In 1999, he directed an episode of the television series Lexx, after a six-year absence from the entertainment industry.

His grandmother bought him packs of Creature Feature bubblegum cards while he was in kindergarten and for his first Holy communion he received a Super 8 camera.

Color Trip was created after his camera broke and the developers gave him back black, blank film.

It was shown on TV as part of a documentary about punk rock; the original title was The Most Beautiful Destruction.

In 2012, speaking at the Leeds International Film Festival, Buttgereit said that he was happy working in stage and television production and cited internet piracy as a problem for low-budget filmmakers.