DIRECTOR OF "NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD"

BACKGROUND: Perhaps best-known as the Oscar-winning director of "The Silence of the Lambs" and many mainstream features ("Something Wild," "Philadelphia," "Married to the Mob"), Demme is also an accomplished documentarian whose work includes "The Agronomist," about Haitian radio journalist Jean Dominique, who was murdered in 2000. "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" is not his first job directing a live-performance flick; the Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" and Spalding Gray's "Swimming to Cambodia" were filmed by Demme.

MEETING NEIL YOUNG: The first time Demme and Young collaborated, Demme was editing "Philadelphia" and cut a scene early in the film to Young's "Southern Man" because he wanted a "giant Neil Young guitar anthem" to appeal to homophobic young males who might not want to see a story humanizing AIDS patients. Young ended up contributing a new original song to the soundtrack, "Philadelphia," that closed the movie.

A NEW THING: Demme said the processes for making "Stop Making Sense" and "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" were almost opposite, even though both films essentially document one night onstage. With "Stop Making Sense," Talking Heads leader David Byrne had already put together the stage show, Demme said, and "I saw the Talking Heads show in L.A. and I just saw a movie waiting to be filmed," with few changes needed. With "Neil Young: Heart of Gold," Demme and Young collaborated from the beginning on what the concert would look like, what order the songs would be played in, even what hat Young would wear. "The genesis was Neil creating images in my head by talking to him on the phone," Demme said.

DAILY INSPIRATION: Demme said he tries to spend time with his family every day before heading to work on a film, something that helps put him in a positive frame of mind. On "Neil Young: Heart of Gold," it was easy: Demme's 15-year-old son worked as part of Young's road crew, his 18-year-old daughter was an assistant to the producer and his 10-year-old daughter took care of Young's dog. -Dan Nailen