Penelope Spheeris

From cutting edge independent features to mainstream studio comedies to historically significant documents of youth culture, the span of Penelope Spheeris' work has made her an internationally recognized artist. After graduating from UCLA Film School with a Master of Fine Arts degree, she worked as an editor and cinematographer, then formed Rock 'n' Reel, the first music video company in Los Angeles. She directed and produced music videos for such acts as Fleetwood Mac, Foghat, Funkadelic, David Essex, and America, among many others. She is best known for the critically acclaimed documentaries, The Decline of Western Civilization, The Decline II: The Metal Years, and most recently, The Decline: Part III about punk kids living on the streets, the profits from which are donated to charities for homeless and abused children. Penelope's early feature credits include Suburbia, The Boys Next Door and Dudes. In 1991, she directed her first studio film, the box office smash, Wayne's World and subsequently directed and produced The Beverly Hillbillies. Other studio pictures include The Little Rascals, Black Sheep and Senseless. We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n Roll, the feature documentary on Ozzfest was presented at Sundance. Most recently, Spheeris directed and produced the independent feature The Kid and I, about a young man with Cerebral Palsy. Currently she is the writer-director of the Janis Joplin biography: The Gospel According to Janis.