Hype! (1996)

Director:

Doug Pray

Release Date:

8 November 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | History | Music

Tagline:

surviving the northwest rock explosion

Plot:

Documentary covering the growth and subsequent overexposure of the Seattle "grunge" music scene in the early 90s

Plot Keywords:

Grunge | Fashion | Punk Rock | Band | Singing

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

7 Year Bitch	...	Themselves
Valerie M. Agnew	...	Herself - 7 Year Bitch (as Valerie Agnew)
Carrie Akre	...	Herself - Hammerbox
Jeff Ament	...	Himself - Pearl Jam
Dawn Anderson	...	Herself - Local Music Critic
Michael Anderson	...	Himself - Blood Circus
Paul Arkin	...	Band Practice Space Tour
Mark Arm	...	Himself - Mudhoney
James Atkins	...	Himself - Hammerbox
John Atkins	...	Himself - Seaweed
Jon Auer	...	Himself - The Posies
Love Battery	...	Themselves
Leighton Beezer	...	Himself - Stomach Pump / The Thrown Ups
Martin Bernier	...	Himself - Some Velvet Sidewalk
Nils Bernstein	...	Himself - Sub Pop Records
Don Blackstone	...	Himself - Gas Huffer
Don Blair	...	Himself - Some Velvet Sidewalk
Kurt Bloch	...	Himself - The Fastbacks / The Young Fresh Fellows
Blood Circus	...	Themselves
Dan Bolton	...	Himself - The Supersuckers
James Bosch	...	Himself - Hammerbox
Coffin Break	...	Themselves
David Brooks	...	Himself - Coffin Break
Brien Bublitz	...	Kid with Noseplugs
Bob Bulgrien	...	Himself - Seaweed
Matt Cameron	...	Himself - Soundgarden
Bill Campbell	...	Himself - Flop
Ryan Campbell	...	Himself - Hovercraft (as Campbell 2000)
Art Chantry	...	Himself - Graphic Designer
Robbe Clarke	...	Himself - Zipgun
Kurt Cobain	...	Himself - Nirvana (archive footage)
Fred Cole	...	Himself - Dead Moon
Toody Cole	...	Herself - Dead Moon
Van Conner	...	Himself - Screaming Trees
Chris Cornell	...	Himself - Soundgarden
Crackerbash	...	Themselves
Dave Crider	...	Himself - The Monomen / Estrus Records
Sean Croghan	...	Himself - Crackerbash
Dale Crover	...	Himself - The Melvins
Dan Cunneen	...	Himself - Zipgun
Kurt Danielson	...	Himself - Tad
Elizabeth F. Davis	...	Herself - 7 Year Bitch (as Elizabeth Davis)
Doug Day	...	Himself - Blood Circus
Dead Moon	...	Themselves
Thomas A. Doyle	...	Himself - Tad (as Tad Doyle)
Matt Dresdner	...	Himself - The Gits
Roisin Dunne	...	Herself - 7 Year Bitch
Chris Eckman	...	Himself - The Walkabouts
Jack Endino	...	Himself - Record Producer
Heidi Englebert	...	Herself - Bon Marché Decorator
Bruce Fairweather	...	Himself - Love Battery
The Fastbacks	...	Themselves
Jason Finn	...	Himself - Love Battery
Steve Fisk	...	Himself - Record Producer
Flop	...	Themselves
Dave Fox	...	Himself - The Posies
Scott Fox	...	Himself - Crackerbash
Lulu Gargiulo	...	Herself - The Fastbacks
Gas Huffer	...	Themselves
Jeff Gilbert	...	Band Practice Space Tour
Girl Trouble	...	Themselves (archive footage)
The Gits	...	Themselves
Stone Gossard	...	Himself - Pearl Jam
David Grohl	...	Himself - Nirvana (archive footage)
Helen Halloran	...	Clip from Rock & Roll Mobster Girls
Hammerbox	...	Themselves
Frank Harlan	...	Himself - Producer
Ron Heathman	...	Himself - The Supersuckers
Daniel House	...	Himself - President, C / Z Records
Tad Hutchison	...	Himself - The Young Fresh Fellows
Jack Irons	...	Himself - Pearl Jam
Megan Jasper	...	Herself - Sub Pop Records
Calvin Johnson	...	Himself - Co-Founder, K Records
Nate Johnson	...	Himself - Flop
Kelly Kime	...	Herself - Painted Body
Alan Larsen	...	Himself - Some Velvet Sidewalk
Beth Liebling	...	Herself - Hovercraft (as Sadie 7)
Peter Litwin	...	Himself - Coffin Break
Andrew Loomis	...	Himself - Dead Moon
Jeff Lorien	...	Himself - Coffin Break
Matt Lukin	...	Himself - Mudhoney
Barrett Martin	...	Himself - Screaming Trees
Scott McCaughey	...	Himself - The Young Fresh Fellows (as Scott MacCaughey)
Mike McCready	...	Himself - Pearl Jam
The Melvins	...	Themselves
Theodore Miller	...	Himself - Crackerbash
The Mono Men	...	Themselves (as The Monomen)
Steve Moriarty	...	Himself - The Gits
Ledge Morisette	...	Himself - The Mono Men
John Mortensen	...	Himself - The Mono Men
Mudhoney	...	Themselves
Mike Musburger	...	Himself - The Fastbacks / The Posies
Wade Neal	...	Himself - Seaweed
Joe Newton	...	Himself - Gas Huffer
Ron Nine	...	Himself - Love Battery
Nirvana	...	Themselves
Shigeki Nishimura	...	Japanese Fan (as Nissie)
Krist Novoselic	...	Himself - Nirvana (also archive footage)
Buzz Osborne	...	Himself - The Melvins
Bruce Pavitt	...	Himself - Sub Pop Records
Pearl Jam	...	Themselves
Dan Peters	...	Himself - Mudhoney
Charles Peterson	...	Himself - Photographer
Jonathan Poneman	...	Himself - Sub Pop Records
The Posies	...	Themselves
Tom Price	...	Himself - Gas Huffer
Geoff Robinson	...	Himself - Blood Circus
Aaron Roeder	...	Himself - The Mono Men
Neil Rogers	...	Himself - Zipgun
Rottweiller	...	Band Practice Space Tour
Martin Rushent	...	Himself - Visiting Record Producer
Jim Sangster	...	Himself - The Young Fresh Fellows
Paul Schurr	...	Himself - Flop
Seaweed	...	Themselves
Ben Shepherd	...	Himself - Soundgarden
Dan Siegal	...	Himself - The Supersuckers
Susan Silver	...	Herself - Manager
Tracey Simmons	...	Himself - Blood Circus
Rob Skinner	...	Himself - Coffin Break
Some Velvet Sidewalk	...	Themselves
Soundgarden	...	Themselves
Eddie Spaghetti	...	Himself - The Supersuckers
Joe Spleen	...	Himself - The Gits
Aaron Stauffer	...	Himself - Seaweed
Ken Stringfellow	...	Himself - The Posies
Supersuckers	...	Themselves (as The Supersuckers)
Susie Tennant	...	Herself - DGC Records
Kim Thayil	...	Himself - Soundgarden
Harris Thurmond	...	Himself - Hammerbox
Carla Torgerson	...	Herself - The Walkabouts
Dave Trissid	...	Himself - The Melvins
Steve Neil Turner	...	Himself - Mudhoney (as Steve Turner)
The U-Men	...	Themselves (archive footage)
Conrad Uno	...	Himself - PopLlama Records
Eddie Vedder	...	Himself - Pearl Jam
Selene H. Vigil	...	Herself - 7 Year Bitch (as Selene Vigil)
Mike Vraney	...	Himself - Promoter
Kim Warnick	...	Herself - The Fastbacks
Clint Werner	...	Himself - Seaweed
Kevin Whitworth	...	Himself - Love Battery
Rusty Willoughby	...	Himself - Flop
Mark Wooten	...	Himself - Zipgun
Blake Wright	...	Himself - Owner, eMpTy Records
Matt Wright	...	Himself - Gas Huffer
The Young Fresh Fellows	...	Themselves
Mia Zapata	...	Herself - The Gits
Zipgun	...	Themselves
Calvert DeForest	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Kurt Loder	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ron Reagan	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Layne Staley	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Doug Pray

Produced by
Lisanne Dutton	....	co-producer (as Lisa Dutton)
Steven Helvey	....	producer
Peter J. Vogt	....	co-producer (as Pete Vogt)

Cinematography by
Robert Bennett

Film Editing by
Doug Pray
Joan Zapata

Makeup Department
Roxy D'Alonzo	....	lab technician (uncredited)

Production Management
Lisa Dutton	....	production manager
Kari Stratton	....	production manager

Sound Department
David Bartlett	....	sound editor
Ron Bartlett	....	sound re-recording mixer
Todd Chandler	....	mobile sound recordist
Derek Creisler	....	sound recordist
Steve Culp	....	technical engineer
Brett Eliason	....	sound recordist: Pearl Jam
Stuart Hallerman	....	sound recordist: Soundgarden
Bob Israel	....	sound recordist
Pat Maley	....	sound recordist: Some Velvet Sidewalk
Senator Mike Michaels	....	sound recordist
Carey Milbradt	....	sound editor
Paul Nieto	....	mobile sound recordist
Geoffrey G. Rubay	....	supervising sound editor
Matt Shaw	....	mobile sound recordist
Ken Thomson	....	sound editor (as Kenn Thomsen)
Conrad Uno	....	additional sound recordist
David A. Whittaker	....	sound editor (as Dave Whittaker)
Mark Yeend	....	additional sound recordist
Eric Gotthelf	....	adr mixer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mia Barker	....	first assistant camera
Edward Barnes	....	grip electric (as Ted Barnes)
Robert Bennett	....	camera operator
Diane Broussalian	....	second assistant camera
Kyle Carver	....	gaffer
Eric Chard	....	first assistant camera
Marc Cole	....	first assistant camera (as Marcus Cole)
Chris Crever	....	first assistant camera
Sonya Dove	....	grip electric (as Sonia Dove)
Mark Eguchi	....	camera operator
Lulu Gargiulo	....	camera operator
Neil Holcomb	....	grip electric (as Larry Holcombe)
Eric Hossner	....	motion-control camera
Steve Itano	....	first assistant camera
Jay Johnson	....	grip electric
Colleen Kingdon	....	grip electric
Dieter Klipstein	....	grip electric (as Dieter Klippstein)
Michael Koener	....	second assistant camera
David R. Kohn	....	gaffer (as David Kohn)
Stan Larsen	....	camera operator (as Stan Larson)
Lars Larson	....	camera operator
Lars Larson	....	director of photography: second unit
Albert Malvaez	....	first assistant camera
Brian McCleary	....	grip electric
Stephen McGehee	....	camera operator (as Steve McGeehee)
C. Roy Nigra	....	gaffer (as Roy Nigra)
Charles Peterson	....	still photographer
Tom Richmond	....	camera operator (as Thomas Julian Richmond)
Sacha Riviere	....	first assistant camera (as Sasha Riviere)
Karen Rodriguez	....	grip electric
Peter J. Vogt	....	additional photography (as Pete Vogt)
Erich Volkstorf	....	camera operator
Steve Winger	....	first assistant camera (as Steve Winigar)

Editorial Department
Francine Banzali	....	editorial assistant (as Francine Banzal)
Earl Ghaffari	....	supervising editor
Walter Rose	....	color timer
Marc Webb	....	post production assistant
Chris Weber	....	negative cutter
Chien-Ei Yu	....	assistant editor

Music Department
David Bartlett	....	music editor
Ron Bartlett	....	music editor
Ron Bartlett	....	music mixer
Earl Ghaffari	....	music editor
Matt Shaw	....	music mixer
Steve Smith	....	live music recording engineer

Other crew
Sharlene Aadland	....	supervisor: coverage
Julianne Anderson	....	booking
Marilyn Anderson	....	production assistant
Vanessa Angelvy	....	production assistant
Joel Beach	....	equipment services: Flying Spot
Steve Beaumont	....	production assistant
Randy Brown	....	production assistant
Lisa Cohen	....	production assistant
John W. Cones	....	legal representative
David Franke	....	equipment services: Seattle Grip and Lighting
Johnathan Gold	....	interview consultant
Ken Hinch	....	production assistant
Jack Hodge	....	equipment services: HodgeCo Worldwide
Chris Jenkins	....	equipment services: Todd-AD Studios
Bruce King	....	technical support: video
Craig Large	....	technical support: video
Lars Larson	....	equipment services: Seattle 16
Brian Levy	....	narrative structure
Brian Lorenson	....	production assistant
Mark A. Mangini	....	equipment services: Weddington Productions (as Mark Mangini)
David Molino	....	technical support: video (as Davide Molino)
Nigel Pearson	....	legal representative
Greg Pecknold	....	equipment services: Flying Spot
Lance Rosen	....	legal representative
Jim Sangster	....	creative advisor
Jeffrey Shepherd	....	production assistant
Mike Stevens	....	equipment services: Kino Flo
Craig Stewart	....	production assistant
Mike Sunceri	....	equipment services: Northstar Lighting (as Mike Sunseri)
Chris Swenson	....	creative advisor
Jeff Tillotson	....	equipment services: Modern Digital
Michele Van Valey	....	assistant coordinator (as Michelle Van Valey)
Peter J. Vogt	....	equipment services: Seattle 16 (as Pete Vogt)
Robert Jay Weinberg	....	legal representative
Robert Jay Weinberg	....	production legal advisor
Robert Welkie	....	equipment services: Straightline Video
Morgan Worth	....	technical support: video
Davis Wright	....	legal representative
Steven Belgard	....	publicist (uncredited)

Thanks
Julianne Anderson	....	thanks
Russ Battaglia	....	thanks
Elizabeth Bennett	....	major thanks
Jill Berliner	....	thanks
Nils Bernstein	....	special thanks
Danny Bland	....	thanks
Kurt Bloch	....	special thanks
Jennie Boddy	....	special thanks
Joan Bolvi	....	thanks (as Joan Bolvin)
Paul Bricault	....	major thanks
Rosemary Carroll	....	thanks
Chris Castle	....	thanks
Elliot Cohn	....	thanks
Colleen Combs	....	thanks
Dana Cooke	....	thanks
Dave Crider	....	thanks: Estrus Records
Kelly Curtis	....	special thanks
Patrick Dollard	....	special thanks (as Pat Dollard)
Kirk Dornbush	....	special thanks
Allen Draher	....	thanks
Chris Emmanouilides	....	special thanks
Paula Erickson	....	thanks
Lisa Fancher	....	thanks: Frontier Records
Stacy Fass	....	thanks
The Fastbacks	....	thanks
Kuzem Fathie	....	major thanks
Ramin Fathie	....	special thanks
The Fellows	....	thanks (as The Fellows)
Flop	....	thanks
David Grohl	....	special thanks (as Dave Grohl)
Erin Haley	....	special thanks
Tom Hazelmeyer	....	thanks
Bill Helvey	....	major thanks
Grace Helvey	....	major thanks
Daniel House	....	thanks: C/Z Records
Robert Jeniker	....	thanks
Calvin Johnson	....	thanks: K Records
Mark Kates	....	thanks
Matt Kellogg	....	major thanks
Stacy Kreisberg	....	thanks
Michael Krumper	....	thanks (as Michael Crumper)
David Leskowitz	....	thanks
Courtney Love	....	special thanks
Alex Macleod	....	thanks
Spike Mafford	....	special thanks
Ursula Manina	....	thanks
Michael Meisel	....	thanks
Tim Neece	....	thanks
Krist Novoselic	....	special thanks
Shauna O'Brien	....	thanks
Milton Olin	....	thanks (as Milt Olin)
Bruce Pavitt	....	thanks: Sub Pop Records
Pearl Jam	....	special thanks
Candice Pedersen	....	thanks: K Records
John Polk	....	thanks
Jonathan Poneman	....	thanks: Sub Pop Records
Carrel Pray	....	major thanks
Diana Rathe Pray	....	major thanks (as Diana Pray)
Lloyd Pray	....	major thanks
Fern Rathe	....	major thanks
John Rathe	....	major thanks
Mark Reiter	....	thanks
Christopher Ross	....	major thanks
Ken Sacks	....	special thanks
John Sangster	....	special thanks
Patsy Sangster	....	special thanks
John Silva	....	thanks
Susan Silver	....	major thanks
Michael Solomon	....	special thanks
Howard Suber	....	special thanks
Neil Sussman	....	thanks (as Neal Sussman)
Chris Swenson	....	thanks
Susie Tennant	....	major thanks
John Theron	....	major thanks
Conrad Uno	....	thanks: PopLlama Records
Matt Vaughan	....	thanks
Chris Weber	....	special thanks
Robert Welkie	....	major thanks
Bob Whittaker	....	thanks
Blake Wright	....	thanks: eMpTy Records

Production Companies

• Helvey-Pray Productions

Distributors

• Three Lines Pictures (1997) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Arsenal (Germany)
• Ciné 360
• Cinépix Film Properties (CFP) (USA) (original distributor)
• Lions Gate Films (Canada)
• Lions Gate Films (USA)
• Vitória Filmes (Portugal)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | Portugal:M/6

Filming Locations:

Bellingham, Washington, USA

Company:

Helvey-Pray Productions

Quotes:

Art Chantry:The Northwest is where flying saucers - where the term "flying saucers" was coined. The Northwest is where Louie Louie's from. The Northwest is where - is the serial killer capital of the world. We have more unsolved serial killings here than any other place in the United States. I mean, the Manson Family used to vacation up this way. This place is weird - a lot of occult stuff. All this stuff is a factor in what happened in the music.

Movie Connections:

Features "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Negative Creep

Flannel! Seattle!

I remember the first time I heard Nirvana. I had laid down for a nap with the radio on after school one day. When I woke up it was night, but what threw me out of bed, what got me banging my head was "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I never heard anything like it. The noise possessed me. Right then and there I filed away my Poison and Def Leppard tapes; there were new rock stars to worship.

HYPE charts what happened in Seattle to bring forth this defining moment of a generation as well as what happened after. It's a sharp, funny documentary with scads of concert footage of bands both famous (Soundgarden) and not so (Coffin Break). Interspersed are wry observations from the locals who got so fed up with the endless, um, hype, that the only way to stay sane was to make fun of it all.

The movie is put together well, but I do have some complaints. I wish the filmmakers had shown the first live performance of "Teen Spirit" in its entirety. The part they do show is electrifying; maybe it's the combination of the grainy, shaky footage and Nirvana itself, but at that moment it was obvious that Kurt Cobain would be a superstar. This concert was ground zero for the biggest youthquake in my lifetime, so I wish it could have seen and heard the performance from beginning to end.

My second complaint is easier to forgive. For all the talk about Nirvana, not a word is mentioned about Hole. Given Courtney Love's litigious nature when it comes to her and Kurt's music, I presume she did what she had to do to keep her band out of it. It's not the director's fault, but it does harm the movie since Love is arguably the biggest star the era produced. (HYPE hit theatres about six weeks before THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT; I wonder if that was mere coincidence.)

Finally, since there's a clip of the Gits, it would have been right to at least mention lead singer Mia Zapata's 1993 murder. I didn't hear about this until years later, when "Unsolved Mysteries" did a piece on it. I wanted to know more about it, like how her death affected the community and the music. Were the Gits a local favorite? Was Zapata popular? A bitch? Movie doesn't say.

I still have all my grunge CDs. Not just the big acts but many of the wannabees, never-weres and knockoffs too: Sponge, Mad Season, Jawbox, Dink, Seven Mary Three. I don't care how derivative it sounds; this era of music was my college years, the early '90s, the best time of my life. Forgive me for wallowing in it occasionally (I type as the moody Mother Love Bone song on the SINGLES soundtrack resonates around me).

What happened to grunge? Did it die with Kurt, or with Mia, or when Weird Al gave the world his spin, or when Pearl Jam agreed to play at Ticketmaster arenas? It sure was long gone by the time Layne Staley died and the Smashing Pumpkins broke up. HYPE's running time is under ninety minutes, which seems appropriate since grunge was over quickly too. It petered out before its time, and before we knew it Hootie and the Blowfish was the next big thing. And look what pop music is now.

8/10

Oh, and I did eventually buy the Best Of collections from Poison and Def Leppard. Don't we all secretly still like the music we listened to in high school?