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I began filmmaking in high school, at the Chicago Academy for the Arts. My first documentary was about a dysfunctional obese middle-aged carpet cleaner named Bill, who lived with his Mom, and his love affair with Anna, a drug-addicted prostitute. I made that when I was 16.
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Yony Leyser
#Mom
#Art
#School
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Slamdance actually is indie and rebellious. Sundance obviously felt threatened.
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Yony Leyser
#Rebellious
#Sundance
#Threatened
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Sundance claimed to be "rebellious" on all of their programs, but they are not. Most of the movies at Sundance were multi-million dollar pictures that were already guaranteed a theatrical release.
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Yony Leyser
#Dollars
#Rebellious
#Program
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All of William S. Burroughs friends pushed it forward and introduced me to one another. I was able to enter into that beat family for a while and document it.
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Yony Leyser
#Able
#Beats
#Burroughs
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After I got kicked out of CalArts, I moved to Lawrence Kansas where my sister lived. I began working on A William S. Burroughs documentary. I had no idea it would turn into such a big film.
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Yony Leyser
#Ideas
#Kansas
#Documentaries
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Authors and artists are still afraid of breaking away as far as [William Burroughs] did... And he did it in the 50s!
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Yony Leyser
#Artist
#Breaking Away
#Burroughs
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[Allen] Ginsberg totally helped that out. He was the best sales person. He was the most pop. They are still shocking and relevant, especially [William] Burroughs.
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Yony Leyser
#Sales Person
#Ginsberg
#Pops
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I picked up On The Road, Howl, and Naked Lunch (in that order) in high school. I was blown away. The writing was amazing and the places it took me was even more far out. It opened up new avenues of thinking for me and so I went down the beaten road.
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Yony Leyser
#Writing
#School
#Thinking
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I'm really happy I was kicked out of CalArts (for a controversial art piece I made).
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Yony Leyser
#Art
#Pieces
#Controversial
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I like documenting people who can break away from the conformist boring world we are stuck in and either live their life in a much more far out way or create art that critiques it well.
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Yony Leyser
#Art
#People
#World
