Brian Flemming

Brian Flemming is an American filmmaker, playwright, and activist, best known in musical theater circles for co-writing the book (libretto) of Bat Boy: The Musical. Born in Los Angeles in 1966 and raised in the San Fernando Valley, he studied English at the University of California, Irvine, and early on worked as a script reader before branching into filmmaking. His creative path has combined independent film, theatrical writing, and advocacy on issues of free culture and religion.

Flemming’s first feature film credit is Hang Your Dog in the Wind (1997), a black-and-white, low-budget project that was shot in Super 16 and blown up to 35 mm. In order to promote his independent work, he co-founded a counter-festival called “Slumdance,” a play on the name of the Slamdance festival, in Park City, Utah. This effort brought him to the attention of independent film producer John Pierson, who offered him opportunities in independent film circles and television.

His most widely recognized theatrical work is Bat Boy: The Musical, for which he shared book credits with Keythe Farley (with Laurence O’Keefe supplying music and lyrics). The show premiered at the Actors’ Gang Theatre in Los Angeles on Halloween 1997, and later moved off-Broadway in 2001. Bat Boy earned multiple awards and nominations, including the Lucille Lortel Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, and Drama Desk nominations. Its blend of horror, camp, dark comedy, and social commentary won it a cult following.

Beyond theater, Flemming has pursued provocative and experimental film projects. His 2002 mockumentary Nothing So Strange envisions a fictional assassination of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and he self-distributed it while releasing all the raw footage under open-source terms. In 2005, he directed The God Who Wasn’t There, a documentary that challenges the historical foundations of Christianity, garnering debate and attention. He has also been a vocal advocate for the copyleft movement in film and for broader freedom of expression in culture.

Throughout his career, Brian Flemming has embraced the role of outsider artist and contrarian thinker. His work often weaves together satire, existential inquiry, social critique, and genre play. Whether on stage or screen, he has pushed boundaries in narrative form and in how creators can control—share, remix, subvert—their own art. Today, he continues to be recognized for the audacity of Bat Boy and for his contributions to alternative film and discourse.