David Lynch is a true renaissance man – an American film director, screenwriter, producer, painter, cartoonist, composer, video artist, performance artist, and weatherman. I find David to be a complete genius and creative ambassador. Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, for The Elephant Man (1980), Blue Velvet (1986), and Mulholland Drive (2001). In June 2009, Lynch launched Interview Project, a Q&A journey across America where they met hundreds of people and interviewed the “everyday” American and have them tell their stories.

Jess was their first interview. They found him sitting on the side of the road during the middle of the day. Jess told them he was waiting for his trailer to be repaired so that he could go live alone in the desert. Although hesitant at first, Jess agreed to spare a bit of his time and talk to David and his crew. His rugged delivery and appearance soon gave way to a gentle man who was just looking for some peace in his life. After leaving Jess, David and crew headed further east into Arizona to look for their next interview.