Penelope Spheeris
Penelope Spheeris
Penelope Spheerisis an American film director, producer and screenwriter. She is best known as a documentary film director whose works include the trilogy titled The Decline of Western Civilization. She has directed feature films, including Wayne's World, her highest grossing film...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth2 December 1945
CityNew Orleans, LA
CountryUnited States of America
drug decline print
Decline III, I funded myself, from the studio money. That, and I sold a lot of drugs. Kidding. Don't print that.
fun real trying
It is fun to try figure out the things that really are real and the things that aren't.
interesting human-nature found
What I found interesting is that it's human nature to have a family.
impossible film form
Now, it's almost impossible to go out and do a film about a new form of music.
appreciation aggravation political
The first Decline I did was out of sheer love and appreciation for the music. In 1977, it was more about bands, because punk was a new form of music. It was groundbreaking and political.
aggravation decline found
Nobody wanted to touch Decline III when they found out what it was about.
mother people wish
My mother was a barmaid and I was raised in a trailer park. I'm used to that language. I put it on the screen so that people could interpret it as they wish.
aggravation fleas flea-markets
I actually picked up copies of Decline I and II at a flea market once. I walked out without paying.
aggravation rights made
Those movies, Decline I and II and Suburbia, are dearly loved, but they never made any money. I didn't even have the rights for some of them.
teenager thinking way
I was always into music. I think everyone is when they're a teenager, as a way to drown out the world.
thinking bird different
I like to think about society as being a flock of birds: There seems to be a common consciousness in different time periods, and the new common consciousness reacts to the old standards.
trying theft producers
If you are looking for a producer, try to contact established producers. Don't let the fear of theft paralyze you, or you will never get anywhere with it.