In 1982, after graduating from NYU's Graduate Film School, I moved to Los Angeles to make movies. At the time, there was a strong cultural and creative connection between New York and Los Angeles. I went from the graffiti scene of Patti Astor's FUN Gallery and dating "King of the Line" Zephyr to the emerging nightclub scene in Los Angeles, where I met Jon Sidel, Mike Ross, Salomon Emquies, Desmond Nakano, Lane Dike, Matt Dike, and many others.

Every night meant a different club—from Rhythm Lounge and Dirt Box to Glam Slam and Power Tools. I even started a Tuesday night club, the only night without an established scene. Called Sharkey's, it was held at Highland Grounds with Jon Seay. We named it after Jon's obsession with sharks. Inflatable sharks hung from the ceiling, and he drove a convertible painted to look like one that he called "The Shark." The car later appeared in my short film Get Tux'd as the loan sharks' vehicle, driven by Henry G, Whipper Whip, and Ice-T, who made his film debut.

A family friend owned Highland Grounds and gave us the venue. We took the door, they kept the bar, and all our friends came. Since we let most of them in for free, it was never much of a business—but it was a lot of fun. Members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers even played in our house band.

Saturday nights belonged to Power Tools, which began in a building on Washington Boulevard that actually sold power tools—hence the name. As the crowd grew, Jon Sidel and Matt Dike moved the party to the rundown Park Plaza Hotel, where it became one of the defining clubs of the era.

While I was pitching movie ideas around Hollywood, I needed a job, so Jon hired me to project kitschy 16mm films borrowed from the downtown library onto an exterior wall at Power Tools. I kept three projectors running from the upstairs balcony, then raced downstairs to go-go dance on the speakers until the club hired professional dancers in cute costumes.

In 1986, I made my first Hollywood feature, Modern Girls, inspired by the nightlife I was living. Starring Daphne Zuniga, Virginia Madsen, and Cynthia Gibb, it remains the only Hollywood movie made by someone who was actually part of the scene it portrays. Jon Sidel and many of the club regulars received special thanks in the credits, and we cast real-life club doorgirl Cindy Ojeda in the film.

In 2026, journalist Peter Relic chronicled the scene in Bust a Move: Matt Dike, Delicious Vinyl, and the Hip-Hop Hits That First Conquered Pop. He wrote, "Cartoons and cult flicks flashed across the walls: Luis Buñuel meets The Flintstones." That projectionist was me—at least for a few months, until I landed my movie deal.

Fab 5 Freddy also recalled those early days in Peter's book: "It was my first time in L.A. and the only person I really knew was a hip filmmaker friend, Anita Rosenberg. She was like, 'There's these guys out here you'd really get along with.' She introduced me to Matt Dike at a party in West Hollywood, and Matt was so excited to meet me.... With the exception of Wild Style, there wasn't anything I'd have imagined anyone outside of New York knowing about."