Gary Weis (c. 1943) is an American filmmaker. He is known for creating multiple short films that aired on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' in the late 1970s. He co-produced and provided visual effects for the documentary ''

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

'' (1973); he co-directed the

Beatlemania Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles in the 1960s. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom throughout 1963, propelled by the singles " Please Please Me", " From Me to You" and " She Loves You" ...

spoof '' All You Need Is Cash'' (1978) with the film's star,

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broad ...

; he directed the comedy film '' Diary of a Young Comic'' (1979) starring Richard Lewis, as well as '' 80 Blocks from Tiffany's'' (1979), a documentary about

gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collective ...

s in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris. In the early 1900s, the South Bronx was orig ...

. He also directed several

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

s in the 1980s, including the video for

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

's single "

You Can Call Me Al "You Can Call Me Al" is a song by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his seventh studio album, ''Graceland'' (1986), released on Warner Bros. Records. Written by Simon, its lyrics follow an individual seemingly exp ...

" and for

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

's version of the song " Got My Mind Set on You".

Career

Weis worked as a cameraman for the 1970

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

tour documentary '' Gimme Shelter'' that culminated with footage of the infamous

Altamont Free Concert The Altamont Speedway Free Festival was a counterculture rock concert in the United States, held on Saturday, December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway outside of Livermore, California. Approximately 300,000 attended the concert, and some a ...

. Weis told the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

that it was "the most frightening workday I've ever had," although he had left for the day by the time The Rolling Stones took the stage. Weis co-produced the 1973 documentary ''

'' along with Joe Boyd and John Head. Weis was also in charge of the film's visuals. He told the ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

'' that he was not a particular fan of the musician prior to the creation of ''Jimi Hendrix'', but gained an appreciation for the musician through his work on the film. Weis was initially approached by Boyd–who was the music director for

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of li ...

at the time–about assisting with the film. Weis directed of over 45 short films for ''

'' (''SNL'') that aired in 1975 and 1977. Weis started as an assistant director then took over the position of primary director of the show's film shorts after

Albert Brooks Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein ; July 22, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1987's '' Broadcast News'' and was widely praised for his performance as a ...

' departure from the show in 1976.

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

subsequently commissioned Weis to direct some full-length films to be aired during ''SNL''s timeslot when the show was on summer

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: * Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure * Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species '' Hiatus fulvipes'' * G ...

. The first of such films was '' All You Need Is Cash'' (1978), a

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

, which Weis produced and co-directed with

, who also starred in the film. Next came '' Diary of a Young Comic'' (1979), a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

take on

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

starring comedian Richard Lewis. The script was written by Richard Lewis and Bennett Tramer, based on a story originally conceived by Weis. Weis decided to put Lewis in the film after watching him perform at

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

in Los Angeles. Weis also directed

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...

's comedy special ''A Wild and Crazy Guy'' that aired on NBC in 1978. Later that summer, Weis filmed the documentary '' 80 Blocks from Tiffany's'', which documented the lives of

members in the

, a neighborhood that was suffering from a high level of crime and

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...

at the time. While the documentary was filmed for

, it did not make it to air. In a 2010 interview with '' BlackBook'' magazine, Weis said that

was reticent to air the film because of a recent legal case brought against ABC related to a movie made by their entertainment division of the news. "They said it would have been fine if the news division f NBChad done it," Weis explained. Instead, ''80 Blocks from Tiffany's'' premiered at the

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, epis ...

in 1980 and was released to home video in 1985 by Pacific Arts Entertainment. The VHS version of the film increased in demand as the film gained cult status, and the film was re-released to DVD in 2010. Weis directed the 1980 comedy film '' Wholly Moses!'' starring

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

. It marked Weis's first direction of a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

. This was followed by '' Young Lust'', a comedy film starring

Fran Drescher Francine Joy Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American actress, comedian, writer, activist, and trade union leader. She is known for her role as Fran Fine in the television sitcom '' The Nanny'' (1993–1999), which she created and prod ...

, and '' Action Family'', a Cinemax TV spoof starring

Chris Elliott Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He appeared in comedic sketches on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) ...

. Weis directed music videos in the 1980s, including videos for

The Bangles The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including " Manic Monday" (1986), " Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), "Hazy Shad ...

singles " Walk Like an Egyptian" and " Walking Down Your Street", the Howard Jones single "

Everlasting Love "Everlasting Love" is a song written by Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden, originally a 1967 hit for Robert Knight and since remade numerous times, most successfully by Love Affair, as well as Town Criers, Carl Carlton, Sandra Cretu, and Gloria ...

" and the

38 Special 38 Special may refer to: * .38 Special The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, cent ...

single "

Back Where You Belong The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column run ...

", the latter of which was shot in the style of a ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'' spoof. His most notable videos were for

's single "

", which featured

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of '' Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...

lip-syncing to the song with an unimpressed Simon sitting next to him, as well as the video for

's version of the song " Got My Mind Set on You", in which Harrison is seen sitting in an armchair in a

study Study or studies may refer to: General * Education ** Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Observational study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study (art), a drawing or series of ...

where inanimate objects come to life and move along to the rhythm of the song.

Personal life

Weis was married to Kathryn Ireland, a star of the Bravo

reality-television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series '' Million Dollar Decorators''. Together, the two "conceptualized"

music videos A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for Toto's " Without Your Love,"

' " Walk Like an Egyptian",

's "

" and others. They have since divorced.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weis, Gary American film directors American television directors American music video directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people)