Although receiving much praise, including numerous top awards, for his recent films, director Ang Lee has felt constrained by economic necessity to shoot a television commercial (for BMG), his producing and writing partner James Schamus has intimated in an interview with Fox News Online's Roger Friedman.

"Basically, we haven't been paid in two years," Schamus told Friedman. Schamus also indicated that, because of the anticipated writers' and actors' strikes, Ang Lee is unable to capitalize on the success of his current award-winning film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. "We were going to make a musical, but there wasn't enough time," he said. "Now we'll just wait and see what happens."

Source: Studio Briefing