For Todd Haynes, VELVET GOLDMINE was clearly a labor of love. He took what he knew of Glam Rock music, combined it with the basic structure of Orson Welles CITIZEN KANE, and wove a wonderful film that recreated a world Haynes obviously loves. Luckily, Haynes received some recognition for his work; there is a list of his awards on the Internet Movie Database Originally, Haynes tried to get David Bowie to score the film, since it is clearly a salute to Davy Jones. However, Bowie apparently felt he was too close to the subject matter--or something along those lines--and so Haynes opted to have pseudo-Bowie tunes whipped up by and performed by Tom York of Radiohead.

However, Haynes was not able to accomplish Velvet Goldmine alone. Obviously, the performers were incredible contributors to the final product, as well as the aforementioned musical talent, the cinematography, costume design, and art direction were essential. Cinematography, much like most of the film industry, is incredibly male-dominated. However, Velvet Goldmine was shot by AFI graduate Maryse Alberti who also shot Todd Solondz Happiness. To the right is a picture of Maryse with Todd. The cinematography of Velvet Goldmine earned the picture the cover of American Cinematographer as well as an Independent Spirit Award. Costume Designer Sandy Powell won the Academy Award this year for Shakespeare in Love, but she was also nominated for Velvet Goldmine, the lone nomination it received. However, Powell won the BAFTA award for Goldmine and not Shakespeare... odd, isn't it? The art direction was done by Andrew Munro, a relative new-comer to the field.