BY Sarika Chawla FOR LA2DAY.COM Apr 21, 2009
DENNIS WOODRUFF (HOLLYWOOD)
I have to admit, I felt like I had been living under a rock to not know more about Dennis Woodruff. You know, that guy? Drives around town in a crazy van? Makes movies?
His chaotic but surprisingly comprehensive website, www.denniswoodruffshow.com, gave me a first glimpse into the Hollyweirdness of it all. Woodruff claims to be the last indie filmmaker in Hollywood, spending the past 12 years directing, shooting and starring in dozens of films and documentaries. He's taken the Hollywood model and flipped it, ultimately achieving fame for his quest to become famous (but not so much in a Hilton kind of way).
For anyone else, the car (he retired the van) might seem more of a desperate attempt to break into Hollywood proper. It's solidly pimped out with his website, head shots, and "actor for hire" signs, which he laminated and decoupaged onto the vehicle. "I would like to be taken seriously by Hollywood," he admits. "In a big way."
But if you haven't seen him driving around town in a while, it's because he's put a cover on the car for the time being.
"It was my calling card," he says. "But if a car takes the spotlight away from you, it becomes a prop."
Maybe he's approached you at a coffee shop-holding a stack of films and reciting his marketing spiel to get you to buy at least one, preferably three for the price of two.
"I get a lot of rejection," he concedes. But still, Woodruff has managed to make a living entirely off his films-a feat that thousands of hungry young actor/director types would kill to accomplish.
The thing is, Woodruff is convincing as hell, if a little intense. A 53-minute documentary about graffiti artists in L.A.? Sold. A glimpse into surfer life? Groovy. When pitching "Tales from the Laundromat," Woodruff astutely points out that a Laundromat is a "true American icon" that has never received the kudos it deserves.
Genius or madman? Anyone who can support themselves on entirely self-produced art gets snaps from me. After spending a couple of years living in his van ("I wanted to see if I could do it"), he got himself into a small West Hollywood bungalow where he lives with his dog Tuffy. And recently, one of his biggest goals came to fruition-a distributor, known for its gonzo, indie and sometimes gross-out films, has picked up 13 of his movies.
"Somebody really had to make a statement in Hollywood about being an individual," he explains. "If you love what you do and work hard at it, people will find out about you."
