With the name Laurence Rhoderic Blackhurst IV, Rod was born predisposed to a life of adventure and storytelling.  His grandfather and namesake, who after graduating Yale, where he was a member of an unnamed secret society, sailed around the world three times, hung out in Cuba, flew bombing missions during WWII, hunted big game in Africa, shot trick contests for Remington Arms, blacksmithed and competed as a professional body builder, among another things, was the unofficial inspiration for The Most Interesting Man In The World.  It should be no coincidence then that Rod has spent his years on earth directing commercials, music videos and films while assembling his own collection of unusual adventure stories.

Raised without access to a television, upon viewing RoboCop and Full Metal Jacket, Rod spent many sleepless nights in the woods of upstate New York thinking he had just witnessed the strangest documentaries of all time.  After graduating with a degree in French Literature (no joke) from Colgate University, he realized the real world didn’t care so much about GPAs so he loaded up his station wagon and made like Lewis and Clark for the Pacific.

Get Rod in a karaoke bar and in between performances of Blackstreet’s ‘No Diggity’ and any Backstreet Boys song (again, no joke) he’ll probably tell you some stories about touring for a few years with a rock band around North America and Europe, or that time he convinced some of the Super Troopers actors to go make a weird film in the desert.  He’ll also probably tell you about his love of John Steinbeck, PT Anderson, film stock, grapefruit, and why cheese makes everything delicious.  

That's a photo of Rod's grandfather and namesake on the left over there. And that's young Rod in the other photo.

Now that I've talked about myself in the 3rd person for a while I also want you to know that  I love making things.  I love narrative and craft.  I believe that the two go hand in hand and that aesthetics and visual value are important to moving images. There's no reason a film shouldn't look like a work of art.  If you'd like to talk about a project or just share a random thought, send me an e-mail here or contact:

 FILM: Justin Littman at the Gotham Group




Other work available by request.