Orson Welles was a stage director for a theatre company before filming Citizen Kane. This was his first film and RKO Productions gave him a budget of $939,727 which was a lot of money for the time. Especially for a 25-year-old making his first ever film. He was considered to be a theatrical genius, which is why the studio gave Welles complete control of the project He was free to choose the cast as well as to write, direct, produce, edit, and act in the film he created. Welles moved from New York to Hollywood in 1939, with the majority of the cast and crew coming from theatre with no experience when acting in films.