In the beginning someone said,

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"Let there be sparkle, and there was sparkle."

Todd Haynes directed the features Poison and Safe before Velvet Goldmine. He was born in 1961 in California. He graduated from Brown University and majored in semiotics.

Velvet Goldmine originated as an idea from Todd's editor, and then boyfriend, James Lyons. They decided to collaborate on a script that would use the glam rock scene as one story in a three part film exploring the rituals of masculinity in society, which sounds much in the the vein of his previous film Poison. They never found the time to write it together and instead it evolved into a film about glam rock. James Lyons is credited as the co-writer of the story but the screenplay was written by Todd Haynes. Lyons is shown here in a still from Poison in which he starred as well as edited.

Christine Vachon and her company, Killer Films, produced Velvet Goldmine. She and Todd met at Brown University. Her book about the Independent film scene, Shooting to Kill has a chapter on the making of Velvet Goldmine and additional stories about the film from the producer's point of view. They lost a million dollars from their budget right before the shoot started and without her the film would not have gotten made.