Punk Rock Movie Directors
by cjmccracken | created - 26 Aug 2015 | updated - 26 Aug 2015 | PublicFilmmakers who captured the voice and spirit of punk rock, either at the time or in later years.
1. Alex Cox
Director | Repo Man
Throughout his years in the industry, Alex Cox, an English writer-director, has not only proven his loyalty and integrity to cult cinema, but also his love for it. This all began in 1977, when Cox dropped out of Oxford University to study Radio, Film & TV at Bristol until graduating in 1977. Seeing...
2. Penelope Spheeris
Director | Suburbia
Spheeris is often referred to as a 'rock 'n roll anthropologist'.
In 1974 she formed the first Los Angeles music video production company, ROCK 'N REEL. She concluded her music video work with the Grammy-nominated, "Bohemian Rhapsody" video for "Wayne's World". Spheeris' feature film debut was the ...
3. Rodger Grossman
Writer | What We Do Is Secret
Rodger Grossman is known for What We Do Is Secret (2007).
4. Julien Temple
Director | Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan
Julien Temple was born on November 26, 1953 in London, England, UK. He is a director and writer, known for Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan (2020), Vigo (1998) and Earth Girls Are Easy (1988).
5. Ulli Lommel
Actor | Strangers in Paradise
Widely known for his frequent collaborations with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, a creative partnership which lasted 10 years and produced over 20 films, Ulli Lommel is one of the most consistently creative filmmakers to come from the New German Cinema movement.
The son of German comic performer Ludwig ...
6. James Merendino
Writer | SLC Punk!
James Merendino is an American movie director and scriptwriter. He was born in New Jersey, and moved with his family to Salt Lake City, Utah when he was six years old. After pursuing post-secondary education in Rome and Los Angeles, California, studying Western philosophy and theology, Merendino ...
7. Mark Christopher Covino
Producer | A Band Called Death
Mark is a director, producer and editor. His first feature film, "A Band Called Death," won the Audience Award at South by Southwest in 2013 and was released theatrically to rave reviews around the world. It has a 94% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. His 2nd film, the award-winning documentary, "...
8. Jeff Howlett
Producer | A Band Called Death
Jeff Howlett was born on November 5, 1969 in Pensacola, Florida, USA. He is a producer and director, known for A Band Called Death (2012), Paper Towns (2015) and Brass Knuckles (2019).
9. David Markey
Director | Citizen Tania
David Markey is a resilient and resourceful filmmaker who has sustained a truly independent career in the shadow of Hollywood and against the backdrop of corporate America for over two and a half decades. As a self-taught filmmaker and musician, Markey brings together underground music, ...
10. Amos Poe
Director | Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole
Amos Poe was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv, Israel. He is a director and producer, known for Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole (1991), Dead Weekend (1995) and A Walk in the Park (2012). He was previously married to Sarah Charlesworth.
11. Don Letts
Soundtrack | Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Don Letts was born on January 10, 1956 in London, England, UK. He is a director and actor, known for Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Punk: Attitude (2005) and The King of Comedy (1982).
12. Anton Corbijn
Director | Control
Anton Corbijn was born on May 20, 1955 in Strijen, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. He is a director and actor, known for Control (2007), A Most Wanted Man (2014) and The American (2010).
13. Lech Kowalski
Director | East of Paradise
Lech Kowalski was born in 1951 in London, England, UK. He is a director and cinematographer, known for East of Paradise (2005), Rock Soup (1991) and This is Paris Too (2020).
14. Jim Fields
Editor | End of the Century
Jim Fields is a filmmaker from Brooklyn, NYC. His works have appeared at the Slamdance Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, the Los Angeles Film Festival and numerous others. He's best knows as the co-director/co-producer of film "End of the Century: the Story ...
15. Michael Gramaglia
Producer | End of the Century
Michael Gramaglia is known for End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (2003), Don't Ask Me Questions: The Unsung Life of Graham Parker and the Rumour (2013) and IBM DNA Transistor: The Future of Genome Sequencing (2009).
16. Bruce McDonald
Director | Pontypool
Bruce McDonald was born on May 28, 1959 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He is a director and producer, known for Pontypool (2008), Dance Me Outside (1994) and Highway 61 (1991).
17. Todd Phillips
Producer | Joker
Todd Phillips is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter.
Growing up on Long Island, New York, Todd Phillips fell in love with feature film teen comedies made in the 1980s, and claims they were his biggest influence in becoming a filmmaker. While studying film at New York University, ...
18. Lou Adler
Producer | Up in Smoke
Lou Adler was born on December 13, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is a producer, known for Up in Smoke (1978), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and Witness (1985). He has been married to Page Hannah since March 28, 1992. They have four children. He was previously married to Shelley Fabares.
19. Dan O'Bannon
Writer | Alien
Dan O'Bannon was inspired at an early age by EC Comics like Tales from the Crypt and old horror films that he saw in St. Louis. He even wrote a few stories for Heavy Metal magazine (which also showed up in the film).
O'Bannon got his start when he and John Carpenter collaborated on the cult sci-fi ...
20. Larry Clark
Director | Bully
Was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (1943). Son of Frances Clark (baby photographer) and Lewis Clark. Graduated from Central High school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Attended Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Studied under Walter Sheffer and Gerard Bakker. Film debut was the movie Kids (1995). He was ...
21. Spike Lee
Director | Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended ...
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