to. “Anybody who makes movies has to be able to relate to it because it’s about the hardest thing to do. I’ve been in the business 50 years. I know how to make a movie. I’m very confident if you give me a script, I know how to make it and make it well. But if I don’t have the funding, I can’t do it.”

Now into the marketing phase of “Cabrini” (which he says is doing well), Sanger is working on a film about the Wright Brothers and how they spent their own money to get a “heavier than air” ship off the ground. When Samuel Langley tried – and failed – he said no one would be able to fly a plane, at least not in 50 years. “Five days later, the Wright Brothers took off from Kitty Hawk.”

Determination? It’s there, too.

“Every so often, you get a chance, and then you make a movie like ‘Cabrini,’” Sanger says. “And it opens doors because people see that and they say, ‘Wow, I didn’t think you could make that kind of movie.’”