As a child, the minute Director/Producer Jonathan Demme saw television he was hooked and obsessed. But, a career in movies never entered his mind – he wanted to be veterinarian. It was only when he hit a wall during his first week in college chemistry that his life took a dramatic turn to the world of movies. Starting first as a movie reviewer, then a publicist, Demme soon found himself working with the legendary Roger Corman. He has since gone on to make some of the greatest movies of our time, including Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, music videos, and documentaries including his most recent on Neil Young.
Demme first worked with Neil Young on the movie Philadelphia. Young wrote the song ‘Philadelphia’, which received an Oscar nomination for the Best Original Song. Since that first collaboration in 1993, Demme and Young have worked together on the live video for Mirror Ball and three full-length performance films. The most recent is Neil Young Journeys, which Demme describes as a “portrait documentary disguised as a performance film.” Demme hopes there are future collaborations and describes Young as an “endless fountain of cinematic material”. In this in-depth interview Demme discusses his favorite kind of film to make (movies about people who inspire him), his admiration for actors, and the people who inspire him the most (right now it’s Carolyn Parker a New Orleans Lower 9th Ward resident who as the last to leave her neighborhood before Hurricane Katrina and one of the first to return. Click here to watch the full segment from this incredible and humble filmmaker and hear the gems of his experience including life on set of Silence of the Lambs, and what is next on his plate.
