Over the course of his career, he established a group of actors that he chose to work with on more than one occasion. The most frequently used of these was Leary, whom he directed as a lead or star in No Cure for Cancer, The Ref, and Monument Ave. Leary produced the 2001 crime drama film Blow, which starred Johnny Depp as George Jung and was directed by Demme.
The 2002 film Punch-Drunk Love, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, is dedicated to Demme.
Rock musician Greg Dulli wrote The Twilight Singers' 2003 album Blackberry Belle in Demme's memory.
Demme's media career may have begun with a radio show at WSUC-FM (SUNY-Cortland), a mix of comedy and talk radio with the usual sidekick, as well as some music and was widely listened to on and off campus. His career had modest beginnings—starting as a production assistant at MTV, he later became a Producer in the On-Air Promotions Department and created the cable network's seminal hip-hop show Yo! MTV Raps (with Peter Dougherty), and directed other projects for them, including the infamous black-and-white rants starring then-unknown chain-smoking Comedian Denis Leary.
