Event

What We Do Is Secret

Phoenix Film Festival - What We Do Is Secret

Shane West and Bijou Phillips star in WHAT WE DO IS SECRET, a biopic that chronicles the tumultuous life of Darby Crash and the birth of punk rock in the United States. Los Angeles. 1977. Story begins with Paul Beahm meeting George Ruthenberg, disenfranchised outcasts living on the fringes of a West Los Angeles High School. A band is formed and the seeds of The Germs a planted.They play a gig, which turns out to be more of a food fight since none of them actually know how to play their instruments and, virtually overnight, the group earns a reputation as a force of chaos. Paul, inspired by poet Rimbaud's notion of "reinventing" oneself, adopted the name Darby Crash. George became Pat Smear, and bassist Terry Ryan becomes Lorna Doom. They called themselves The Germs, because, according to Darby "everything starts with a germ," and, as we learn, because the Germs would eventually start everything. The Germs' shows routinely provoked riots until, eventually, they were banned from every club in the city. Documentarian PENELOPE SPHEERIS filmed the band for 'The Decline of Western Civilization,' creating a club on a soundstage for them to play in. Darby had a five-year plan to become a legendary hero, culminating in suicide. Darby tragically and ironically fulfilled his mission on the same day John Lennon was assassinated, eclipsing much of the notoriety of the event.