Even given his reputation for self-deprecating aloofness, visitors to director Terry Zwigoff's small San Francisco home may have been dismayed by the 'welcome mat' at his front door. It's message? "Go Away."

[So self-deprecating was Zwigoff that his producer once told him to 'go away' while she was pitching his movies. The ideal press photograph of Zwigoff, according to Zwigoff? A shot of him sitting at home -- in total darkness. (The Seymour character, according to Zwigoff, was "basically me, poking fun at myself.")]

["Zwigoff was plagued by agonizing back pain all during the period when he was making Crumb [released in 1994] and slept with a gun under his pillow," he once told Roger Ebert, "in case he had to end his misery in the middle of the night. When Crumb didn't want to cooperate with the documentary, Zwigoff threatened to shoot himself. Crumb does not often meet his match, but did with Zwigoff."]