BILL FISHMAN (Director)

Bill Fishman is an acclaimed director of film and video. He has directed videos for scores of rock, country, rap, and R&B bands, including Wilco, the Ramones, Suicidal Tendencies, George Clinton, Hank Williams Jr. (with whom he won Billboard's Best Video of the Year award), and many other artists.

He recently completed the video for the Hank Williams Jr. song "Naked Girls and Beer," featuring Kid Rock. With this video, Bill undertook the always arduous, thankless task of filming beautiful women dancing naked. (That's Bill with the "cast" in the above photograph.)

His film credits include the classic alternative comedy "Tapeheads," starring John Cusack and Tim Robbins. It's considered one of the great cult films ever made (legal complications kept it out of general release). In the book "The 100 Best Films to Rent You've Never Heard of," David N. Meyer went so far as to say that he worships "at the altar of Fishman."

Richard Harrington of the Washington Post wrote: "The more you know about the life style and politics of the MTV generation, the more you're likely to enjoy 'Tapeheads,' a new comedy in the tradition of 'This Is Spinal Tap' and 'Hollywood Shuffle.'"

"Like Rob Reiner's 'Spinal Tap,' much of the humor is so inside, or so subtle, that the film will reveal itself only through repeated viewings."

(The film had to be cut down to an hour and a half, but there are still three hour bootleg versions circulating throughout Hollywood for the die-hard fans. It's said to be worth viewing just for the lost Herve Villechaize scenes.)

Fishman followed that film with "Car 54, Where Are You?", which featured every actor and/or rock star you can possibly think of in some sort of cameo role. Talk show hosts, comedians and Baldwin brothers abound.

Bill was also an executive producer on the film "Posse," and acted in the film "Floundering" in the unforgettable role of the Insurance Salesman. He was unforgettable because nobody saw the film, therebye having nothing to forget.

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