Hue's Blog

Interview with James Wallace

"I am hardly an authority. But I think the discussion of “new distribution” actually harkens back to film’s roots. Back in the silent two-reeler days, people shot films, paid for the prints, went on the road and showed them directly to the public. Now we have festivals, and markets, and lots of people in-between, which means lots of entities that have to make their profit margins. I can’t say what the future of film will be, but my guess is that it won’t be able to support so many intermediaries, financially."

I did an interview with James Wallace, for Gordon and the Whale.  James and I discussed Saint John of Las Vegas, the pitfalls of cookbook screenplay writing, and the disintermediation of indie film.  You can read full interview here.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian

Saint John of Las Vegas got a great write-up in the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

"When their journey ends, you can't help but be disappointed because you really don't want this sweet-natured first film by director-writer and onetime Silicon Valley hotshot Hue Rhodes to end. It's such a treat to watch Buscemi work, pulling the spooky-tooth tics and rattled nerves out of his bag of mannerisms. And it's fitting that he has arrived here, because from its star to its bit players, Saint John offers a gentle Hail Mary to the usually less-than-visible guys and gals in the cameos."

Read the full review here.

Conversation with Brendon Connelly of /Film

"The film is pricked with references to Dante’s Inferno, though certainly has it’s own narrative which requires no knowledge of the Divine Comedy to understand - think how the Coen Bros. and Homer blended into O Brother Where Art Thou. And whereas the Coens’ film stood on the shoulders of Preston Sturgess, the equivalent influence on St. John would appear likely to be Ozu or Milos Forman."

I had a series of conversations with Brendon Connelly, about Saint John of Las Vegas.  We discussed career paths, film grammar, movie financing and the Bellagio Hotel.  Read the full interview on /Film here.

Romany Malco profile in the LA Times

"It's weird; you do this indie and it's like, the hardest job of your life," he says, fondly. "That whole job felt like turning a new leaf. And I don't mean in just business; I mean a whole new perspective."

Romany talks about family, loss, and Saint John of Las Vegas.  He made incredible sacrifices for this movie.  I'm not sure what I would have done in his shoes.  Read the full interview here.

NY Post profile of Steve Buscemi

About Saint John of Las Vegas:

“The lead character was charming and funny and smart, and I understood his need to gamble and being in denial about it,” Buscemi says. “To me, that’s the fun of acting: to play characters that have problems and are complicated.”

Read the full article here.

Hue Rhodes Eats, Cooks and Talks to The Retrospective

"...For social media, I think most of the discussion and its effect on indie film, etcetera, is kind of putting the cart before the horse. Social media for me reflects a new kind of need: it's not a channel to reach people - it's a reflection of the desire to express and contribute."

via theretrospective.com

The Retrospective is a great music|art|fashion|culture|technology site. Read the full interview here.

Steve Buscemi interview

Steve Buscemi gave a great interview about Saint John of Las Vegas.  Here's an excerpt.

Choosing a script: “I always look for scripts that are character driven,” says Buscemi of the film. “I mean, there’s certainly plot, but it seemed like the characters were driving the story rather than the other way around.”

First time directors: “It’s exciting to work with somebody who’s sort of discovering things and the enthusiasm and excitement that they have in making their first film,” Buscemi explains. “It’s really nice to be a part of that and to contribute. I like working with writer/directors, because then you have everybody right there. Hue is the best person to ask any questions that I had."

You can read the full Campus Circle interview here.

Holy Kaw! Q&A with Guy Kawasaki

It seems like everyone is an aspiring filmmaker these days. But shooting YouTube videos is one thing, and making a major motion picture is another. To shed some light on what it’s like to make a movie-movie (the kind you pay to see) we tracked down Hue Rhodes, writer/director of the upcoming Saint John of Las Vegas starring Steve Buscemi, Sarah Silverman, Romany Malco, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and a slew of other famous people.

via holykaw.alltop.com

Guy Kawasaki is a legend in Silicon Valley. In my old start-up days he was the go-to "connector" before Malcolm Gladwell coined the term. Everything comes full circle I guess, because I recently did a Q&A with him for alltop.com.  We talked about William Eggleston, social media and lighting guys on fire.  You can read the whole interview here.

Icon vs. Icon interview

The world of independent film is full of unique stories both on-screen and off. Such is the case with writer/director Hue Rhodes. Not satisfied with his day job after the tech boom of the late ’90s, he took matters into his own hands and began to chase a dream. A fan of movies since his childhood, Rhodes decided to immerse himself in the world of filmmaking and fearlessly blaze new trails. Now in 2009, Rhodes’ directorial debut has been making the rounds on the film festival circuit and is set for a national release in early 2010. ‘Saint John of Las Vegas’ features a top-notch ensemble cast that includes Steve Buscemi, Sarah Silverman, Romany Malco, Peter Dinklage, Tim Blake Nelson, John Cho, Danny Trejo and Emmanuelle Chirqui.

more at www.iconvsicon.com