UB Interview: Brian Hooks Talks The Independent Film Game, “Laughing to The Bank” & More

Brian Hooks is an actor, writer and director who got his start portraying Durrel Jackson in the film Phat Beach in 1996. That same year, he could also be seen in the memorable supporting role as “Anferny” in High School High which starred Jon Lovitz and Tia Carrere. Brian is best known for his role as Nick Delaney on the UPN television sitcom “Eve.”

Although he has made numerous appearances in many mainstream films such as Bulworth with Halle Berry and Warren Beatty and Soul Plane in which he starred alongside Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg as well as Fools Gold with Mathew McConaughey and Kate Hudson; the independent film scene has been where he’s achieved his most success, with numerous starring roles in films such as Q: The Movie, 3 Strikes, Nothin’ 2 Lose and Chat Room.

Brian Hooks spoke with UrbanBridgez.com about his latest film “Laughing to The Bank,” being the king of DVD, his new series “According to Him & Her,” being the underdog, the classic “Soul Plane” and much more!

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UrbanBridgez.com: Laughing to The Bank is a comedy but it’s a real look into what some encounter in Hollywood, what’s the main thing you want people to get out of the film besides the laughs?
Brian Hooks: I think the laughs are the most important. My intention was to take you on a journey for about 90 minutes and allow you to laugh. But it’s also a bit biographical in sort of incorporating some of my dealings in moving to Hollywood and trying to get to that next level. So I wouldn’t say it was any kind of jab at Hollywood or any type of bitterness there. I just feel like everybody’s journey is different. So in Laughing to The Bank it’s a little bit of what my journey has been. It’s like a modern day Hollywood Shuffle and in how Robert Townsend back then was sort of telling his story and challenges. This pilled with a lot of funny on top is sort of my story and journey. The message is there is a journey and challenge with anything that you do, so navigating through Hollywood is no different.

UrbanBridgez.com: Where did the idea come from to write the film originally?
Brian Hooks: People were coming up to me like man, where you been? I’m like what do you mean, I’ve been doing a lot of stuff behind the scenes (laughs). They’re like we don’t know you from behind the scenes or even know what that is, we want to see you on camera. They call you the king of DVD but we haven’t seen you on a DVD in years. So with that, I started trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted it to be a comedy and something rooted to me and now I’m in this place where I have all this history from being in the business for so long. I set out to make a good comedy and it just kind of organically turned into this biography of my story.

UrbanBridgez.com: The movie is a solely an independent release on your part, was that something you set out to do from the beginning?
Brian Hooks: Yeah, my system is just really a very independent background. It started a long time ago, people were like why would you make a movie just to go straight to DVD. We did it with The Luau that came out after we did Phat Beach. We made that movie with like $14,000 and it ended up making around $800,000 on DVD. So we founded an imprint where I could make these DVD’s with midlevel distributers and not have to wait on anybody to do anything. Because you’ll be waiting for Hollywood a long time, nobody is looking for you. In doing that it sort of became my foundation and my background in how I sustained outside of the studio stuff and with each show. I’m always creating my own projects. So this would be nothing different, I love independent film making. It’s very gratifying to me. I say all the time that I’ve done the bigger films and it was honestly more gratifying to pull together those favors and friends, people who love what they do and had a couple of weeks off that will come and get in the trenches with you. So when people come out and look and laugh and enjoy them, it’s just very gratifying to me. I’ll never stop making independent films, it’s just what I do.

UrbanBridgez.com: Wow from $14,000 to $800,000.
Brian Hooks: Yeah (laughs). Then with Nothin’ 2 Lose we did that for $100,000 and it was at like 4.3 million dollars when they stopped reporting to me. It really changed to game to where people were like wow, you know this is a business. Movies to DVD, is really cool. Honestly I can name off everybody in Hollywood that you know that came to me and was like how do you do this? And I told them and never heard from them again and they went on and did it (both laugh). I was like it’s like that then, okay. But I still tell people till this day.

UrbanBridgez.com: Upscale recently named you the smartest man in Hollywood with a cover story, what lessons have you learned in Hollywood that encouraged you to go the Independent route for your own projects?
Brian Hooks: Hollywood is so different now. Again, I was doing the independent thing before it was cool. Every project that I’ve done, I learned something just about production and how to be more efficient in my next project. I also with every project and it wasn’t a conscious thing, I learned that it’s incredibly empowering & putting me in a completely different space. Aside from the typical actor, entertainer, etc. While everybody was running around begging for Hollywood to do their movies, I was putting up my own money and signing people to partner up with me. I was making these smaller films that are not going to be Jurassic Park or Avatar. But while they were picking up their Avatar, they was like let me grab this too. It’s kept me relevant and has helped me build a brand that I own and control. Nobody can take that away from me. That’s unlike anything in the business, oppose to you going into an audition and you do great and allow them to judge you and waiting for the call. I was always putting together the next project and if they call great, I go do that. Stop what I was doing because it’s my own project so I have control over that. And after I finish the studio film, go back to doing what I do. It’s empowering and I think people see that now because you see big A list stars all doing independent films. It just kind of organically snow balled for me and has been my foundation for my career and path.

UrbanBridgez.com: Let’s talk According to Him and Her, for those not aware tell them about it?
Brian Hooks: It’s on CENTRIC/BET I’m incredibly excited. It’s going to be the anchor for that network to really kick it off. It’s a talking heads show in the tone of MTV’s Guy and Girl Code. With a perspective on dating and relationships. So you have these talking heads in which I’m on of and Venus Mitchell and Claudia Jordan sort of host. For instance you have these rules like, #304 you can’t make a hoe a housewife. That’s not an actual rule (laughs). But we’ll sound off on it, like yes you can, so and so did it, etc. It’s just hilarious and the comedians are all so different, from the south, from the east. Different races, so you have all of these different voices giving their own opinion on dating and their rules. Just a lot of different views on things, but you can really watch it and come away with learning a lot about the opposite sex. If you listen to me, you can save your marriage, your relationship, your life. Because I’m like a guru of relationships and dating. So it’s a very, very fun show. It airs on Saturdays on CENTRIC. We shot the first season and now we’re going back to shoot the second. I’m really exciting about that.

UrbanBridgez.com: You’re a self proclaimed underdog and I think many like myself would agree, with such an impressive resume, does that ever make you feel under appreciated?
Brian Hooks: I’ve been asked that before and you know my thing is, everybody’s journey is different. In beginning to look to your left and to your right to try to compare your personal journey to someone else. Most of the time you may be upset or you may have a false state of security because you’re doing much better than someone more talented than you. At the end of the day, you just can’t judge where you are and where you’ve been and your path to come based off of someone else. I feel that I’m as good as anybody and that’s being modest. I just know that my journey is different. Where I ultimately want to be I wanted to be there ten years ago. But when I get those thoughts I’m able to check myself and be very thankful for what I have and where I’m at. Because they’re a lot of people that would love to be able to make a film, whenever they want to make a film. As well as be apart of some of the projects that I’ve been apart of. So it motives me and I stay hungry, I want to stay at the top that’s the plan, period. But at the same time I don’t feel like I’m owed something. I do feel like I’m an underdog, but everything happens when it’s suppose to and again I’m just always trying to remind myself to enjoy the journey.

UrbanBridgez.com: Soul Plane will always be the movie! I have to ask what is your most memorable moment from filming that film?
Brian Hooks: Soul Plan was hilarious, people are always going to have their opinion but that movie was hilarious. I would have to say when me and Sommore was in the bathroom and we was doing it and I climaxed and things like liquorice, sunflower seeds, jellybeans, and all these crazy things came out, I just thought that was hilarious (both laugh).

UrbanBridgez.com: If you could put together a dream cast for one of your films, who are some of the people that would be in it?
Brian Hooks: I’m putting together something right now, I don’t want to say so nobody doesn’t take it. But I think if someone put together a cast with like me, Mike Epps, Katt Williams, Kevin Hart and folks like that it would be ridiculous! You never really get a group of comedians together like that for whatever reason. I’m determined to make that happen. A lot of the times the studios don’t really know what the streets want. Kevin Hart is clearly the guy at the moment, he’s done extremely well. But they don’t necessarily see a value let’s say in myself. But I think every hood in America would differ, but to get us all together would be something amazing.