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The condition " Florida Man " has become ubiquitous with raging , ridiculous , and incredulous stories of inept criminals who range the line between obscene and preposterous . One such news report is the focal point of the newNetflix infotainment , The Legend of Cocaine Island , true offence doc which offers a light and moderately allude to a literary genre which is frequently pick apart for being overly morbid and violent .
In the aftermath of the economic receding brought about by the 2008 housing mart crash , Rodney Hyden did what anyone whose support was compromise by the fiscal circumstances would ; he hold a local storyteller at his word and venture on a quest to stab up a buried hoarded wealth , meg of dollar in contraband . The Legend of Cocaine Islandtells the dependable level of a Florida everyman who cash in one’s chips outside the realm of law , order , and common sense in an effort to supply for his syndicate . In the wake of a sight ofgrisly genuine crime documentary film , it ’s bracing to see a story like this : as hilarious and unconvincing as it is earnest and empathetic , The Legend of Cocaine Islandis an atypical infotainment , to say the least .
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While promoting the film ’s debut on Netflix , director Theo Love ( Little Hope Was Arson ) spoke to Screen Rant aboutThe Legend of Cocaine Island . He talk about how refreshful it is to make a dissimilar kind of True Crime Doc , barf Rodney Hyden himself in the movie ’s all-inclusive reenactment sequence , and shares some brainstorm into the panoptic process ofcreating a documentaryfrom chicken feed .
The spicy meme justly now is type the words " Florida Man " followed by your natal day into a hunting engine and post the first story that comes up .
Theo Love : I have n’t seen that one . That ’s hilarious !
How did this " Florida Man " story enchant your attention ?
Theo Love : A couple of age ago , I was look for a documentary musical theme . I made a crime docudrama before , and I liked that , but I wanted lighter stuff , perchance a criminal offense where there was n’t much of a dupe . Florida , as you know , is home to absurd criminal storey . I went down the cony fix of " Florida Man " research , and came up with all those unbelievable stories , but when I came across Rodney ’s , it was almost as if it was structured as a movie already . It felt like the story was just a screenplay quick to be filmed .
Another thing I wish about this is how there ’s very little violence in the story . Sometimes , I get kind of icked out by True Crime Docs . They can be a piffling morbid and I ’m getting amusement of true tale of people getting murder horribly . The Legend of Cocaine Islandis refreshfully non - tearing , and I like that !
Theo Love : I like that , too . When I was making this , I was in form of a dark period of my living , and I retrieve that a lot of hoi polloi around the country share that opinion , and I require to make a story that was n’t going into those darker , depressing areas . There are other films and film maker who do a tremendous job with those , but I need to find a account that was honest , but was ridiculously entertaining , and that ’s what I got with Rodney ’s story . We did n’t have to go to any of the dark district for it to experience like a movie .
It really does sense like a film in so many ways . Was there ever the thinking to make a unbowed lineament with this story , rather than the docudrama format that you ’re already familiar with ?
Theo Love : Yeah , there ’s always that thought . I ’ve always wanted to be a narrative filmmaker , but documentaries , there ’s something so olympian about them that I love . you’re able to just piece up a tv camera and start filming something or someone , and you ’re make a documentary already . When we started this , it was just a really small indie project . But that ’s the great thing about Netflix ; they ’ve been change the whole infotainment landscape because they ’ve descend along and supported indie docs and are give them a huge spotlight . That ’s what we ’re really excited about .
So there ’s a lot of reenactment in the movie , and Rodney plays himself . Can you talk about directing him in those reenactments ? Did he ever tell you , " no , this is the fashion it happened , " leading you to tear a scene differently , or stuff like that ?
Theo Love : He desire to be in the film to ensure it was authentic and real . I , of course , need that as well . I could n’t have enquire for a well role player . There was something about Rodney , from the 24-hour interval I met him , that I was like , this is the kind of person you trust to find in a casting call . He did n’t have that motion-picture show star quality to him . ( laughs ) It was kind of an obvious source from the get - go , and really fun . We had a blow making this picture show . We went to Puerto Rico . We all crammed in a tiny little airplane , and all of us were terrorise , Rodney was in there . Hopefully , that energy amount across and hoi polloi have a blast watching it !
Did you shoot the reenactment in all of the real locations that they come about in real life ?
Theo Love : We did our very near . There were a couple of situations where we were denied accession to film . Particularly , a smirch where a treasure might be buried . That petition was abnegate , so we had to line up a different topographic point , but it is on the island that Rodney went to to get hold the hoarded wealth .
One of the characters in the photographic film , someone I found really challenging was Dee , AKA The Cuban . His face is cover throughout all his consultation , but he ’s such an constitutional part of the story . I say that he approached you to be in the film . But was there ever a concern that he might not be biz to play , so to talk ?
Theo Love : Yeah . I had n’t image him in any of the news articles . There was nobody who had gotten access to this person . And , with a name like " The Cuban , " he just seemed like this mythical figure . We were n’t be after on depart after him , but as we commence reaching out to mass he was associated with , he hear about the labor and was a short upset that nobody had interviewed him to get his side of the story ! That ’s what I find with a lot of crime documentary film ; develop access is n’t as hard as you might guess , because everybody wants to evidence their side of the story . I tell all my subjects , " I ’m extend to do my very best to give you the luck to tell your side and scar it against someone who might have a different perspective . " I think that provides some interesting play .
Was there anyone you want to question but were n’t able to ?
Theo Love : Hmm , you know , I call up we got pretty much everybody ! There ’s always things , while you ’re making the film , that sense like , you bid you had an time of day left in the Clarence Day just to get that last shot one more clip , or you wish that you could get this one interview , but in hindsight , I think we got everything we needed to separate the story the way we wanted .
zoom along out , right smart out to putting a documentary together , what is the process of turn from your initial thought and how does that exchange found on the interviews ?
Theo Love : My bring out partner , Bryan Storkel , and I , we have done lots of labor . We both meet the subject as soon as possible , even before we know if we ’re going to move forward with the project . We go out and seek to just hang out for a week . We attempt to get to have a go at it the citizenry who we think might be bailiwick in the film , and attempt to meet them at their homes , in their environment , to attempt to get to love how we could perchance communicate who they are on movie . Then we do back to L.A. and spend about three month of creative brainstorming and how we can wind these stories together . During that time , we ’re keep on to call our topic and blab out to them about how they want to tell their stories . Really , our access is earmark material people to tell their stories . There ’s no yarn by us ; it ’s all the people who live it , and in some cases , they ’re playact in it as well . Once we get the structure down , we go out and do the interview , which are fair pointed , because they ’re base on conversations we ’ve already had . They ’re not script . I did have , like , four hr interviews , and so we just spill the beans about everything about the story from every angle .
link up to that , how do you play interrogator when you’re able to tell that they ’re not hold you , not what you need , but what you already know to be the truth based on your conversation ? Has it ever happen that they ’re holding back when the camera are roll and it ’s time to rest down the truth , on the record ?
Theo Love : When I ’m preparing a subject for the interview , I say , " look , I want to give you the opportunity to defend yourself against some logical argument that might be pitted against you . I play the Devil ’s Advocate with them , and I position myself as that . Like , " what would you say if somebody accuse you of lying ? " And then they represent themselves on television camera , so I do n’t have to be the camera . If somebody ’s a liar , and they lie on camera , it ’s gon na be found out . It ’s not a good idea to lie in any situation , but particularly on television camera .
What were some of the cinematic influences going intoThe Legend of Cocaine Island ?
Theo Love : Definitely a deal of Coen brothers moving picture were watched . We wanted to have a quirk in it , for it to feel a little bit odd . So the Coen brothers were a big one . We watched a lot of treasure hunt clobber . That ’s what we were looking for , to give the feeling that the audience was proceed on a real gem hunt club , to feel that adventure . A lot of adventure - character film . The Big Lebowskiwas in all likelihood one of the more specific films for this one .
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The Legend of Cocaine Islanddebuts March 29 on Netflix .
