The Prestige | Behind-The-Scenes Julian Jarrold’s and Sam Mendes’ producer approached Christopher Priest for an adaptation of his novel The Prestige. Priest was impressed with Christopher Nolan’s films Following and Memento, and subsequently, producer Valerie Dean brought the book to Nolan’s attention. In October 2000, Nolan traveled to the United Kingdom to publicize Memento, as Newmarket Films was having difficulty finding a United States distributor. While in London, Nolan read Priest’s book