Penelope Spheeris quotes:

Those movies, Decline I and II and Suburbia, are dearly loved, but they never made any money. I didn't even have the rights for some of them.

I actually picked up copies of Decline I and II at a flea market once. I walked out without paying.

My mother was a barmaid and I was raised in a trailer park. I'm used to that language. I put it on the screen so that people could interpret it as they wish.

Arnold and Jamie Lee must have worked over the years with directors that did 50 takes, because I'd get like three takes or so and say, Ok, that's it, we're done.

The first Decline I did was out of sheer love and appreciation for the music. In 1977, it was more about bands, because punk was a new form of music. It was groundbreaking and political.

Before you approach a production entity or even a potential producer, you should write up a treatment and register your show with the Writers Guild of America.

In other countries, it's a common thing to have outcast children running around the streets in packs, and I don't think we're so far away from it here.

It is fun to try figure out the things that really are real and the things that aren't.

Big studio comedies are such a headache.

For the most part, studio movies have huge budgets. They don't do anything under 30 to 40 million. When you have that much money at stake, you have so many people breathing down your neck.

I live on this nice three acres in Hollywood.

Decline III, I funded myself, from the studio money. That, and I sold a lot of drugs. Kidding. Don't print that.

Different parents have different standards for their children.

I got IRS records to finance what I wanted to do.

I can't believe I actually was in my own movie.

Rabid fans were literally jumping into the camera.

Nobody wanted to touch Decline III when they found out what it was about.

Now, it's almost impossible to go out and do a film about a new form of music.

When men have money and power they get turned on, sexually. They get horny as hell. Can't imagine why, though.

This generation has given up on growth. They're just hoping for survival.

It's really hard to imagine there ever being the kind of impact there was when punk rock happened in the late 70's. I wish there would be one big change like that again, but I don't know if that'll ever happen.

I love punk rock, but I also love metal.

If you are looking for a producer, try to contact established producers. Don't let the fear of theft paralyze you, or you will never get anywhere with it.

I really feel kind of guilty spending 80 million dollars. People are starving in the world.

I like to think about society as being a flock of birds: There seems to be a common consciousness in different time periods, and the new common consciousness reacts to the old standards.

I was always into music. I think everyone is when they're a teenager, as a way to drown out the world.

Many people have been able to get pitch meetings by just cold calling, especially the smaller networks and especially with the reality shows.

What I found interesting is that it's human nature to have a family.