INTERVIEW: Michael Tadross Jr. On Hedge Club, The Hamptons’ Newest Nightclub

The Hamptons nightlight scene heated up this summer thanks to the new Hedge Club in Southampton.

“The Hamptons has been a part of me forever. I’m in the film business,” owner Michael Tadross Jr. told Hamptons.com. “I’m a film financier, and I get to finance movies all over the world. I spend most of my time in California, but home is in the Hamptons. When the opportunity came about to take over the nightclub, I couldn’t say no.”

Could you speak about the programming?

MTJ: We’ve had numerous DJs – everything from house to hip hop. It’s not Vegas by any stretch, but it’s equivalent to a Manhattan nightclub programming.

You followed in your father’s footsteps into the film industry. How did growing up in the industry influence your career?

MTJ: If I could be half the man my dad is I’d be very happy. Going into the film business, in his shadow, I truly never wanted to be a physical producer on the set because I would always be compared to him. I didn’t want to be that creative aspect, that line aspect, that aspect of hands on that he is. I wanted a little bit of a different direction and kind of started doing independent movies, carving my own path and eventually becoming a financier in the film industry, where I’ve made my own career away from him.

I’ve done numerous television shows, movies, north of 40 at this point, non-studio, completely independent, highest being $45 million, smallest being a million dollars. But it’s been completely separate. Will we collaborate? Nothing would make me happier. But as of yet, it hasn’t happened.

Tell us a little bit about your recent projects.

MTJ: The Lurking Fear, it’s a horror movie filmed in Jacksonville, Florida. Darren Dalton’s directing. Robert Davi is in it. I have a bunch of different influencers in it. It’s a great horror movie.

Do you typically work on one project at a time?

MTJ: No, numerous. I try to do one movie a month and simultaneously do a TV show throughout the year – because the movies are only 18 days now – 18 to 24 days. So, then you could do TV shows throughout. I’m doing another TV show called Paper Empire. It’s Denise Richards, Wesley Snipes, Davi’s in it, Steve Guttenberg.

Besides your father, is there anybody else that you would like to collaborate with in the future?

MTJ: I think the filmmakers of today are absolutely amazingly talented. These kids coming out of school are phenomenal what they’re doing camera work wise, directing wise. I think the generation that are in their 70s are beyond talented. People forget that to make a movie, an action movie in the 80s and 90s what went into it. Today we have movies like The Avengers and X-Men and all these different things, these are all effects. When you look at a Death Wish or Die Hard and you see how talented you had to be to make that movie, that’s who you really want to collaborate with. Fortunately, I’ve been able to work with Rob Cohen and do The Hurricane Heist and I’ve been able to work with the generations that I’ve always wanted to. More than anything, I give first time directors their shot, and that’s always the coolest thing to me because you learn something new every time you work with someone. When you get to collaborate with people from all over the world, you pull a cinematographer from Germany, a director from Argentina, it’s all different styles, and you get to see this amazing mix of talent work together.

Could you speak about Hedge Club’s renovation?

MTJ: Michelle, my wife, designed the club. She was in Vegas for a long time running nightclubs. I convinced her to marry me somehow and move back to New York. We had a kid and when I bought the nightclub, the only person I would have designed it was her, and, lo and behold, she did a hell of a job. She’s done numerous ones.

Hedge Club is located at 125 Tuckahoe Lane in Southampton. For more information, visit www.hedgeclubsh.com.