Sanders on the set
of Black Dynamite
with actor Michael
Jai White. Black
Dynamite, a dead-on
parody of 1970s-vin-
tage blaxploitation
films, followed some
hits, such as working
with Alec Baldwin
on Thick as Thieves
(opposite page) and
some misses, like
turning down the
Coen brothers’ offer
to direct Bad Santa.
“It took Baldwin a year to read it, but
he did decide he wanted to be the lead,”
Sanders said. “So that’s how we raised the
money for my first movie. Both movies
I’ve made have involved some sort of
unique hustle.”
Sanders admits he didn’t capitalize on
Thick as Thieves as well as he could have. A
long dry spell followed, during which he
says he “made a lot of bad career decisions”
— such as declining the Coen Brothers’
offer of a directing job.
“They asked me to direct Bad Santa and
I did not, because I’m an idiot. So I deejayed
and did a lot of weird stuff. I also threatened
a lawsuit. A studio stole an idea from me,
and they paid me off. The funny part is I
stole the idea from an episode of The Simp-
sons. Greatest job ever: Paid $50,000 for one
sentence I stole from The Simpsons.”
Even so, Sanders was getting discour-
aged as he kept pitching projects that didn’t
happen. But connections saved the day.
He’d met Michael Jai White during casting
for Thick as Thieves,
and they’d hit it off
enough to keep up.
‘I always liked
weird movies.
Anything
offbeat.
I’d see all the
weird movies
before the basic
stuff, like every
John Waters
movie, before
I ever saw The
Godfather.
And I’ve
still never seen
Saturday Night
Fever.
But I like the
weird stuff
and that’s my
problem, because
the normal stuff
is where you
make money.
It looks like
it’s gonna work
out, but it’s
taken time
and a whole
different angle.’
Scott Sanders
DAVID MENCONI is a staff writer for The
News & Observer of Raleigh.
