Sara Jane Slotnick

Johnny Truelove likes to see himself as tough. He's the son of an underworld figure and a drug dealer. Johnny also likes to get tough when things don't go his way. When Jake Mazursky fails to pay up for Johnny, things get worse for the Mazursky family, as Johnny and his 'gang' kidnap Jake's 15 year old brother and hold him hostage.

In Los Angeles, a colorful assortment of bohemians try to make sense of their intersecting lives. The moody Dark Smith, his bisexual girlfriend, her lesbian lover and their shy gay friend plan on attending the wildest party of the year. But they'll only make it if they can survive the drug trips, suicides, trysts, mutilations and alien abductions that occur as one surreal day unfolds.

When her rather explicit copy is rejected, magazine journalist Kate is asked by her editor to come up with an article on loving relationships instead, and to do so by the end of the day. This gets Kate thinking back over her own various experiences, and to wondering if she is in much of a position to write on the subject.

Victor is a cook who works in a greasy roadside restaurant owned by his mother, Dolly. It's just the two of them, a waitress named Delores, and a heavy drinking regular, Leo. But things change when Callie, a beautiful college dropout, shows up as a new waitress and steals Victor's heart. But Victor is too shy to do anything about it, and too self-consciously overweight to dream of winning Callie away.

In Providence's Italian neighborhood, Federal Hill, five young are immersed in drugs, crime and violence. Everything changes when one of the guys in the band know love.

A cul-de-sac in an oppressive suburb becomes a literal dead end for wife and mother Karen Christianson when she is brutally murdered in her own home. In the wake of the event, Karen's teenage daughter Ellie begins to exhibit bizarre behaviors as she slowly acquires her mother's demeanor and mannerisms. Meanwhile, Karen's husband Ben nurtures a less-than-innocent interest in the family's sultry live-in nanny, Lena.

Four friends search for love and happiness while working at a California sandwich shop.

A commitment-averse man frantically hits the dating scene after his girlfriend starts pressuring him to pop the question.

A guy looking to find employment and marry the love of his life, gets in over his head when a fast-talking temp agent lands him a job.

Charlie returns to his old town where he meets his ex-girlfriend again and tries to get her back.

Paris 2052. Julia, 80 years old, had a fulfilled life. On her birthday, she reflects on the decisions and circumstances that could have led her on different paths. From the age of 17 to this day, her life was full of small but critical moments. Each was a turning point with dramatic consequences. What would have happened if she had forgotten her passport, chosen a different line at the store, driven the scooter this one time...? Is her life a succession of coincidences and accidents or a ready-made path?

A man makes a bet in Las Vegas with some men who want to kill him. He bets he can stay alive for 24 hours, then comes to Cleveland to elude them.

The close-knit relationship among a trio of homeless teenagers is changed forever after they kidnap a suicidal septuagenarian for his car and money.

Cozy, a dissatisfied housewife, meets Lee at a bar. A drink turns into a home break-in, and a gunshot sends them on the run together, thinking they've committed murder.

In the midst of the AIDS crisis, a young man from the suburbs moves to the big city of New York and ends up working as a hustler.

The following conversations with the cinematographers, production designers, and costumers involved in making the Teen Apocalypse Trilogy reveal the inspirations and craftsmanship that brought director Gregg Araki’s surreal, apocalyptic visions to life.