Born in New York City. Spent the first years of his life in Dalton, GA. At the age of 9 his family moved to Port Washington, NY. Peter Sr., his father worked in Georgia and commuted every weekend to New York to be with his family. His mother Dorothy spent her time as a housewife raising him. As a child Spirer was totally into all sports; nothing else in his life mattered. He attended the Manorhaven Elementary School where his fourth grade teacher Mrs. Jordan made him stay after school to learn how to read. She became the most influential person in his life because reading became a great love. Spirer moved to Miami, Florida at the age of 12 and went to Gulliver's Academy, a private school. There he played sports and took up playing the guitar. He became obsessed with rock music and formed a rock group The Toyz. The group opened up for a lot of big rock groups in Miami like Joan Jett, Survivor, Motor Head, Zebra and the Ramones. His parents were both film fans; therefore, when he applied to the University of Miami, that became his chosen subject. He was influenced by a professor by the name of Ralph Clemente, whose love and enthusiasm for film making was contagious. Spirer left school in his senior year to go to New York with his band and seek fame and fortune. He played for Virgin records for a while but not with much success. While playing in the band he started working for production companies directing music videos, corporate films, commercials and also working for MTV. While working at MTV, Peter met Steve Cantor who asked him if he would be interested in working with him on a documentary about art censorship. The documentary, called BLOOD TIES: THE LIFE AND WORK OF SALLY MANN (1993), was nominated for best short subject documentary. This launched Peter's documentary career and he followed that with another documentary that he produced and directed, RHYME & REASON (1997), a study in the world of hip-hop. He was hired recently to direct and co-produce TUPAC SHAKUR: THUG ANGEL, a film about the slain rapper Tupac Shakur, by QD3 a successful music producer and son of Quincy Jones who are both executive producers. Spirer has also produced FROM RUSSIA TO HOLLYWOOD: THE 100-YEAR ODYSSEY OF CHEKHOV AND SHDANOFF (1999) - a film about two beloved teachers of the thespian craft and how they influenced some of the greatest performances in film. He was nominated for an Emmy® for Best National Public Service announcement for the NBA spot 'You Can Be Anything'. Spirer had been looking for a project to get a narrative feature career together. He decided to pick a project that was impossible for him not to make and looked for a film that would appeal to his documentary roots. He came up with DUNSMORE (2003), which stars Tali Shire, Barry Corbin, W. Earl Brown, Kardeen Hardison and several local actors. Other recent credits include MODERN WARRIORS (2002, producer & director) and BEEF (2003, producer & director), BEEF 2 (2004, director), BEEF 3 (2005, producer & director), BLACK AND BLUE: LEGENDS OF THE HIP-HOP COP (2006, producer & director), and NOTORIOUS B.I.G. BIGGER THAN LIFE (2007, producer & director). Spirer and his wife have 2 children. They live in Los Angeles in a home once owned by renowned film actor Peter Lorre. When not working, he likes to spend time with his family, even though he admits to being a workaholic. He likes to go camping, skiing, reads a lot of scripts and watches movies. He has another passion, boxing. He goes to the local gym in L.A. and spars with other boxers.  Nominated for Achievement in Documentary Short Subjects 1993: BLOOD TIES: THE LIFE AND WORK OF SALLY MANN - Producer (w. Steven Cantor) 1 nomination