Career Highlights
- Began as a playwright and took classes at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco
- Produced first film The Poor & The Hungry with his $20,000 inheritance.
- Began using the emerging "Digital Video" technology in 1998 to minimize his production costs.
- Hustle & Flow was partly inspired by the hardships and collaborations it took to get his first film made.
- Believes he is a true southerner, and prefers to set his films in Tennessee
American film director and screenwriter Craig Brewer began writing and directing plays while still in high school. His father would fund productions to be put on inside and outside of school, renting out local theaters. Brewer took classes at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and when his father passed away he put his inheritance money into creating his first film, The Poor & The Hungry. Produced in 2000, this indie film went on to win at the Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony 4th Annual Hollywood Film Festival.
Brewer also directed $5 Cover, an MTV drama series about Memphis musicians, and 2005’s Hustle and Flow. The movie was partly inspired by the hardships and collaborations it took to get his first film made, and won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and achieved commercial success, along with an Academy award for Best Original Song.
His latest creation, Black Snake Moan, was released in 2007. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, and Justin Timberlake and was partially filmed in Memphis, TN. The film tells the story of Lazarus (Jackson), a deeply religious ex-musician who thinks it is his duty to help Rae (Ricci) shed her nymphomaniac ways and find redemption.
Craig and ThinkTalk host Zack Sherwood took some student questions on Craig's young film career, his interest in Memphis and the connection to music. Craig revealed what motivated him to move into directing, what his approach to on-set directing is and how he deals with actors. This interview was filmed in Spring of 2007.
