(Photo of Gorman Bechard, by Gorman Bechard. Released under CC BY-SA 4.0 license. May be used for all publicity and reference purposes. )
Since his debut feature film Disconnected (1984), Gorman Bechard has directed and written over 20 feature films including rock documentaries on The Replacements, Grant Hart, Archers of Loaf, Lydia Loveless, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, and Wilco’s Jay Bennett. He has also directed the animal-rights films A Dog Named Gucci (which won the prestigious and rarely awarded ASPCA Media Excellence Award in 2015), Seniors, a Dogumentary, and most recently Old Friends, a Dogumentary. His film, Pizza A Love Story, tells the story of the Italian migration to New Haven, Connecticut that lead to the 3 most famous pizza restaurants in the world.
Bechard began his film career making horror films like the cult horror-comedy classic Psychos In Love and the beloved Disconnected. He also directed the award-winning dramas You Are Alone and Broken Side of Time. All of his films are available on DVD and on various streaming platforms.
He has recently completed the first episode of a planned pizza series, Slide of America: Charred in the Florida Sun, which was released on DVD and streaming platforms in December 2024.
Bechard has written 5 novels including the religious satire, The Second Greatest Story Ever Told (Citadel Press, 1991), the baseball comedy Balls (Penguin, 1995), and the thrillers Good Neighbors, Ninth Square, and Unwound. In April 2025, he launch a Substack to publish much of his unavailable work from the past 4 decades.
From 2014 to 2023 he was the executive director/programmer of NHdocs: the New Haven Documentary Film Festival.
In October 2025, an exhibit based on Pizza A Love Story and called Pronounced Ah-Beetz opened at the New Haven Museum. It was co-curated by Bechard.
He is currently in production on 3 feature documentaries: Best Video, the movie, FACTORY, and Powder Ridge: sex, drugs, no rock & roll.
He lives in New Haven, CT with his wife Kristine and their two dogs, Dylan and Wilco (the dog).
Full bio here.
Bookstore here.
Substack here.
