Remember that ‘Sneak Peek’ I posted oh so long ago? Well, that’s finally happening.
Head over to the website for my new film-in-the-works, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga.
As of tomorrow, my crew and I will be starting production in Eastern Europe. Follow our progress on the News page. We will be posting photos and stories about our adventures weekly, so be sure to check back often.

I’ll still be posting here if there is something pressing or newsworthy, but most of my energy will be directed elsewhere until we get back at the end of August.

Continue reading Move on over

If you can’t make it to Beetle Queen in SF this week, you’ll have another chance - we have been held over (though only with one showtime a day).
The showtimes through the 15th remain:
2:20, 4:50, 7:10, 9:25
And now from July 16- 22, you can catch the film at 5:20!
Still at the Sundance Kabuki Theater in Japan Town.

This June, it has been three years since we first traveled to Japan to shoot Beetle Queen. My awareness of this fact was heightened when I received a photo from one of the families we spent time with while we were there.
Remember the young boy you see several times throughout the film, first shopping for beetles and then playing with them with his friends? Well, as kids tend to do, he’s growing up!
He’s now ten years old, but just as into bugs as he was three years ago, though now he says he wants to be a killer whale trainer when he grows up.

Yu hunting for butterflies

Hello Beetle Queen empire! I’ve kindly been invited to post here, so I thought I’d start with a bit about grasshoppers, since a voracious swarm is currently making an all-you-can-eat buffet out of the eastern Wyoming and Montana hay, wheat and alfalfa crops, a topic I recently wrote about at my own blog.

In her film, Jessica explores the Japanese’s unusual passion for insects, but another way of looking at it may be asking why most other cultures would rather squash first, ask questions later.

Melanoplus femurrubrum, a North American migratory grasshopper. Creative Commons Gilles Gonthier

Continue reading When Grasshoppers Attack

Please join me in welcoming our next guest blogger, Jennifer Frazer. Jennifer writes the awesome and amazing science blog, The Artful Amoeba. She has a true knack for the ever-rare talent of communicating to both the layperson and academic alike. And her subjects often seem geared not just toward education, but towards wonder.
Jennifer and I met briefly at a screening of Beetle Queen in Denver and I could tell right away that we had similar passions. I am so excited to have her post on the Beetle Queen blog.

A very enthusiastic thank you to Rosanna for her great posts. Don’t forget to check out her own blog, minilivestock.org.

And a quick update on Beetle Queen.  Lots of good press and a bunch of new bookings!  Please check our screenings page for more information on where Beetle Queen is playing. Or become a fan on facebook to get regular updates.

And if you are in Japan today, be sure to buy an Asahi Shimbun for the article and interview with yours truly!

Mealworm Cricket Empanadas with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce
Prep Time: 30 minutes / Cook Time: 40 minutes / Total Time: 70 minutes / Makes appox. 14 empanadas

Continue reading Mealworm Cricket Empanadas with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

The question that I get asked the most is: How did you become interested in starting a project about eating insects? I don’t think it was necessarily a single moment for me, but rather an accumulation of things—surging food movements, exposure to cultural practices through personal travels and various media outlets, self-reflection, and my personal relationship with insects. I’ve been fascinated and compassionate with insects ever since I was a kid. Whenever it would rain, I would pick up any earthworms I found on the sidewalk or street and place them into a nearby grassy area so it would lessen the chance for them being stepped on or ran over, which I still do until this day.

I have moved beyond the sandbox Continue reading Bug Eater

Hello world and thanks to Jessica for allowing me to be a guest blogger. Like those of you out there who are waiting for Beetle Queen to come to your city, I am also anticipating the screening to make its way to SF!

So who am I anyways? I’ve been advocating entomophagy, or the consumption of insects, in the San Francisco Bay Area under the name MiniLivestock for the last two years. You can see some of my efforts at minilivestock.org. I also a recent graduate student of the Design MFA program at the California College of the Arts as of last week, and *cough* now available for freelance work.

I am looking forward to sharing some of my insect-eating experiences and knowledge on the Beetle Queen blog. We’d love to hear your experiences too, so please feel free to comment on the blog! Thanks and hope to talk to you all very soon!

I am excited to welcome our next guest blogger, Rosanna Yau of minilivestock.org. Turns out Rosanna and I have a lot more in common than just bugs. Like Beetle Queen, Rosanna’s work uses insects explore larger themes. Her philosophies are surprisingly aligned with those expressed in the film - but whether or not you’ve seen Beetle Queen, I think you’ll be interested in the following posts…

Beetle Queen will be held over for one more week at IFC Center. The new showtimes are:
10:55am, 3:00pm and 9:40pm
Spread the word!

This past week-long run at Film Forum has been such a treat. I’ve really enjoyed getting to hear from the audiences and getting them to interact with the insects! (See photo below).

And because of the success at Film Forum, we will be extending our run in New York City with a run at IFC! We will open at the IFC Center on Friday with showtimes Friday through Thursday: 10:55am, 12:40pm, 4:25, 8:25, 10:25pm, plus late shows Friday and Saturday at 12:20am.

If you couldn’t make it out for any of the Film Forum screenings, you have no excuse now!

So, as you must all know by now, Beetle Queen is opening this week at Film Forum in NYC. Our first night is Wednesday the 12th and the film will run until the 18th.

The showtimes are:
1:00, 2:50, 4:40, 6:30, 8:20, 10:10 daily.
You can buy advance tickets here.

I’ll also be attending a few of the shows. Opening night, 6:30 and 8:20; and Friday night, 6:30 and 8:20, I’ll be answering questions following the movie. And then on Sunday I’ll be at the 4:40 feature with Hugh Raffles, author of the new book Insectopedia.

But even if you can’t make it to any of the “In Person” events, I hope you’ll come to one of the other screenings!

A poster at Other Music in New York

So, I’ve had a lot of people asking about the song in the trailer. I’m finally going to let the secret out.
The song, released in 1982, is called “Kafka” and is performed by Japanese pop artist Masami Tsuchiya.
You can read more about the artist and listen to music by him and his band Ippu Do in earlier entries on the Beetle Queen blog.

If you like this song, you’ll definitely like the soundtrack. I worked hard to negotiate the rights to this music for Beetle Queen. Please help support the film and the artists by buying the soundtrack here!

A brilliant and blazing thank you to each and every one of you who contributed to the Kickstarter campaign! Because of you, Beetle Queen is on its way to several cities around the US.
But you can still help us to make our release a success. Don’t forget to talk, blog or tweet about the film. Spreading the word is essential.
Due to the success of the campaign as well as the amount of interest we received after it closed, we have decided to install a permanent Donate button on our home page.
So, if you missed the kickstarter campaign, but would still like to contribute, here’s your opportunity!