It’s been crazy since July when we began shooting the novel’s trailer, but the footage is DONE and editing is well underway. The HD & 35mm footage are stunning, thanks to the cast & crew & lab.

But more importantly, the novel’s interior layout has begun, and the cover art is complete—I can’t wait to hold the first copy in my hands! Early reader quotes have also been pouring in. The latest, from Marc Wilmore, Writer & Producer of The Simpsons: “A well-written, hilarious adventure I’d recommend to anyone.” Holy shit, I’ll take it!

I just finished watching Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis, an incredible documentary from 2006 by Mary Jordan on performance art forefather, Jack Smith. I’m an idiot for not having watched this sooner. If you’re a fan of Jack Smith—or of Warhol, Fellini, John Waters, Jonas Mekas, or if you’re an artist or an art patron or a wacky postmodernist—trust me, it’ll blow your mind, witnessing Smith’s influence on pretty much all things art. No doubt, he was a god. I dont know if this is official, or how long it’ll stay up, but Destruction of Atlantis is presently on YouTube here.

Our small-but-mighty crew has begun shooting the Two Performance Artists video trailer! The first shots were in San Francisco—we spent the day dodging Tenderloin freaks at the corner of Turk and Taylor, and trying not to fall from a rooftop where the sun’s heat was intense in spite of freezing wind and swirling white clouds that were so low we could almost touch them.

Days 2 & 3 were in Hollywood, where we shot bits of the novel’s skating scene, and later, a narrow alley exterior that turned out to be right beside the studios of surrealist photographer & artist David LaChapelle.

For my fellow cinephiles, shooting was on a Nikon D7000 with its standard 18-105mm telephoto lens, a Nikor 35mm 1.8 prime, a Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 wide angle, and a Sony HDR-XR200 for backup. For an upcoming apartment interior, I’ll be using a wind-up 35mm Bell & Howell Eyemo. Loading it is a bitch (requires doing it blindly with safety scissors in a change bag), but the look is gonna be sick!

I don’t want to give too much away, so for now, here are just a couple of footage samples. Release is scheduled for October—about 6 months before the book’s publication date.  Can. Not. Wait.

L.A.’s NIHILIST FILM FESTIVAL is this Friday 12/7 at 8PM. If you’re a fan of surreal, absurdist, nihilist, short, wacky, crazed, Spanish, underground, cut-and-paste, low-brow, monobrow, waxed brow, conceptual, or WTF film, don’t miss it! Last year featured silverware f*cking. Hello!?? Admission is only 99 CENTS (in honor of the cliff). Echo Park Film Center, 1200 North Alvarado. Curated by le grand nihilistmeister hims-elf, Elisha Shapiro.