Dewey Hughes

• Author: admin
• Filed under: Celebrities, Movies
• Date: Jun 1,2008

Films producer Joe Fries heard Petey’s story from his friend Dewey Hughes, who was Petey’s creative partner, Fries “saw it as a dream project.” The idea did not sell,but the project moved forward as a movie just the same. As Fries explains, “I felt so passionately about this story that I contacted screenwriter Michael Genet, who is Dewey Hughes’ son–with no guarantee of a home for the project.”
Genet remarks, “When I was writing the script, I knew I had to stay true to the voices of these two men. Not to have done so would have been to dishonor them both. There’s cool that you either have or you don’t, and Dewey had it. The same work ethic he instilled in Petey, he instilled in me; paying one’s dues not only in this business but in life. At the core of the film is the real-life relationship between Petey Greene and Dewey Hughes. McLaughlin says, “Their friendship is the foundation of “Talk to Me.” What eventually caused a rift between these two – who were like brothers during turbulent times for this country – is that Dewey assumed Petey wanted what he wanted for him.” Lemmons met with Dewey Hughes, who signed on as consultant to the now-coalescing project, which Focus Features joined.

“Dewey Hughes gave me the rundown on Sunny Jim Kelsey, ‘the man with the plan’ who came up through the ranks and later became the first black program manager at a major radio station. He was one of the biggest deejays in New York and then even more so in D.C. He was very conservative and religious, and in many ways felt that Petey was not a respectable person to be representing black people on the radio. But ultimately, Sunny Jim became one of Petey’s ardent fans and supporters, and a close friend.”

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