Direct a film with Bill Lee in it? Forget about it. Questions for Bill? Get out the shredder. Bill Lee has spent his entire waking life shunning direction while speaking in riffs, which tends to demonstrate his legendary free spirit rather than explain it. Since the “Spaceman” moves at quantum speed even when he appears to be standing still, the best thing you can do is lace up your cleats, oil your glove, and steady yourself for the array of slicked up, lollipop screwballs he’s capable of delivering from any angle at any time. One thing you can be sure of- the riffs will be coming from deep left field. Another thing- it helps to have the constitution of a rhinoceros: Bill likes to be the first guy up in the morning, early to the ballpark (hopefully for a double header), and the last guy swept out of the bar at night. If you do accidentally sleep in, he’s perfectly happy to meet you down the road. But why would you do that? Playing a bit part in “Duck Soup” while Bill plays all four Marx brothers at once is the vitamin megadose all directors wish for.

At some point in the future another director may be interested in shooting down Bill’s balloons and revising the legend. But you’ll find none of that here. Bill Lee has pursued a life unburdened by bullshit and leavened with intelligence, competence, and wit for so long, in such a double fisted manner, that he has become two things simultaneously: a model for the Free Life, and a danger to the State. Which side are you on boys? Which side are you on? Stay tuned…

Recent Films

• Up Thornton Creek
• Blue Moon People
• Nuts & Bolts
• Windows
• Hype! (co-producer)

Awards

• Cine Golden Eagle
• SIFF Documentary Competition
• Seattle Video Shorts Festival
• Sundance Film Festival People’s Choice

Peter J. Vogt began making films and videos in the mid 1980’s. His early work snapped up awards from the Seattle Video Shorts Festival and Northwest Cable Programmers competitions, showed at Bumbershoot: Seattle Music Festival and the Center on Contemporary Art in Seattle, and was broadcast locally and regionally on PBS. His first theatrical release Windows won a Cine Golden Eagle, and showed at film festivals around the world.

In the ‘90’s Peter co-produced the film Hype! which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 1996, won the Seattle Film Festival’s feature documentary competition, and achieved worldwide theatrical release.

In 1999 Peter founded Outsider Films to document interesting, marginally represented voices in the Seattle community. Nuts & Bolts, the first in the Outsider Series, won a special jury prize at the 2000 Seattle Film Festival, was short listed for AFI’s digital film award, and was broadcast regionally on PBS. Other “Outsider” films include Blue Moon People, which had two runs on PBS, and OCTOBER, which was an official selection of the New York Film Festival in 2003. His latest work, Up Thornton Creek represented a step into the activist film world, which the director has found eminently satisfying.