Colin Hanks didn’t "micro-manage" the crew on his first directing project of ‘All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records’.
The 38-year-old actor, who is the eldest son of Tom Hanks and his first wife, the late Samantha Lewes, made his directorial debut on the project, which tells the story of the famed Sacremento record store that grew into an international music retail chain and its founder Russ Solomon inspired him to be relaxed with his team on set.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, he said: "I’m a first time director, because I was a first time director, I pulled a lot of pages from his (Russell Solomon’s) playbook, like, bringing in a lot of people who know what they’re doing and let them go. Don’t try and micromanage it, just because it’s my first go-round. He’s been hugely influential in how I do a lot of stuff now."
The ‘Fargo’ star drafted in music icons Dave Grohl, Sir Elton John and Bruce Springsteen to recall their memories of shopping at Tower Records and the premiere of the film took place in Los Angeles, with an epic performance from Eagles of Death Metal, live outside the famous Tower Records site on Sunset Blvd.
And Colin says he was moved when he met the "characters" involved in the rise and fall of the company that attracted him to the project.
He said: "I have a deep passion for music and spent a lot of time growing up in record stores and Tower records specifically. There was a civic pride towards Tower, and when doors were closing I started hearing about Russ Solomon and how his journey started. And I just found it to be a really fascinating history, this guy who was consistently in the right place at the right time, and rides this wave. And once I met Russ and the guys there, I thought, ‘These guys are all characters in a movie’, for sure.
Meanwhile, Colin – who has children Olivia Jane Hanks, five, and two year old Charlotte Bruant Hanks, with his wife Samantha Bryant – said he is flying the flag for record stores and takes his kids to buy CDs of the music from their favourite American television show ‘Yo Gabba Gabba’.
He said: "Absolutely, I take them to record shops whenever I can, just so they know they exist. That’s where we go buy our ‘Yo Gabba Gabba’ CDs."
‘All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records’ is out on DVD and digital now.
Colin Hanks: I wasn’t pushy on set of The Rise and Fall of Tower Records
