Settling in San Francisco, Moritsugu completed
Hippy Porn in 1991, a 16 mm black-and-white feature which shot for 10 days. Redolent of early
Jim Jarmusch, it follows several terminally bored students at a pretentious art school, perfectly nailing the pervasive jadedness of wannabe artists. Top indie label
Matador Records was to release the movie's soundtrack, but after numerous and lengthy delays, Moritsugu terminated the deal. 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)."
Hippy Porn was released theatrically in America and gained noticeable notoriety. 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. The movie, produced by Henry S. Rosenthal and co-produced by
Andrea Sperling, was shot by
Todd Verow in 16mm. It featured a dream sequence set in a garden of meat, which was filmed in Rosenthal's garage with 800 pounds of raw, rotting beef. After wrapping, and in the middle of post-production in 1993, Moritsugu received word that he had received a grant from ITVS to create a PBS television show. He says: "I completed (the script) in 42 hours... and it got the green light. So right after shooting
Mod Fuck Explosion, I got $360,000 to shoot
Terminal USA. 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. Executive produced by
James Schamus (former CEO of
Focus Features), Moritsugu stated: "I sort of blew it. I was young, full of myself, no one could help me. I basically spit in his face". When
Terminal USA was completed, it caused a firestorm of controversy with the conservative right because it had been funded with taxpayer money. It screened at the Toronto and Rotterdam Film Festivals and was broadcast on television in over 200 cities across America. 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."
Giant Robot said about the movie: "Jon Moritsugu hit some weird epiphany during the making of this film, which was his first mass-watchable work. 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. [...] The performances are weird, intentionally screwed up, and dumb, but that's part of the film's brilliance. If you're a fan of strange flicks, you'll start remembering the lines and using them. [...] Awesome soundtrack by Unrest and Karyo Tengoku". The movie was picked by the readers of
Wired as one of the "Wildest Exploitation Movies," sharing the honor with
Eraserhead,
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,
Night of the Living Dead and
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. Moritsugu's next feature was 1997's
Fame Whore, which reprised sitcom mockery and absurdism in service of three parallel stories critiquing fame and featuring
Amy Davis as a stoner, trust-fund brat. the 16mm movie was a recipient of a
Rockefeller Foundation Award. It received "Best Feature" and "Festival Choice" honors at the New York Underground Film Festival and the
Los Angeles Times said of it, "
Fame Whore is crude, edgy and energetic, and its stars throw themselves into their roles with welcome gusto." The movie opened theatrically throughout the US and Europe, screening at
Lincoln Center in NYC and running for 5 weeks in Los Angeles.
Fame Whore was considered for an
Academy Award in 1999, but it was rejected on a technicality because it had opened in Los Angeles in 16 mm, and at the time, all Academy Award considerations had to be shown in 35 mm. In late 1999 Moritsugu started work on his next feature,
Scumrock, produced once again by
Andrea Sperling. He stated: "The original plan was for
Scumrock to be a $2 million, 35mm picture. I thought it was totally do-able, what with the success of
Fame Whore. This budget proved to be elusive so we cut it down to $50,000. And alas, we ended up shooting
Scumrock for $5,000 using a $150 camcorder." After receiving a post-production grant from
Creative Capital, 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". 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!. After
Scumrock, Moritsugu took a break from "cinema", focusing on musical and other creative outlets and moving with Davis to Honolulu, Seattle, and finally Santa Fe. ==New Mexico==