Hus Miller on his movie making journey. (Photo Courtesy of Hus Miller)
Immediately after graduating from Santa Rosa High School, local Hus Miller left Sonoma County behind and vowed to never return. He started traveling, first in the US and then abroad throughout the world.
After his travels Miller settled for a long stretch (over 12 years) in Los Angeles, mainly acting in commercial gigs. During his stint in L.A. he met and began working on short films with Paul Kramer who previously worked at American Zoetrope (Francis Ford Coppola Films).
While working with Kramer for 11 years, Miller discovered a passion for creating movies.
“After traveling around the world, I realized Sonoma County is a unique and special place,” Miller said. He never imagined though that he one day would move back to Santa Rosa and create his first feature film “You Can’t Say No” in Sonoma County.
Peter Fonda will play the dad. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Miller said certain characters in the movie are a reflection of the eccentric personalities in Sonoma County. “The region has a magnetic pull that draws you here,” Miller said. “I wrote the script specifically for a summer wine country experience.”
Inspired by his own life, Miller’s romantic comedy is about a couple on the brink of divorce who unexpectedly run into each other at a Wine Country bar. Their chance meeting triggers unknown realizations about each other followed by a series of events that are relatable to real life.
Miller wears multiple hats in the film production. “Producing a movie is like starting up a small business, it’s the perfect balance between being creative and the business side of things,” Miller said. The producer finds the funds, searches for the shooting locations, casts the actors, coordinates with agents and makes sure all the elements are succinct.
Two well-known actors in the film are Peter Fonda and Marguerite Moreau. Miller plays the lead as Hank the husband, Moreau as Alex, Hank’s wife, and Fonda as Hank’s father.
Marguerite Moreau as Alex in ‘You Can’t Say No’
(Photo Courtesy of IMDB)
“I am so lucky to be surrounded by good, talented and experienced people,” Miller said.
Miller plans to submit You Can’t Say No into a few film festival events like Sundance, South by Southwest and Tribeca in the fall. Filming begins at the end of July at a private estate in Santa Rosa’s Rincon Valley area.
