Porno Passion
This month author, former Chicagoan and Second City alum Eric Spitznagel sees his "Fast Forward: Confessions of a Porn Screenwriter" published, a history of his career in the pornography business in Los Angeles. "It was mostly what I expected--lots of clichés, sleazy porn producers, actresses with low self-esteem," Spitznagel says. "But there was a small minority of people who considered themselves artists who thought, 'I'm going to make the film that makes people stop and pay attention and wait around to see how the story ends.'" The book chronicles Spitznagel's humorous collision with the industry--he started writing sex scripts after a friend mentioned that it's a good way to make a quick buck while working on more serious writings. Now Spitznagel lives in San Francisco, is an editor at The Believer and teaches an online course for The Second City. Although he's currently helping actor Ron Jeremy write his forthcoming autobiography, Spitznagel says that after writing six pornos and a book on the subject, he's ready for a new topic. "After this," Spitznagel says, "I want my next book to be about puppies."

More Spittin'
Chicago-based filmmaker-slash-entrepreneur Rich Seng is set to debut his second movie about dueling rappers, "Rhyme Spitters 2," May 29 at Double Door. The film chronicles a Chicago MC-battle tournament from start to finish, as more than 160 registrants are whittled down to one: the last freestyler standing, who pockets a $2,000 cash prize. "The film is kind of like a blending of [the movie] `8 Mile' and the TV show `American Idol,'" says Seng. The film comments on the genre by including scenes where Seng sits down with the rappers and probes them about the Chicago hip-hop scene. "I got into this [because] I just happened to come across some MCs freestyling, and it was just so poetic. They were being spontaneous, but they were having a conversation. The way their brains were multitasking--rhyming but being relevant--was fascinating to me." Companion records to the films feature some of the top finalists, and the post-premiere party for "Rhyme Spitters 2" includes a performance by Small Change, a band fronted by the two previous Rhyme Spitters winners. "I don't think America has come to appreciate this as an art form yet," Seng says of freestyle rapping. With his movies, Seng hopes to "get it respected as an art form, just like painting or poetry."

(2006-05-16)

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