From L to R: Recording engineer Matt Martone, Hustle and Flow composer/musician Scott Bomar and assistant engineer Curry Weber
Hustle and Flow, the independent film purchased by Paramount/MTV at the recent Sundance Film Festival for $9 million, was shot on the inner city streets of Memphis and scored in the city’s legendary Ardent Studios. Directed by 33-year old Craig Brewer and scored by composer Scott Bomar, the film was financed by Academy Award-nominated director/screenwriter John Singleton for $2.8 million.
Bomar’s Stax Records-influenced score was recorded with former Stax recording artists and includes the theme song, “Hard For A Pimp.” The film, which portrays a Memphis pimp who realizes his dream of becoming a rapper, received the coveted Sundance Festival Audience Award for dramatic film. Soul man Isaac Hayes, who coincidentally recorded his Hot Buttered Soul album at Ardent, appears in the film.
The Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for dramatic film was awarded to “Forty Shades of Blue,” with original music composed by Dickon Hinchliffe and recorded at Ardent studios. In the film, a Russian woman living in Memphis with a much older rock-n-roll legend (played by Rip Torn) experiences a personal awakening when her husband’s estranged son comes to visit. All of the recording studio scenes were filmed in Ardent’s Studio A. Ira Sachs produced and directed the film and David Less served as music supervisor. Both are Memphis natives.
Visit www.ardentstudios.com for more information.
