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" Richard Phillips has found a muse in Lindsay Lohan \u2014 releasing his second film starring the actress. On June 11, the pop artist will premiere his new short &amp;quot;First Point&amp;quot; at Art Unlimited at Art Basel in Switzerland, presented by Gagosian Gallery. &amp;quot;Lindsay Lohan, a Richard Phillips Film,&amp;quot; a video portrait showed for the first time at last year&amp;#039;s 54th Venice Biennale, before taking off online \u2014 no small feat for an art short. The collaborative &amp;quot;First Point&amp;quot; once again utilized the talents of surf film legend, Taylor Steele. The film, longer than its predecessor and more involved, subverts typical surf film conventions by showing beach culture via stunning scenery and stellar wave skills \u2014 provided by Lohan&amp;#039;s stunt double Kassia Meador \u2014 mixed with eerie film noir references in the vein of David Lynch. The film takes the viewer back to Malibu, this time shooting at a private beach surf compound and the iconic Surfrider Beach, which Phillips calls &amp;quot;one of the most famous surf breaks in the world. Miki Dora and the greats surfed there. It&amp;#039;s a hallowed spot.&amp;quot; Read on for more from the famed painter and watch a clip from the film below. Harper&amp;#039;s Bazaar: What were your references for &amp;quot;First Point&amp;quot;? Richard Phillips: The inspirations are &amp;quot;Free and Easy,&amp;quot; a surf film from the 1960s and David Lynch&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;Lost Highway.&amp;quot; Most people know about Bud Browne&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;Endless Summer&amp;quot; but &amp;quot;Free and Easy&amp;quot; was more of an underground type of film from that period and it was one of the best films ever made by Jim Freeman and Greg MacGillivray. From that we took the surf film conventions of action. We have Kassia Meador, who is the best female surfer in the world doing the surf sequences and Lindsay does some surfing too, she really went for it. Surf films also have lifestyle shots that have that carefree feeling. We wanted those shots to carry more weight in terms of proportion \u2013 so we have less emphasis on just surfing. Our film is balanced differently than conventional surf films. The other focus was taking the ideal California surf imagery and turning it into a nocturnal surf noir with a sense of foreboding, an eerie quality emphasized by the soundtrack by Thomas Bangalter (one half of the famous French electric duo Daft Punk). He&amp;#039;s well-known for his soundtrack for &amp;quot;Enter the Void,&amp;quot; so it was incredible for him to compose an original score for our film. The idealism of the day takes on a daymare quality. As it turns to the nocturnal part, we were inspired by Lynch&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;Lost Highway&amp;quot; and the L.A. noir components that are irresolvable. We really worked with Lindsay in terms of character. HB: What was it like working with Lohan? RP: She&amp;#039;s quite athletic and has that surf spirit, and at the same time she really projects the ultimate look of the California beach girl. Beyond that she has incredible expressive qualities. For the noir nighttime scenes, when it&amp;#039;s difficult to know if she&amp;#039;s perusing or being perused, she&amp;#039;s able to lend the indeterminate malevolent context. She is so experienced and has the capacity to project a kind of iconic image and communicate the abstract narrative. HB: How does your work in painting differ from your work as a filmmaker, and what similarities do you find? RP: I am a painter and not a filmmaker per se, but having made three films now, I&amp;#039;m feeling more that way. My paintings are appropriated from existing imagery \u2014 the subject is completely cut off from my composition and my work. In the case of the films, the subject is no longer a subject, she&amp;#039;s a collaborator. In film, it&amp;#039;s creating images out of thin air and that&amp;#039;s what&amp;#039;s so exciting. HB: Are surfing and surf films something personal for you? RP: I&amp;#039;ve been surfing for 12 years and I got to know Taylor (Steele) because I was a judge for the NY Surf Film Festival. There was a get together with the judges and directors so we met and we saw Taylor&amp;#039;s debut film, &amp;quot;Momentum&amp;quot;, screened for the first time in the theater and I got his commentary. It was an amazing experience.      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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