Photo By Steve Ramos

Sundance afterglow: (L-R) Hustle & Flow writer/director Craig Brewer poses with his two leads, Taryn Manning and Terrence Howard.

Park City, UTAH -- Independent writer/director Craig Brewer's dreams regarding his film Hustle & Flow fall like this: He wanted his Memphis-set drama about DJay (Terrence Howard), a pimp trying to change his criminal life and become a rapper, to get into the Sundance Film Festival. Then, if accepted, Brewer hoped that finicky Sundance audiences would like Hustle & Flow. Finally, if everything went well, he sought what every emerging filmmaker craves -- the chance for audiences outside the festival to see his film. He wanted a deal.

By the morning of Jan. 24, all of Brewer's dreams came true. The day began with news of the largest purchase in Sundance Film Festival history: Paramount Picture's $16 million acquisition of Hustle & Flow.

Brewer is gathered with his leads, Howard and Taryn Manning, under a large white tent at the base of Main Street, one of many corporate-sponsored sites scattered throughout Park City. Brewer is a stocky man with a trim brown beard who looks at home in his jeans and casual clothes. His heavy eyes reflect someone who's been up all night, but his energy level remains mile-high. It's time to celebrate his film's good fortunes.

"Each day when we were working on it, we were concerned about our audience," Brewer says, sitting alongside the two actors. "We wanted their respect."

Brewer was born in Virginia but grew up in Memphis. After studying at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre, he returned to Tennessee with his wife, Jodi. Memphis is home. It's where he shot his first film, the digital feature The Poor and Hungry, and there was little doubt about it being the location for Hustle & Flow, despite pressure from would-be financiers to relocate the movie.

Brewer lists the film's hardships with the casual attitude of someone who has triumphed. He talks about broken air conditioners, asking neighbors to be quiet during filming and, of course, having little time or money for the shoot. But he had independence via Hustle & Flow's main producer, veteran director John Singleton. After that, nothing else matters.

"I break out in a cold sweat thinking if I had made this at the studios," Brewer says. "What they were recommending I do, despite the fact I would have had four times the money, it would not have been what everyone had watched here. It would not have had the rawness to it." The sales deal with Paramount validates Brewer's decision to film in Memphis.

"We have to make an epic of nobodies trying to be somebody through music," he says. "I think, if there was a certain amount of understanding, it's that I too want to do something that isn't what everybody is saying I should be doing."

Howard and Manning have their own horror stories about hair, makeup and the realities of a low-budget film. But they see Hustle & Flow as more than acting work. They believed in Brewer's story and because of that belief have a sense of ownership of the film.

"We have climbed the mountain," Howard says, with a preacher's passion. "Like all trips up the mountain, it is hard and painful. You fall down a number of times. But once you're on top and you look down on the valley where you were before, it's worth everything. We have the biggest sale in Sundance history. End of story."

Asked if he's worried about any backlash from critics who see the big-money deal as proof of the film's audience-friendly flaws, Brewer shrugs off the question. There's already too much going his way.

"I don't care about if this was a wise move (for Paramount) or too much money," he says. "We never thought about money because we never made money. We are making a movie."

The good news for Hustle & Flow continued later in the week. At the festival's Awards Night finale, it received honors for cinematography and the coveted American Dramatic Audience Award, further proof of its mainstream popularity and chances for a successful post-Sundance release.

When accepting the award, Brewer shouted encouragement to emerging filmmakers unable to secure money to make their films. It's a position he knows well.

"I made this movie with Home Depot lights," he said. "So I want to send the love to all the guys who are toiling away, thinking that they're far away from the heat. We know you are out there, and we believe in you guys."

Back on their glorious Monday morning, when news of the Paramount deal was still sinking into their heads and keeping their sleep-deprived bodies afloat, Howard summed up the impact of the Hustle & Flow deal by borrowing a line from his character, DJay.

"We set out to make an independent film, and it got accepted by the independent festival of all independent festivals," he says. "It was rewarded by getting the most money ever. So it's a testament that if we all get out there and try and keep doing it, we will all be rewarded, as long as you give it all."

Howard laughs as he gets up from the table and turns.

"Plus you got to put some dick into it." ©