Bio

Paul Rachman began his film career making underground hardcore punk films and music videos for bands such as the Bad Brains, Gang Green, Negative FX and Mission of Burma while he was in college at Boston University. He quickly rose to become one of the of the industry's top music video directors at Propaganda Films in Los Angeles, where he worked with such artists as Alice in Chains, The Replacements, Pantera, Temple of the Dog, Sepultura, Roger Waters, Joan Jett, and Kiss. He has also directed several award-winning short films, most notably Memories with Joe Frank (1992), Drive Baby Drive (1995), Bang Bang (1999), Home (2001), and Zoe XO (2004). Paul made his feature film directorial debut in 2000 with Four Dogs Playing Poker starring Forrest Whittaker, Tim Curry and Olivia Williams. In 2006 his seminal punk documentary American Hardcore (2006) world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was picked up and theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics. Paul is also one of the founding filmmakers of the Slamdance Film Festival. He is currently working on a new documentary with American Hardcore writer Steven Blush and a new narrative feature film.