Dreamlanders

Dreamlanders refers to the cast and crew of regulars whom John Waters has used in his films. The term comes from the name of Waters' production company, Dreamland Productions.

Many of the original Dreamlanders were friends of Waters from his native Baltimore, Maryland. They included the "bad suburban kids" he knew from Towson and Lutherville: Bob Skidmore, Mark Isherwood, and Mary Vivian Pearce. This crowd was drawn to downtown Baltimore by the gay scene, and because that's where Divine lived. Divine introduced Waters to David Lochary.

The original Dreamlanders also included denizens of the Fells Point neighborhood where Waters' art director, Vincent Peranio, a recent graduate of Maryland Institute College of Art, had rented an industrial space that once housed a commercial bakery with seven other Maryland Institute graduates, to use as cheap studio and living space. They called it the Hollywood Bakery. In Fells Point, the Dreamlanders were regular customers at Pete's Hotel, Bertha's, and Jimmy's. In addition to Peranio, the Fells Point Dreamlanders included Mink Stole, George Figgs, Bob Adams, Sue Lowe, Paul Swift, Chris Mason, and Peter Koper.