The Sunset Strip is a legendary stretch of road between West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. This portion of Sunset Boulevard has seen a lot of action over the years and is a beloved spot to many. The film Sunset Strip was brought about by a love for this magical place that Hans Fjellestad needed to share with others. Musicians, actors, producers and directors alike all came out to support this project because the Strip means so much to so many. It is a place of intrigue and mystery, excitement and devastation.
Sunset Strip has such an amazing cast of characters that I can’t even begin to name them all. The fact that all of these sensational people are in one film is a testament to how exceptional the Strip is. Just a few of the legendary faces in this film are Johnny Depp, Dan Aykroyd, Alice Cooper, Billy Corgan, Phyllis Diller, Perry Farrell, Kim Fowley and Hugh Hefner; the list goes on and on. The documentary is a collection of interviews and stories with some of the most wonderful entertainers of our time about their experiences on the Sunset Strip and what it means to them.
I took part in the red carpet event for the Sunset Strip world premiere at SXSW. I was fortunate that Matt Sorum of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver, one of the producers on the film, Kim Fowley; legendary producer and songwriter, and Cisco Adler of Whitestarr and Shwayze all stopped by. As far as red carpets go, this one was quite entertaining. Kim Fowley spent the entire time convincing a fellow journalist that he was Brad Pitt and Rudolph Valentino, a comedian, child actor, priest and a robot. The comedian part unfortunately stuck with her as she asked him where he performed his comedy show on the strip.
Matt Sorum was a producer on this film, he still lives within blocks of the Sunset Strip. He said that this was truly a passion project for him and a lot of fun to make. Sunset Strip is a place where people go to make their dreams come true, “it’s a central hub for a lot of creativity” as Matt told us. The renowned drummer went on to say that working as a producer on this film was much easier than playing and touring with Guns N’ Roses, not that he would trade that experience either! Matt said he never had plans to produce a film, but this project was brought to him and he couldn’t turn it down. Currently, Matt is working on producing and album and video for Diamond Baby, which is his and girlfriend Ace Harper’s band. Ace was on the carpet with him and they talked a little about the video for The Last Rockstar, which features Vern Troyer, Juliette Lewis, Jane Lynch, Lemmy Kilmister and of course, Matt himself who plays drums for the band. See below for the video.
Sunset Strip allows those of us that have never experienced the spellbinding nature of the lights, the celebrity and the clubs to have a look inside what goes down there. Everyone who worked to produce this film seemed to have a special place in their heart for the Sunset Strip and felt that this was a labor of love. Their hope is that everyone takes away a little of the magic that they all feel when they set foot on the Strip.
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