Since 1985, writer/director Jon Moritsugu has created a miasma of protopunk cinematic deconstructions of popular genres and formats with scabrous and pointedly garish results. The New York Times describes them as “funny, anarchic, provocative and exhilarating”. In 1989, he directed Amy Davis (his future ex-wife and ex-creative partner) in his first feature, MY DEGENERATION, which screened at Sundance and was hailed by Rolling Stone as “One of the top 25 greatest punk rock movies of all time.” (#16) A string of fearless and visionary features has been birthed in their union of kunst including MOD FUCK EXPLOSION, TERMINAL USA, FAME WHORE, SCUMROCK, and PIG DEATH MACHINE. These films have scorched eyeballs worldwide from MoMA to Cannes to the Guggenheim to Berlin to the Whitney. In 2012 they received a Grammy Nomination in the “Long Form” category for a music video they co-created for the band TV ON THE RADIO. Though they are no longer married, they have completed their newest feature, NUMBSKULL REVOLUTION, which was shot in Marfa and Santa Fe, NM. Starring Davis as an ultra-brilliant, ultra-uptight conceptual artist AND her sleazy, out of control twin sister, the picture lambasts the high art scene as well as Freudian psychoanalysis (super-ego vs. id hijinks) with a twisted and hilarious elan. Acting opposite her as a competitor in high art is James Duval, who played “Frank the Bunny” in DONNIE DARKO.
2012 GRAMMY NOMINATION (Long Form Video) “NO FUTURE SHOCK” by TV ON THE RADIO
2003 NEW YORK UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL “Best Feature” SCUMROCK
2002 CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL “Best Feature” SCUMROCK
1999 OSCAR CONTENDER FAME WHORE
1997 NEW YORK UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL “Best Feature” + “Festival Choice” FAME WHORE
1997 HONOLULU UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL “Best Feature” FAME WHORE
1997 AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL “Screenplay Semi-Finalist” FAME WHORE
1995 NEW YORK UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL “Best Feature” MOD FUCK EXPLOSION
1990 BIG MUDDY FILM FESTIVAL “Popular Choice” MY DEGENERATION
1990 THE VILLAGE VOICE “Top 50 Movies of the 1980’s” DER ELVIS
1987 BROWN UNIVERSITY “Albin Polasek Award”
Moritsugu graduated from the fabled Brown University Semiotics Department and has received awards from The Rockefeller Foundation, Creative Capital Foundation, and Tribeca Film Institute. In 2015, James Schamus (former CEO of FOCUS FEATURES) stated to The New York Times, “Jon is a true cinema original. I’d rather be spit on by Jon than kissed by 95% of the directors out there.”
2013 CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL “Lifetime Achievement Award” PIG DEATH MACHINE2012 GRAMMY NOMINATION (Long Form Video) “NO FUTURE SHOCK” by TV ON THE RADIO
2003 NEW YORK UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL “Best Feature” SCUMROCK
2002 CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL “Best Feature” SCUMROCK
1999 OSCAR CONTENDER FAME WHORE
1997 NEW YORK UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL “Best Feature” + “Festival Choice” FAME WHORE
1997 HONOLULU UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL “Best Feature” FAME WHORE
1997 AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL “Screenplay Semi-Finalist” FAME WHORE
1995 NEW YORK UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL “Best Feature” MOD FUCK EXPLOSION
1990 BIG MUDDY FILM FESTIVAL “Popular Choice” MY DEGENERATION
1990 THE VILLAGE VOICE “Top 50 Movies of the 1980’s” DER ELVIS
1987 BROWN UNIVERSITY “Albin Polasek Award”
2017 SITE SANTA FE Spread 6.0 Finalist
2008 TRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE audience development grant
2005 CREATIVE CAPITAL FOUNDATION distribution grant SCUMROCK
2001 CREATIVE CAPITAL FOUNDATION post-production grant SCUMROCK
2001 CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL post-production grant SCUMROCK
1998 DOCKERS/LEVI STRAUSS short film commission CRACK
1996 ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION AWARD FAME WHORE
1993 INDEPENDENT TELEVISION SERVICE production grant TERMINAL, USA
1992 NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION production grant MOD FUCK EXPLOSION
2008 TRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE audience development grant
2005 CREATIVE CAPITAL FOUNDATION distribution grant SCUMROCK
2001 CREATIVE CAPITAL FOUNDATION post-production grant SCUMROCK
2001 CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL post-production grant SCUMROCK
1998 DOCKERS/LEVI STRAUSS short film commission CRACK
1996 ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION AWARD FAME WHORE
1993 INDEPENDENT TELEVISION SERVICE production grant TERMINAL, USA
1992 NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION production grant MOD FUCK EXPLOSION
1987 BA in SEMIOTICS THEORY and CINEMA PRODUCTION, BROWN UNIVERSITY