▁V est ron , ▁Gott lie b ▁had ▁agreed ▁to ▁cut ▁the ▁proposed ▁budget ▁in ▁half . ▁Berg stein ▁and ▁Gott lie b ▁then ▁chose ▁Em ile ▁Ar d ol ino ▁as ▁the ▁film ' s ▁director ; ▁Ar d ol ino ▁had ▁never ▁directed ▁a ▁feature ▁film , ▁but ▁was ▁extremely ▁passion ate ▁about ▁the ▁project ▁after ▁reading ▁the ▁script ▁while ▁he ▁was ▁on ▁j ury ▁duty . ▁The ▁team ▁of ▁Gott lie b , ▁Berg stein , ▁and ▁Ar d ol ino ▁then ▁presented ▁their ▁vision ▁for ▁the ▁film ▁to ▁V est ron ' s ▁president , ▁Jon ▁Pe is inger , ▁and ▁the ▁company ' s ▁vice ▁president ▁for ▁production , ▁Mitchell ▁C ann old . ▁By ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁meeting , ▁Pe is inger ▁had ▁green light ed ▁the ▁project ▁to ▁become ▁V est ron ' s ▁first ▁feature ▁film ▁production . ▁The ▁approved ▁film ▁was ▁budget ed ▁at ▁the ▁relatively ▁low ▁amount ▁of ▁$ 5   mill ion , ▁at ▁a ▁time ▁when ▁the ▁average ▁cost ▁for ▁a ▁film ▁was ▁$ 1 2   mill ion . ▁ ▁For ▁ch ore ograph er , ▁Berg stein ▁chose ▁Ken ny ▁Or te ga , ▁who ▁had ▁been ▁trained ▁by ▁Gene ▁Kelly . ▁For ▁a ▁location , ▁they ▁did ▁not ▁find ▁anything ▁suitable ▁in ▁the ▁Cat sk ills ▁( as ▁many ▁of ▁the ▁resort s ▁had ▁been ▁shut ▁down ▁at ▁that ▁point ), ▁so ▁they ▁decided ▁on ▁a ▁combination ▁of ▁two ▁locations : ▁Lake ▁L ure , ▁North ▁Carolina