"Begging Naked" began in 1996, when my friend Elise asked me to videotape her stories of being a teen runaway and prostitute. She knew she'd never write her autobiography and I was just learning how to use a video camera. When Elise decided to go back into stripping at age 30, the story took an unpredictable course. Over the next 7 years, Mayor Guiliani wiped out the sex businesses on 42nd Street, leaving Elise unemployed. She began to spiral mentally out of control , stopped paying rent and was eventually evicted. She now lives in Central Park. All of these events have been documented in "Begging Naked".