s00d0en1m

I was the Field Producer on the film, and the weirdest thing that I saw while filming, was a hitchhiking fashion model. She's been hitchhiking and modeling since she was 16, and, she just happened to be flying a sign for LA on the onramp by the truckstop. We were just getting back from the In and Out Burger. As a hitchhiker, I saw what she was doing, and I blocked her while we started chatting with her. She was a legit fashion model, traveling to a shoot in LA. We ended up hanging out with her that evening, while her cousin and fiance came and picked her up. It was truly surreal.

I'm the field producer from the film. I traveled with Alex. My job was to make contact with the characters, get them to sign releases, and conduct the interviews. My background is that I hitchhiked around the country for 2 years before working on this film. My role was mainly to meet people and sell them on the idea of sharing the most personal aspects of their lives with us on camera.

I was the field producer on the film. I would say that decriminalization can take place abreast of enforcement and rehabilitation. I don't know that society gains anything by locking up prostitutes. More often than not, I think that there are deeper issues that prostitution is a symptom of. It's not a lifestyle, by and large, that women choose when they have good choices.

So, to answer your question - decriminalization for me is a good thing, and legalization could perhaps result, but I think society has some deep issues to deal with vis-a-vis sexual abuse, patriarchy, etc that legalization of prostitution won't necessarily bring us any closer to solving.

I'm going to offer a favorite person from the trip, to compliment Alex's answer (and I think he'll agree at least that this fellow was pleasant). His name was Flea and he was a Lumper. A Lumper is someone who travels with a trucker who works for a moving company. The Lumper basically gets out of the truck when the trucker pulls up to the house (often, a mansion), and he moves the stuff in, and out of the house. Lumpers are usually ex cons who can't get a truck of their own, and they seem to work under the table a lot.

Flea was struggling with his own addiction to cocaine in a very real, and compelling way. We spent a lot of time talking with him, and I think that in some way, our presence helped him. I think that this was particularly nice in the context of being mostly observers of what was going on. Sometimes it was hard to sit back and watch things happen.

The actual movie hasn't been completed yet. We are currently running an Indiegogo campaign to finish funding, and consequently editing and distributing the film. You can find out more information about that here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lot-lizard-the-movie/x/876514