Stone told Reuters that he initially did not want to do the film and was not seeking trouble. However, after meeting with Snowden in Russia, the 70-year-old director, known for movies like "JFK", "Natural Born Killers", and "Wall Street", changed his mind. He was concerned that the film might be boring, but ultimately saw it as a dramatic thriller rather than a documentary. "Snowden", which is now in theaters, follows Snowden's transformation from a conservative CIA agent to a disillusioned NSA operative who ultimately exposed the government's mass surveillance programs in 2013. He currently resides in Russia and is being sought by the US government for espionage. Amnesty International, along with two other organizations, have initiated a campaign to seek a pardon for him. Stone and Snowden had multiple meetings in Russia where they agreed that the film would be a dramatization. However, the film's progress was halted when Stone sought financing from studios, although the director did not disclose which studios he had approached. "We are living in a climate where self-censorship is prevalent," Stone stated. He believes that the NSA did not directly tell anyone not to make the film. Instead, there is a pressure to conform or be excluded. Open Road Films, a collaboration between Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment, decided to co-finance "Snowden", which was made for around $40 million, after others declined. The movie, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Snowden and Shailene Woodley as his girlfriend Lindsay Mills, was primarily filmed in Europe, with Germany offering production incentives and serving as a substitute for Maryland, where Snowden was raised. However, there were challenges in making a film about computer programming and programmers engaging for viewers. Director Stone mentioned the lack of violence, chases, and guns in the story, explaining the need to truly grasp the world of the characters and make it captivating. Despite this, Stone did film important scenes in Washington DC and Hawaii, and had Gordon-Levitt and Woodley perform a date scene in front of the White House. The director jokingly suggested that if one is going to take a risk in the US, they might as well go all out.