[1] He states that he often "pay(s) less attention to narrative flow and storyline and put(s) more emphasis on sight, sound and spectacle" to create a movie that is "like a live punk/hardcore show.

Redolent of early Jim Jarmusch, it follows several terminally bored students at a pretentious art school, perfectly nailing the pervasive jadedness of wannabe artists.

Stated label head Gerard Cosloy, "Jon Moritsugu set the Hippy Porn contract on fire and tore the CD negatives apart with his teeth (we didn't have the guts to tell him the test pressings arrived that day).

Picked up for European distribution, the movie was a hit in the Netherlands, Switzerland and France, playing non-stop in Paris for over one year at the Action Christine Cinema.

This low-budget riff on the teen film loosely revolved around a lonely girl's search for a leather jacket while a turf war between mods and bikers looms.

[16] In addition to complications with insurance, payroll, salaries and a large unionized cast and crew, the production itself was fraught with problems including a major outbreak of scabies on the set.

[10] After a European promotional tour and American appearances to support Terminal USA, Moritsugu resumed post-production work on Mod Fuck Explosion.

"A defiantly rough-hewn return to barely-aboveground roots despite some overlaps with Terminal USA," it was completed in 1994 and won "Best Feature" Award at the New York Underground Film Festival.

[17] It played the film fest circuit and received tremendous attention, with Moritsugu saying, "Mod Fuck blew-up in Germany, Scandinavia, and the Benelux countries—they really responded to the angst, death, and Amy as a hot blonde walking on raw meat.

Jon's wife Amy Davis plays a performance art girl who's caught in a rumble between a small group of mods and a Japanese motorcycle gang.

"[10] Starring Amy Davis (who also was co-writer and director of photography), James Duval ("Frank the Bunny" from Donnie Darko), and Kyp Malone (who would later join the band TV on the Radio), the movie was a deadpan comedy capturing the lives of fringe-art rebels dealing with the perils of turning 30 with little to show for their avant-gardness.

[26] After receiving a post-production grant from Creative Capital,[27] the movie's footage was decimated and completely degenerated, Moritsugu's intent being to drag it into the gutter and destroy any sheen or aura of a "pristine digital look".

[28] It was selected by The Village Voice Film Critics Poll as "Best of 2003" and then opened theatrically in the US and Canada in 2004, receiving rave reviews from the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly and E!.

[26] After Scumrock, Moritsugu took a break from "cinema", focusing on musical and other creative outlets[10] and moving with Davis to Honolulu, Seattle, and finally Santa Fe.

[10] In spring 2011 and in the middle of Pig Death Machine post-production, Moritsugu directed with Davis a music video for the song "No Future Shock" by Brooklyn rock band TV on the Radio.

[30] In 2013 Pig Death Machine premiered at the Chicago Underground Film Festival, where Moritsugu and Davis won the "Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award."

[31] It then opened theatrically across America and also played with the Moritsugu retrospective of 7 features and 9 shorts in select cities including Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

While watching his films, you may feel tired, weak, or nauseous, but you will have had an experience, and a physical one at that – an effect to which many moving images can't lay claim...

Shot in New Mexico, the movie aims to "satirize and deconstruct the high art scene in an eyeball-scorching onslaught of mind-blowing narrative madness and honey-laced pathos".