Weis worked as a cameraman for the 1970
Rolling Stones tour documentary
Gimme Shelter that culminated with footage of the infamous
Altamont Free Concert. Weis told the
Los Angeles Times that it was "the most frightening workday I've ever had," although he had left for the day by the time The Rolling Stones took the stage. He told the
San Francisco Examiner that he was not a particular fan of the musician prior to the creation of
Jimi Hendrix, but gained an appreciation for the musician through his work on the film. Weis started as an assistant director then took over the position of primary director of the show's film shorts after
Albert Brooks' departure from the show in 1976.
NBC subsequently commissioned Weis to direct some full-length films to be aired during
SNLs timeslot when the show was on summer
hiatus. The first of such films was
All You Need Is Cash (1978), a
Beatlemania mockumentary, which Weis produced and co-directed with
Eric Idle, who also starred in the film. Next came
Diary of a Young Comic (1979), a
satirical take on
Hollywood starring comedian
Richard Lewis. The script was written by Richard Lewis and Bennett Tramer, based on a story originally conceived by Weis. Weis also directed
Steve Martin's comedy special
A Wild and Crazy Guy that aired on NBC in 1978. Later that summer, Weis filmed the documentary ''
80 Blocks from Tiffany's'', which documented the lives of
gang members in the
South Bronx, a neighborhood that was suffering from a high level of crime and
urban decay at the time. It marked Weis's first direction of a
feature film. and
Action Family, a
Cinemax TV spoof starring
Chris Elliott. Weis directed music videos in the 1980s, including videos for
The Bangles singles "
Walk Like an Egyptian" and "
Walking Down Your Street", the
Howard Jones single "
Everlasting Love" and the
38 Special single "
Back Where You Belong", the latter of which was shot in the style of a
Hill Street Blues spoof. His most notable videos were for
Paul Simon's single "
You Can Call Me Al", which featured
Chevy Chase lip-syncing to the song with an unimpressed Simon sitting next to him, as well as the video for
George Harrison's version of the song "
Got My Mind Set on You", in which Harrison is seen sitting in an armchair in a
study where inanimate objects come to life and move along to the rhythm of the song. ==Personal life==