Meet Ricky Rhodes | Film Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ricky Rhodes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ricky, what inspires you?
Los Angeles is a city that’s fabric is woven in the diversity of its stories. Growing up in LA is like growing up in a microcosm of the world. It gives you a flavor of everything; people from every country, food from every culture, music, world class art, tech, surfing, movies, driving, sunshine, wealth, poverty, segregation, homelessness, classism, sexism, racism. I have this faded memory from when I was a child of looking out the window of the car into a fancy restaurant. All of the people inside were dressed beautifully in suits and dresses, and they drank wine. Just outside the restaurant window was a row of tents and people standing around that were so dirty that they almost disappeared into the night. That curious moment might have been the inception of my drive to take action in the fight for human rights. What inspires me is working towards a just and sustainable future.

I make films with messages that are important to humanity and the planet. I welcome stories that unearth the gritty reality of a situation and stories that have the power to influence social movement. I like to combine high level cinematic storytelling with a powerful message for social good, right at the cross section of entertainment and education. Film has the unique ability to emotionally bond us to the journey of another and if done well a film can create long lasting social change. As members of the global community, experiencing the beauty and hardship of the diversity of life across the planet is fundamental to our growth.

I run the production company Planet Froth Productions with Jordan Henderson. We first met in Catholic high school and later he convinced me to attend Cal State Northridge with him to major in Film Production. Now we’re long-time collaborators, friends, business partners and we both look like Jesus (see image). Planet Froth is a message first media company. We develop and produce films, documentaries, music videos, and commercials with the goal of benefitting the communities that we reach. We think that more Fortune 500 companies should sponsor documentaries that do real social work, as a form of advertisement. Some of our projects include a movie promo for Wonder Woman 1984 with Warner Bros and Hans Zimmer, a social justice documentary about the racial disparities of cannabis possession arrests called “Not Just Another Day,” and a fully distributed horror feature film called “Miranda Veil”. Check out our work at our website, www.planetfroth.space.

Our latest production is a Flamenco dance interpretation of the 19th century short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, written by the femininst writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The film was made in association with Purple Magnet Productions. Yellow Wallpaper is a period drama, psychological thriller, and dance piece with a powerful message about women’s rights. Combining these genres and themes into one film is inspiring to me and has elevated the project. One of the reasons that I wrote and directed Yellow Wallpaper is because the story gives a unique perspective into the lineage of medical maltreatment of women. The film is a vehicle to start discussions around the unspoken and traumatic effects of postpartum depression and the medical maltreatment of women today.

Yellow Wallpaper is a story about a curious unnamed woman who suffers from postpartum depression and is forced, by her doctor husband ⁠— played by Quenten Kirby, into the controversial rest cure, which is an isolation treatment that doctors gave to women of that time period. The treatment drives her to madness and she begins to see things in the wallpaper. The film climaxes in an epic dance where she destroys the prison that she was held captive in. Yellow Wallpaper will be touring at film festivals in 2023. Our first stop will hopefully be Sundance!

Marina Elana, the professional Flamenco dancer, stars in Yellow Wallpaper and was the inspiration behind adapting the short story through the lens of Flamenco dance. Flamenco music is hauntingly beautiful and powerful. Legend has it that Flamenco originated from the sorrowful wailing of the oppressed people of the Iberian peninsula during the Spanish Inquisition. Over time, the wailing became singing, and the sorrow became the power of the people. Both The Yellow Wallpaper and Flamenco balance on the rope between sorrow and liberation.

Over my lifetime I have been deeply inspired by many films. I would like to give recognition to some of the filmmakers and their films that paved the way for me. Alejandro Iñárritu’s Birdman. Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar’s American Factory. Bryan Fogel’s The Dissident. Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Ava DuVernay’s 13th. Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Barry Lyndon. Chloe Zhao’s The Rider and Nomadland. Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times. Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt and The Celebration. Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread. Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, Taxi Driver, and King of Comedy. Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners and Dune. Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeur and The Square. James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta. Alfonso Cuaron’s Y Tu Mama Tambien and Roma. Jorn Threlfall’s Over and Dawn. Terrence Malick’s Thin Red Line and A Hidden Life. Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite and Snowpiercer. All of these films are profound and have expanded the boundaries of cinema. Cheers to great cinema!

Thank you for reading a bit about my story. Feel free to reach out. I’ll see you at the theater!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My favorite spots in LA are the Atwater Farmer’s Market on Sundays, Spoke Cafe on the river, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Laemmle theaters, Verve Coffee, The Brewery Artist Loft, Zuma Beach, and Crossroads Kitchen.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a big shout out to the incredible cast and crew of Yellow Wallpaper!

Starring…

Marina Elana as Charlotte (unnamed in the short story)
Quenten Kirby as John
Allison Shrum as Jennie

Screenplay Adaptation Writer / Director – Ricky Rhodes
Producer / Creative Director – Jordan Henderson
Producer – Maggie Brown
Producer – Walter Haas
Production Manager / Art Coordinator – Bronwyn Adams-Cohen
DP – Haley Min Young Kreofsky
Steadicam – Dae Kyun Kim
1st AC – Aaron Rosene
Key Grip – Natalie Coyne
Gaffer – Connor Bjornson
G&E Swing – Corey McKinley
Sound – Neil Bagley

Production Designer / Art Director – Bijan Souri
Wallpaper and Art Designer – Antoinette Adams
Co-Art Director – Perry Powell
Construction Coordinator – Elliot McMillan
Hair & Makeup – Alex Smith
Hair & Makeup – Catherine Robinson
Choreography – Marina Elana
Wardrobe – Nicole Fitch
Woman in the Wallpaper Costume Stylist – Cindi Tucker
Editor / 2nd 2nd AD / Additional 1st AC / DIT – Lauren Musgrove
Camera Assistant – Mya-Breyana Morton
PA – Cape Sandlin
PA – Wil Ledbetter

Jay Paul Maddox
Carriage Driver

Russian Arm
Gravity Productions

Russian Arm Driver
Jared Tyree

Russian Arm Jib Operator
Hunter

Special Thanks:
Dani & Tom Brown
Jay Paul Maddox
SouthEast Alabama Dance Company
SouthEast Alabama Acting Company
Antique Attic
Mary Alice Veale
TriState Graphics
Taylor Garza
Susie Fitch
DPM
Georgia Prop Source

Website: https://www.planetfroth.space/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therickyrhodes/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricky-rhodes/