With a budget of around $3 million, they spent a month shooting in Memphis during the summer.
“He was high rolling after doing ‘ 2 Fast 2 Furious,'” she said and after reading the script, Singleton called “flipping out.” However, Brewer, Allain and Singleton still couldn’t raise the money they needed and after one more frustrating year, Singleton decided to green light the project himself, from his own bank account. After a fruitless two-year film financing search, Allain approached John Singleton whom she had discovered while an exec. “It was going nowhere,” said Allain, who sold her house to get some cash to stick with the project. “I had to have it,” she explained, “Good material doesn’t come along very often.”Ī scene from “Hustle & Flow.” Image provided by Paramount Classics.Įven with Allain onboard however, they were unable to get the funding they needed to make the movie. Brewer had sent the script for “Hustle & Flow” to countless producers, and was about to give up on the project when he received the call from Allain. “I had seen ‘The Poor and Hungry,’ and thought it was beautiful,” said Stephanie Allain, who received the script for “Hustle & Flow” from a friend. Following the completion of that film, Brewer’s wife became pregnant and he started working on the script for “Hustle & Flow.” Shot on digital video in Memphis, the film is about a car thief who starts to feel guilty about his chosen profession. With money from his inheritance, Brewer completed his first movie, “ The Poor and Hungry” for $20,000 in 2000. At the same time, the lifestyle started to rob our souls a little bit.”Īround the same time, Brewer’s father, who had always encouraged his son’s film career, died. “We started to roll with a very different element. (One of the characters in “Hustle & Flow” is a stripper and several scenes take place in a local strip club.) “Part of me thought, wow, this will be an adventure,” said Brewer. Jodi, a costume designer, started making outfits for strippers for extra cash, then worked as a waitress at a strip club and later began stripping there. “My wife and I were really struggling,” said Brewer. When he and his wife Jodi moved to Memphis in the mid-1990s, they didn’t have any money. Much of “Hustle & Flow” is based on experiences from Craig Brewer’s own life.
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Brewer and producer Allain were unwilling to replace Howard, the first actor to sign on.įrederick Wiseman Goes Fictional for the First TimeĪubrey Plaza's Jilted Queer Love Story in 'Happiest Season' Led to Twisted 'Spin Me Round' Romanceįrom 'Barbie' to 'Babylon,' Here's Everything Margot Robbie Has in the WorksĮmmy Predictions: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie - Bartlett Time I felt it was a Memphis movie,” said Brewer, who still lives with his family in Memphis, TN. But he wanted to make, in his words, “a small, personal independent movie.” “It’s not a black movie for me. Brewer said he was told by the studios that he could only direct a black cast if his film was funny or action-packed, or if it had a big-name star.
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