Craig Brewer Movies and Career Information

Craig Brewer (born December 6, 1971) is an American film director and screenwriter. His 2005 movie Hustle & Flow won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and achieved commercial success, along with an Academy award for Best Original Song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". Brewer's first film, The Poor and Hungry (2000) was produced using a $20,000 inheritance from his father's death, his family as crew, and a hand held mini-DV for the camera work. This indie film went on to win at the Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony 4th Annual Hollywood Film Festival, August 2–7, 2000. Brewer took the name of the movie from an iconic Memphis beer joint, "The P and H" (now generally known as the "Poor and Hungry" though the initials originally stood for "Pearl and Harrison", first names of the couple who first owned it). This very eclectic bar is still in operation on Madison Avenue in mid-town Memphis; Brewer was often seen writing this movie in a booth there, and the Hollywood Film Festival award is now displayed at this booth. The movie featured the P&H in several scenes, and the longtime owner of the bar, Wanda Wilson, played herself in many scenes. Hustle & Flow was financed by