Shoplifting From American Apparel

Over the past few years, Tao Lin’s literary voice has drawn a wide audience, guiding readers into the distinctive worlds inspired by Richard Yates, Eeeee Eee Eeee, and Shoplifting from American Apparel. When Lin’s novella appeared from Melville House, director Pirooz Kalayeh began negotiations to bring the story to the screen. The project, initially pitched as a lavish production with producer Mark Parsia, weathered the economic downturn and pivoted toward a hybrid approach. This film would blend documentary and narrative elements to spotlight writers within a shared virtual space, including Noah Cicero, Bebe Zeva, Jordan Castro, and Tao Lin, while embracing new media and animation to echo the novella’s texture and the real-world challenges facing independent cinema.

The film itself sits between an absurdist documentary and cinematic realism, veering between the life of the actual writer who authored the celebrated novel and the chaotic, budget-strapped journey of a ragtag crew trying to shoot scenes and meet deadlines under ever-shifting constraints. The project treats the adaptation as a moving target, constantly deconstructed and reassembled as ideas are debated, revised, and tested against practical hurdles—budget shortfalls, weather, and technical snags all shaping the final product.

On screen, the narrative threads weave a portrait of Tao Lin as a quintessential New York City literary whiz kid—sharp, streetwise, and financially strained. He splits his free time between a vegan restaurant gig, fleeting encounters, and long online chats with friends. To make ends meet, he begins shoplifting and reselling items on the Internet, a choice that leads to an arrest for stealing from American Apparel. Back at home, he documents the experience on the Internet, turning personal ordeal into material for his writing.

The documentary strand follows Kalayeh’s inventive approach: the film presents the finished product while also showing the process of making it, sometimes in parallel. Ideas agreed upon by the crew are tested, broken down, and reassembled in multiple configurations, offering viewers a window into how a feature can be shaped under financial, weather, and technical constraints. The project adds a meta layer with the Real Tao Lin, portrayed by Jordan Castro, enriching the film’s exploration of authorship, adaptation, and the tug-of-war between art and practicality.

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:22