 Armed with $30,000 and a 16mm camera, Quentin Tarantino (qv) was  all set to make the film with a bunch of friends, including his  producing partner Lawrence Bender (qv) who was going to play Nice  Guy Eddie. It was then that Tarantino received an answerphone  message from Harvey Keitel (qv), asking if he could not only be in  the film but help produce it. Keitel had gotten involved via the  wife of Benders acting class teacher, who had managed to get a copy  of the script to him. Keitels involvement helped raise the budget  to $1.5 million.