Not Bad For A Girl

Not Bad for a Girl is a rockumentary on women musicians of the 90s from the indie rock music genre grunge and riot grrrl and celebrates madness, creativity, and gender play. Tina Silvey was the executive producer. Silvey Co. producing MTV music videos for most of the well known indie grunge/indie bands including: Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Stone Temple Pilots, The Smashing Pumpkins, Liquid Jesus, Concrete Blonde, and The Replacements. Not Bad for a Girl was written, directed, produced and shot by rock phenomenologist feminist Lisa Rose Apramian, edited, shot and co-produced by Kyle C. Kyle, drummer for Venus and the Razorblades, the Motels, Wafflebutt, and the Wild Stares and co-produced by Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain. It has never been officially released to home video due to music licensing issues but it did find its way to the underground "bootleg" market in 1995 on VHS. A DVD, with a booklet, is available for purchase at the official website and a release date for the sequel book is in the works. Awarded Best Documentary at the New York Underground Film Festival 1996, Nominated: Best Director, 19th Atlanta Film and Video Festival 1995.

The bands featured in the film were Hole, L7, Lunachicks, Babes in Toyland, Joan Jett, Calamity Jane, Bulimia Banquet, The Mudwimin, Silverfish, 7 Year Bitch, Bratmobile, Bikini Kill. Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain provided funding for the film.

Cara-Beth Burnside is also featured on the beginning and end titles. At that time she was the best female ramp skate boarder and snow boarder in the world.

The documentary features in-depth interviews with every band member, including Donita Sparks and Jennifer Finch from L7, Courtney Love from Hole, Kat Bjelland from Babes in Toyland, and Becky Wreck from the Lunachicks along with clips from live performances from 1989-1994. It also features female rock communities including riot grrrl and the first annual Riot Grrl Convention, Rock 'n' Roll High School of Melbourne Australia, and the Feminist Majority Foundation sponsored "Rock for Choice" benefits with L7/ Joan Jett. According to press releases, the film explores themes such as the musicians' relationship to creativity and music, the negotiation of gender identity and gender performance (feminist term coined by Judith Butler) through rock, subversion of stereotypes and gendered expectations through stage play performances and stylization of the body, and the processes of healing and reclaiming through musical expressions.

The sequel Not Bad for a Girl book contains images, anecdotes, reviews, interviews from many more bands unable to fit into the original including Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Strangefruit, 7 Year Bitch, Tribe 8, Dickless, Girl in a Coma and rock musicians in France, Japan, Brazil, Italy and the Middle East.