His music: Although he’s a filmmaker by trade, Craig Brewer, 38, is well versed in the legends and lore of Memphis’ music scene. His debut independent feature “The Poor & Hungry,” a winner at the 2000 Hollywood Film Festival, was a story about a stolen cello and had a soundtrack chock full of local acts. “Hustle & Flow,” released five years later, resulted in an Academy Award for Three 6 Mafia’s “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” and, behind the scenes, netted credits for film scorer Scott Bomar and several local musicians. “Black Snake Moan,” the story of Lazarus, a newly inspired bluesman, brought more work and exposure to Memphis musicians.
In $5 Cover: Brewer crafts a salacious film interpretation of the Midtown music scene, spinning fact and fiction to create a heady world where lust and musicianship vie for equal camera time.
In $5 Cover Amplified: Brewer draws an analogy between his role as a contemporary storyteller and the underlying motive that drives William Holden’s character in the WWII epic “Bridge on the River Kwai”: finishing a project, regardless of the folly involved, at all costs.
On Memphis music: “The rhythm down here personifies sin and salvation. To get through the misery, you’ve gotta sing through it and move through it. That’s what the blues is.”
Latest news: Brewer has begun work on the script for what is expected to be his next feature film as a director, “Mother Trucker.”
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