Claim: Jake Gyllenhaal is in Nightcrawler as an actor.

Nightcrawler is a 2014 American thriller film written and directed by Dan Gilroy . The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom , a stringer who records violent events late at night in Los Angeles , and sells the footage to a local television news station . Rene Russo , Riz Ahmed and Bill Paxton also star .   Gilroy originally wanted to make a film about the life of Weegee , but switched focus after discovering the unique narrative possibilities surrounding the stringer profession . He wrote Bloom as an antihero , based on the ideas of unemployment and capitalism . Gyllenhaal played a pivotal role in the film 's production , from choosing members of the crew to watching audition tapes . Filming took place over the course of four weeks , and was a hectic process that included over eighty locations .   Nightcrawler premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival , and grossed $ 50.3 million on a production budget of $ 8.5 million . The film was met with widespread praise , with critics highlighting Gilroy 's screenplay and Gyllenhaal 's performance . Several critics listed Nightcrawler as one of the best films of 2014 and it received various accolades , including an Best Original Screenplay nomination at the 87th Academy Awards .