Hype! (1996) is a documentary directed by Doug Pray about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid-1990s United States. It incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the development of the grunge scene from its early beginning in neighborhood basements to its emergence as an explosive pop culture phenomenon. Hype! attempts to dispel some of the myths of the genre promulgated by media hype by depicting the grunge subculture from the point of view of people who were active in the scene. The film generally portrays this mythos in a satirical way while acknowledging that it was media hype that helped propel some of these obscure bands to fame.
Release
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1996. It opened in two theaters (one in New York and one in Seattle) on November 8.[1]
Along with the DVD that comes with Nirvana's With the Lights Out, it is one of the few films to contain video footage of Nirvana's first performance of their breakthrough hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
In the film, Seattle producer/engineer Jack Endino is humorously referred to as "the godfather of grunge."[4]
