Tag Archives: Adult Time

February 24, 2020 · 11:59 am

AEE 2020: Emma Hix, the slut plays the piano

by Rich Moreland, February 2020

Photos by Kevin Sayers

Emma Hix is a rising star in porn. Just twenty-two, this sweet, seductive beauty has a personality that matches every degree of her comeliness. She is endearing, cooperative with everyone and has a definitive career direction.

If adult film issued report cards on performers, Emma would be at the top of the class as witnessed by the show guides provided here. Emma travels with the elite.

I first met this native Canadian at the Foxxx Modeling booth during the 2017 show. She was a newbie, a bit nervous but with an undeniable charm. We chatted briefly and did a quick informal interview. Since then, it’s been hit or miss, mostly miss. We’d converse, hope to set something up, then schedules conflict and opportunity slipped away.

Thanks to her PR people, this year Emma and I did everything very formally in the press room. Moving up requires protocol and with Emma’s popularity soaring, that’s the only way to go!

*          *          *

Depends on Her Mood

After some small talk, I noted that in Axel Braun’s Nylon 3 she’s playing the piano, or at least appears to be.

So, Emma, let’s have the backstory!

“My mom tried to put me in piano lessons when I was a kid,” Emma says, but “I hated learning from someone else, you know?”

In fact, mom bought Emma a piano as an incentive to take lessons. Didn’t work.

“A couple of years later, I was playing around on it,” she reveals. “I was like ‘Wow I actually really enjoy this.’’’ Turns out, Emma learned to play by ear along with some YouTube help.

She has her own instrument now.  “I bought a grand piano with my first paycheck from porn. It’s my baby. I love it!”

What kind of music does this self-taught virtuoso like to play? Is it different from the typical youngster who practices more formally under a teacher’s eye?

It’s a variety, Emma replies, with alternative, rock and instrumental piano her preferences. “Cinematic orchestra is one of my favorites,” she adds, but “it depends on what mood I’m in.”

Maturity

We turn the conversation to how Emma has moved forward with her career.

“I had a little bit of a rough start because being from Canada, it took a while to get my US ID,” she says.

Emma mentions having her tattoos removed. An image adjustment, I’m guessing.

“I’m starting to progress to do different kinds of scenes. At first, I was doing very vanilla scenes. I don’t want to say boring, but just more elegant. Recently, I’ve started doing more anal and DPs, which is a whole new ballgame for me. I wanted to bring on this more slutty kind of persona. I’m trying to change my look and my performance.”

“The slut plays the piano,” I joke.

Sporting a big smile, Emma is cool with that!

With two AVN noms in hand, this stunning blonde has matured since we first talked three years ago. Is this a natural progression due to getting older?

Emma claims it’s just wanting to get better at your job.

Art

I pose the “what is pornography?” question and Emma doesn’t hesitate.

“It is a work of art, shown by an individual or a group of people, whatever the scene calls for. Being very artistic, being themselves on camera. . . a sexual moment caught on video. Very beautiful.”

We talk about how porn has changed over the years and Emma references Hollywood.

“I feel like now, it’s kind of moving with the mainstream industry,” Emma says, and brings up Bree Mills’ Adult Time. “They put a lot of work into their scenes. They make it look like an actual movie. Their sex is not just sex. It’s art. It’s really well put together.”

As for mainstream film, Emma speculates that sex “must be super awkward on a mainstream set.”

Regarding that statement, Adult Time steps into our conversation again.

“It’s kind of cool seeing an actual movie and seeing all of the sex. I wish they did that in mainstream movies sometimes. I wish they normalized it and made it okay.”

Emma points out what much of the public believes. “Sex is such a shameful thing” and, of course, “it’s obscene seeing two people have sex and you know people look down on it. But I feel if mainstream normalized it,” it wouldn’t be a big deal.

I mention Maitland Ward, an actress who entered adult from mainstream film. Emma is impressed with the move, but she raises the typical criticism of Ward’s change of scenery.

“That’s amazing. Of course, people are going to say ‘Oh she downgraded.’ But no, you’re moving from one form of art to another [and] that’s pretty cool.”

A Personal Reboot

Finally, I persuade today’s Emma to go back in time and visit with the Emma who is just coming into the industry.

What advice would you give yourself?

Pondering the question for a moment she offers up two things.

First, “don’t get taken advantage of because I was in the beginning of my career and it took me a while to learn that. But I don’t regret anything because it’s made me [who] I am today, [though] I’m still not happy with [that]. I want to keep going, doing better.”

On the Red Carpet

Then the slender hottie relates what I’ve heard so often over the years in this business.

“I had a little bit of a rough start. I didn’t know who I was and that’s another thing. I was trying to be someone else. I kind of lost myself.”

This leads to her second piece of advice. “Just be yourself [and] don’t regret anything,” Emma declares. “When I was new, I didn’t really know anything about performing at all.”

But she has come to realize that her career goal is longevity. “Since I had a slow start, I was able to have a longer career instead of getting famous right off the bat and getting overwhelmed with it. I’m happy that it went gradually and slowly.”

I mention that some girls jump into everything like anal and multiple penetrations immediately when their careers begin.

Emma took the more cautious route.

“I didn’t know who I was at eighteen, nothing. But if you know where you want to go in this industry, do whatever you want off the bat. I had no idea. So, it took me a while to learn and now I know where I want to go.”

Her approach has changed, however.

“I [like to] take every scene that comes at me…because as female talent, you never know when the work is going to slow down. But I try to take Sundays off because you need those grounding days for your mental health.”

Nevertheless, work is never assured. Every performance is an audition for the next one.

“If you do a really good job [on set] and you have a good time with the crew and the director and everything, you can get rehired. But there’s only so many times that they can shoot you. So, you are unemployed until they can rehire you again.”

Longevity?

How does she cope with the uncertainty?

“You never know when it’s going to end. So, I have my Only Fans and my Snapchat that I make money off of.”

Hollywood actors often have lifetime careers, Emma muses. “I wish you could do that with porn, but it ends eventually.”

Ironically, I mention that in adult longevity mostly belongs to the men.

With resignation, Emma comments, “I know.”

As we’re about to wrap up, my photographer Kevin throws a question Emma’s way concerning being taken advantage of.

“Because you were young and naïve, did they put you in scenes you didn’t want to do?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Emma responds. “when I was newer, I was very naïve. I took every scene. Now I’m more selective. I’ve definitely had some bad experiences on set. Now, I know to stand up for myself.”

Well said, Emma Hix, and thank you for a great interview.

 

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February 21, 2020 · 11:34 am

AEE 2020: Seth Gamble, Multilayered

by Rich Moreland, February 2020

Photos by Kevin Sayers.

*          *          *

Seth Gamble has been around porn for a few years. He began in 2006 and reflects the veteran status men in the business often reach, much different from many female performers whose on-screen careers are often no more than a few months.

Maturity has moved him forward. For the 2020 AVN Awards, Seth went home with Best Leading Actor honors for Adult Time’s Perspective. Incidentally, his co-star in the production, Angela White, also copped the Best Leading Actress trophy for her role in the film.

Parodies

We start our conversation with his early days.

“In the earlier part of my career, no one [had] an idea of what I could do,” Seth begins. Then, a break came his way with an Exquisite Media parody. The film was a take-off of Saturday Night Fever and Seth was convinced he should be cast in the lead.

“I literally went into the office, didn’t have an audition. I don’t know what came over me,” he says. His persistence paid off. “Give me a piece of the script [and] I’ll show you,” he remembers announcing. “Twenty-four hours later, I’m booked for the role [and] I’m doing dancing lessons”

The film came out in 2011. From there, Seth’s talent and audacity led him to the Stars Wars parodies directed by Axel Braun. Seth recalls doing a “nine-page dialogue stretch on one take” that cemented his talent for acting.

“The parodies got me in the door and to be honest with you, when it came to actually doing more intellectual [and] layered roles, that really came from Pure Taboo,” he concludes.

By the way, Seth Gamble is not about to step over his friends. He mentions those who have helped him along: Dale Dabone, Bree Mills, and Craven Moorehead.

At this point in his career, Seth knew his journey was set and more was needed. “I actually went to acting school for two years,” he says.

Seth’s career has come together, highlighted by his 2019 performance in Perspective. “The prep work I and Angela did on that [film] was insane.” Needless to say, the results were cinematic gold.

Honesty

My next question concerns transitioning from an acting moment into a sex moment. How does Seth do this seamlessly on set?

The native Floridian answers with an example. In the closet scene in Perspective, he has sex “in character” with Angela.

In other words, “The whole time I was having sex with her,” he says.  “I didn’t do normal things that Seth Gamble would do in a sex scene, if I was just doing a scene as me. I did what I thought Daniel [his character] would do in that moment.”

Making this kind of transition is an actor’s responsibility, Seth believes. “I don’t think that is on the director, I think that’s on the talent. But I don’t know how many talent have the thought process to want to do it or think about how to do it,” he observes.

Seth admits he often “overthinks” a role. “I strategize and analyze exactly [how] this would happen. Sometimes it’s not even a thought it’s more of a feeling” when it comes to making the transition, he says.

I interject that Jacky St James once told me that as a director she thinks of sex as being part of the dialogue.

Seth agrees and points out, “Anytime there’s dialogue in any scene, I think it should be involved in the sex as well. If there is dialogue involved, then you should be acting physically with the sex.”

He emphasizes that however the scenes are depicted on-screen, the most important ingredient is honesty.

Adult film is “a fantasy regardless if there’s sex involved or not. What enthralls them [the fans] in any film is if the character feels honest. And if there’s no honesty to the character, then they don’t want to watch.”

His remark offers a springboard to a further analysis.

“A lot of porn is disingenuous because it’s like ‘do this, do that,’” Seth says. But he strives to be unique. “I didn’t want to come into this industry being a carbon copy of anything. I decided to be honest about all of my performances.”

That’s what makes it real, he believes.

Multilayered

Next, we turn to his directing. I ask about his style.

“I want to use what I have and give it to other people to bring out better production,” Seth says and highlights three directors—Axel Braun, Bree Mills, and Kayden Kross—whose style he thinks works best. He adds Jacky St James to the mix, but mentions that she does not have the financial backing of the others. “She deserves to be able to have those budgets for those films because she’s that talented [and] I truly enjoy working for whatever she does because even with what she’s got, she makes it good and amazing.”

His directing “forte” is “story based,” Seth comments, and as a director he wants to use his on-screen experience “to give [his actors] insight into what they’re doing character wise.”

Seth perceives porn acting to be “multilayered” and there is an industry shift in that direction.

“AVN Performer of the Year nomination is such a big deal because for so long it hasn’t been looked at as [demonstrating] versatility” he declares. For too long it’s been interpreted as who can deliver the best sex scene.

Because of his acting, Seth perceives that he is “in that conversation [that] is showing the shift.”

In that vein, he admires Axel Braun for being a star maker. “That’s what I want to do as a director,” Seth says.

Mystique

I mention the idea of crossing over from porn into Hollywood. Seth responds that young performers these days have evolving ideas on that.

He looks back ten-twelve years ago and says, “I was not a famous porn star. No porn star was famous, they were infamous. You weren’t going to see them on social network. You might get Jenna Jameson on Howard Stern. You might get her in an R-rated B movie.

“Now we’re allowed on social platforms. We have fame now. We’re being put on ShowTime and Cinemax.”

He does point out that “being in adult film comes with mystique.” It’s what “makes adult film actors and actresses so alluring. I agree that adult film actors and actresses doing R-rated films would be cool.’

But there is a limit, or rather a complication.

“If you put me on the Disney Channel, it isn’t right, because kids aren’t dumb. There’s something to be said about let’s do mainstream but how do you make Seth Gamble an international star that children can watch?

“You take an Angela White or a Kristen Scott or a Casey Calvert and put them in a Quentin Tarantino film. I think that’s a possibility.’

Then Seth brings up a point I had not considered.

“There was a time where you went on a mainstream audition and [were] asked you if you did pornographic films. I’ve heard now they don’t ask. So, I think we’re pushing that boundary.”

The thirty-two-year-old veteran sums it up nicely.

“I think that porn is more mainstream than it ever has been. A lot of the newer talent don’t understand that or see it that way because they weren’t here. Yes, we want our rights we want all these things, but there’s also a flip side to it.

“Something about [porn] is alluring to you, but then you don’t look at what you’re putting out there” and the consequences it might have.

That is the issue, Seth Gamble believes.

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February 19, 2020 · 9:58 am

AEE 2020: An Industry in Evolution

by Rich Moreland, February, 2020

Photos by Kevin Sayers.

*           *          *

The Independent Performer

The adult industry is in flux and the evidence is everywhere at the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas. I’ve been writing in the business for over ten years now and what was once a studio-dominated industry is turning more to online webcams and websites.

It’s the influence of technology and money, of course, but it’s also more than that. The change is natural, expected, and unavoidable.

The trade show’s sponsor, MyFreeCams.com, underlines what is happening as does one of the largest kiosks on the floor, Chaturbate, a popular adult site offering live webcam performances. The influence of this evolution on the commercialized industry continues to pop up in discussions about the business today. Just check out the trade show seminars to see what I mean.

Simply put, camming gives performers what has been denied them for years: control over their image and their content. No longer dependent on studios, cammers brand their own name and engage their own fan base. Even talent agencies feel the pinch as the girls and many male performers, for that matter, need them less than a decade ago.

Does this mean that the traditional porn formula is dead? Of course not, it’s just been nudged aside so as to take up less of the limelight. Evil Angel, Jules Jordan, Adam and Eve and others will still do their thing, but the independent performer who runs her own show is emerging.

Change is often feared, but the message here is positive and we can thank the 19th century German philosopher Georg Hegel for understanding how it works. History is a living thing, he postulated, and is based on a concept called the dialectic: the interaction of the thesis and the antithesis to reach a new understanding called the synthesis.

Moving aside the clutter of language, here’s what it means. Every tradition (the thesis) will have an opposing idea (the antithesis) and the two will clash. The result is a new entity called the synthesis, an innovative way doing things. This is what is happening in porn. In other words, the big studios are the thesis (the tradition) and the online cammers the antithesis (the new kids on the block doing their own thing).

Technology is the catalyst which abets the “revolution” or the synthesis, the new way of doing business, and performers are the beneficiaries.

Has the synthesis caught on in the industry? Not entirely, but one company is out front on the change and illustrates what is happening.

*          *          *

Shifting the Power

At the 2020 Adult Entertainment Expo, I met again with Bree Mills who is a driving force in adult today. We talked about the state of the industry.

“I know that I’ve been a part of a change that’s been active over the last few years. I’m certainly not the only contributor to that change. Other people have helped to get us to where we are now as an industry,” she begins.

“I have pretty outlier views compared to most people in terms of what I think we can do. So, if I can, [I want to] inspire other people to follow that same path.

“The industry has come to a point where the performers have the power. They’re the brands. Studios don’t have [that] power anymore. [Performers] have the means and the platforms to never need to shoot for a studio again. They can produce their own content; they can monetize their brand. And then they can choose who they want to work with. That’s the reality and that is probably the greatest change that can happen.

“It’s not only going to shift the power into the hands of the people that are really at the forefront of this business, but it’s going to continue to break all of the old mentality and rule books that existed. Some of the most interesting content that’s being created today is being created by these people. And it’s because they don’t have to answer to anybody.”

The message used to be that “you got to do something a certain way cause so and so said [so]. Or you’re not supposed to shoot this with this person because so and so said [not to],” Bree points out.

In other words, times have changed and the synthesis (the new way) has arrived.

The chief creative officer of Gamma Entertainment gives us a peek at what to expect.

“They (performers) can do whatever they want and that is awesome. And so, I can use my influence to empower them in whatever way that Adult Time can [benefit them]. So, if you got a great idea for a show, let’s collaborate. I would much rather see over time less stuff that I’m directly doing and more creativity that I can inspire and empower [others] to do their own thing.”

There it is, the new way of doing business and Bree Mills has set the tone. She is the emerging synthesis, the new force in adult and others will follow.

“That’s how we’re going to keep it happening,” she continues. “I’ve created the best advertisement for this with my own work. So, if someone wants to work with me because they love what I do, great. Let me help you do what you want do.”

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April 20, 2019 · 7:14 am

AEE 2019: Porn Stars on Camming. Derrick Pierce

by Rich Moreland, April 2019

This is the fourth installment in our porn stars and camming series from the 2019 AVN trade show.

Whenever I need honest, no holds barred opinions on the adult industry, Derrick Pierce is one of my go-to performers.

The porn vet is among the handful of male models who are sexually reliable performance-wise and insightful with their understanding of the business.

Above all, the Massachusetts native is an industry gem, a performer with acting skills.

While on the floor of the trade show, I stopped by the Adult Time booth to say “hello” and asked Derrick for his take on porn and camming. We later met up in the press room.

Photos are credited to Kevin Sayers.

*          *          *

Money

“The AVN show, and the trade shows in general, are now becoming more cam affiliated,” Derrick begins.

The driving force behind the change is money. It’s persuading the cam networks like MyFreeCams (MFC), Chaturbate, and Live Jasmine to market their product to a wider audience.

“They’ve always done very well, but now they’re putting a lot of money out to shows. As you can see, they are sponsoring AVN. I don’t know what the number is, but I guarantee you it’s seven figures,” Derrick speculates.

“Nobody even had that [financial] ability before. I don’t even think it was on the table.” He includes the big production studios like Evil Angel and Jules Jordan in that mix.

In reality, cam networks make big bucks “damn near printing their own money in some cases,” he says, and that enables them “to do things the production companies can’t do.”

Face Time

For Derrick, however, the situation presents a problem for the cam companies.

“The dilemma is nobody gives a shit about a cam girl. Not in person,” he says.

In other words, for the cam fan “to stand in front of them, to see them at the show” is no big deal, the certified martial arts instructor implies, because he has already chatted with his favorite girls online.

In fact, Derrick asserts, the show comes up short for the fan because he “probably gets more face time with them (cam girls) when he’s online than he ever would at the show.”

And, it would be more private.

Derrick’s honesty continues,

“Nobody cares about Tiffany451blue,” because fans don’t attend the Adult Entertainment Expo to see her.

“When you come to the trade show, you want to see Asa Akira, to see Abella Danger, Casey Calvert. All of these legitimate porn stars.”

What MFC does is accommodate a couple of hundred cam girls to attend the show with the promise of floor time, rooms, cool stuff. Just “enjoy have a good time,” he says. That’s “all it is.”

Ford Focuses

Derrick Pierce compares the cammer scene at AVN to stopping by a car dealership and seeing “rows and rows of Ford Focuses.”

“Cam girls are a bunch of Ford Focuses. They’re not doing what the professional girls are doing and, in some cases, I think some of those girls think they’re better than the porn girls. ‘Well I don’t do what they do, I’m a cam girl.’”

Derrick challenges that with “You’re not better.”

“Here’s the deal,’ he explains. “When you come to these shows you have two hundred and fifty cam girls to see and you have fifty of the top female performers in the business to see. Who do you think they’re lining up for? The porn stars because there’s something nostalgic, because there’s something unattainable” about them.

It’s like a “fantasy about who they are because whatever you’ve trumped them up to be in your head is who they are when you see them.”

“But with a cam girl, you know them. You know her favorite color is blue and she hates jalapeños or whatever her deal is, right? Cause you had time to socialize with them. So that’s the deal and I don’t think they’ll ever be on the same level,” Derrick concludes.

However, he comments that AVN and other trade shows now face a dilemma.

“Do you continue to take this money from the cam companies, which of course you’re going to? You’re in business to make money. But then do you phase out the production companies because they don’t contribute the same financial endeavor as the cam companies?

“When it comes to the trade shows, fans are lining up for porn people, but the cam people are the ones that are printing the money.”

Just a Cam Girl?

Derrick raises the question of how to merge the two, if that is at all possible.

How is the cam girl of the year chosen? For porn performers, it’s easier to debate who is the best this year because each girl has a body of work. The only reasonable way to select the winning cam girl is by counting up the dollars she makes over the year.

“Whoever made the most money wins,” he says.

As for joining camming and porn under one umbrella, Derrick believes the “level of separation” between the two will always remain.

To back up his point, he makes this observation.

“I just found out today that [on] MFC all the girls are solo girls. They don’t do anything with guys or boy-girl scenes or anything like that. I don’t understand that.

“Chaturbate has a couple of guys here, I noticed. How do you put them into play? Obviously, there’s a market for them too. MFC doesn’t have that, I don’t think.”

Our team’s photographer Kevin, who follows cammers, interjects, “We learned that they only allow women.”

“So, they’re completely man-less [and] it works for them, obviously,” he says.

“However they’ve designed this, it’s flawless in my opinion because they’re killing it. They’re making so much money.”

Regardless, the question lingers for Derrick Pierce.

“Are you really a porn performer? Or are you just a cam girl?”

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April 3, 2019 · 7:59 am

AEE 2019: Bree Mills, Part Three

By Rich Moreland, April 2019 

In this post and the next, we will take a look at how five performers who exemplify the super star concept in porn react to the question, “What is it like to shoot for Bree Mills?”

Photos are credited to Kevin Sayers. Box cover courtesy of Pure Taboo.

*          *          *

Based in Montreal, Gamma Films Group is an entertainment network that currently maintains several production studios. Among them are Girlsway and Pure Taboo that appear under the umbrella label, Adult Time. Recently, Burning Angel joined the corporate family.

Bree Mills writes, directs, and produces for Gamma Films. She is best known for the operation of Girlsway, an all-female content producer, and Pure Taboo, a niche-oriented studio that, according to its website, delves into “the darkest corners of sex and desire” through the exploration of “forbidden subject matters.”

Key to a Mills production is superb cinematography and impressive acting. Without a specifically written script, performers have the freedom to rely on their talents to create the characters the New England born director wants. The results are spectacular and, in the case of Pure Taboo, often disturbing.

Part of a rising group of female writers and directors in porn, the thirty-something Mills possesses the right skills to fuel performances previously thought foreign to the industry.

Like Jacky St. James, Kayden Kross, Angie Rowntree, and others, Bree Mills knows that the thespian talent in adult film is far greater than the public . . . and many in the industry . . . realize.

Proof is in the 2019 AVN awards. Gamma received an astounding eighty-four nominations that encompassed the best of filmmaking in porn.

*          *          *

In seeking opinions on shooting for Bree Mills, I was fortunate to talk again with three “old friends,” if I may be permitted to use that phrase, and chat for the first time with two performers whose work I’ve come to admire.

To begin, we’ll see what two of porn’s male veterans have to say.

Tommy Pistol

Interviewing Tommy Pistol is always a joy. His acting ability is beyond reproach and his enthusiasm for the industry is likewise unvarnished.

He begins by describing the fundamentals of a Bree Mills film.

“We’re making a feature but it is only a long scene. It’s almost like a play,” he says. “Bree calls it porn theater.”

The native New Yorker elaborates that Bree’s script is not really that, it’s more of a “breakdown, a blueprint.” She describes the characters and “the situations they’re in” and what it all leads to.

“She leaves it up to the actor to fill in the dialogue,” he says. That allows performers to give the characters their voice within the framework of the story.

The result is an intensity that adult actors rarely get to show on-screen.

“Bree trusts her performers to do dramatic, dark roles, to dig deep,” Tommy explains. “She gives us a platform to shine.”

I suggest that Bree’s set is “guided spontaneity.”

“Guided spontaneity is perfect,” he exclaims. “She already has a vision [and] trusts us to give it words.”

As an example, we discuss Tommy’s role as a parent in one of the Future Darkly series. In the story, scientists bring back his deceased daughter (played by Jill Kassidy) in the form of an avatar. He’s intense as the grieving father.

“I am a parent. I have two boys and I love them,” Tommy comments then talks about putting himself into the “mind frame” of how he’d feel if he lost them. The result was beyond awesome.

Next, I mention my urge to fast forward through the sex scenes to follow the story when watching a Bree film. Not that the sex falls flat, but that the story is so deeply engaging.

“Isn’t that something!” Tommy comments with glee. “We’ve grown as an industry.’”

Referring to the porn formulas of sex positions with minimal storytelling, Tommy says, “the cookie cutter stuff is cool, but we gotta do more [in making films]. We have the skill, the talent, [and] the equipment.”

“As a performer, sex is one thing, but when you get honest appreciation for the things you do [as an actor], that’s amazing.”

He leaves us with an observation. His role in Pure Taboo’s The Weight of Infidelity created quite a stir on set. The story is the brainchild of performer Angela White who stars in the production.

His portrayal of the repugnant husband “made people uncomfortable,” Tommy says, because he insulted and humiliated Angela. Nevertheless, he adds, outside media sources proclaimed that the film “isn’t a porno, this should be an art piece.”

That’s Bree Mills’ goal, to bring porn out of the shadows and into artistic daylight.

Incidentally, The Weight of Infidelity won AVN’s award for Best Featurette and Tommy Pistol for Best Actor in a Featurette.

 

Derrick Pierce

Porn veteran Derrick Pierce brings a business vision to the Bree Mills discussion. He points out that Bree became “a director out of necessity.” She was “a numbers person for Gamma,” so she knew the score at the company.

Bree learned directing on the fly?

“A hundred percent,” DErrick says. Bree is “the originator of what she does,” and takes the attitude with performers of “let’s try it and see how it goes.”

In describing the writer/director’s strength, Derrick says she gives performers “a lot of depth” to explore their roles within the scope of her narrative.

Her premise is to develop “the synopsis and the background” of the story and introduce the characters. The rest is up to the actors.

And, she pushes boundaries.

Bree is “always looking to see where the line of uncomfortable starts and finishes,” Derrick states. If the actors feel uneasy about what’s going on, Bree reminds them that the viewer will feel that way also.

“They’re clicking on the uncomfortable moments” that precede the sex scenes, the Massachusetts native adds. Those moments bring the sex in her films to life.

“That’s what makes her so dynamic as far as being a storyteller,” he believes.

Derrick goes into what now is evident about Bree Mills. She turns the porn formula on its head because the sex scenes are “secondary to what she wants.”

Bree is transcending the mantra of “sex is sex is sex,” Derrick explains. “The premise is always the key and if you don’t have the buildup the sex is always going to be mediocre.”

As he previously mentioned, Derrick insists that Bree never forgets the business fundamentals of building a brand and the fan following necessary to sell it.

“She came from the numbers. She’s watching and seeing what people are clicking on and purchasing.”

To reinforce his point, Derrick Pierce touches on Bree’s business acumen when he says Adult Time “acquired the rights to Vivid catalogues” and Burning Angels’ production.

“She’s purchasing and unifying other companies and their content and putting into a functional application that’s user friendly.”

In conclusion, he describes the totality of the Bree Mills enterprise as a “juggernaut.”

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Next we’ll look at shooting for Bree from the perspective of female performers.

 

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April 2, 2019 · 7:05 am

AEE 2019: Bree Mills, Part Two

by Rich Moreland, April 2019

In this second installment on Bree Mills, we will look at her filmmaking philosophy from a business and creative point of view.

Photos are credited to Kevin Sayers. Logo is courtesy of Girlsway.

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Data and Creativity

Like every successful businesswoman, Bree Mills understands how to produce the best content for the dollar. And, like every renowned artist, she knows how to find the right story to keep her fan base coming back for more.

Neither of the above accomplishments works without a collective effort.

“My content is a real mix of data driven decisions and creativity,” the head of production tells me. “I sit on a lot of data and I have a whole team at Gamma that studies what people want.” She refers to the accumulated information as her Petri dish she can “source from.”

“I speak with customers and porn fans, so I use that intelligence to fuel my ideas. But I try not to let the data override the creativity. It ends up being a good balance.”

To what extent does fan response drive future productions?

For an “ongoing series” it has tremendous value, she insists. What’s more, fans can be co-authors of a Gamma Films production.

“Girlsway, one of our big studios, is very involved in member feedback and sourcing ideas for our stories. My finger’s always on the pulse of how our fans are reacting to content.”

Usually she will produce a full season of a series then get feedback to generate the material for the next one. But with the recent development of Adult Time, she’s changing things a bit. Now Bree puts out “pilots of concepts so we can start getting feedback from members right away.”

The result has an “impact on subsequent episodes that we shoot,” she says, “so that we can start building an audience, build engagement, [then] refine our series.”

It’s a partnership of sorts, she indicates, because we are “shaping the content together.”

Outsider

A closer look at her product reveals that Bree considers herself to be “a pop culture vulture.”

“I’ve watched a lot of films, read a lot of books, and watched a lot of television. It’s in my genes.”

She explains that inspiration for a project comes for many sources and likes to quote Pablo Picasso, “Good artists copy and great artists steal.”

“When I come up with a concept, I’ll pull a little thing I saw here, a frame of a film that I remember here . . . to help me craft the piece I’m doing. I allow my respect for pop culture to influence the way that I work,” Bree explains.

Having said that, she qualifies her work in adult. “I’m an outsider. I’m not a pornographer who grew up through this industry. I kind of came in and crashed it in many ways.”

Admitting that people may not understand exactly what she is doing with a film or a series, Bree is undaunted.

“I do it because that’s the pull that I’m receiving creatively or the direction I’m going.” In other words, she follows her instincts.

Lastly, Bree mentions the feedback she gets from women. There is “strength in the female characters in Pure Taboo that is more relatable to a lot of female viewers,” she comments. Consequently, they “find porn very empowering.”

Her films present “something other than just a stereotypical portrayal of a woman as a sex object” that is characteristic of the industry.

But the picture is complicated, Bree infers. With Pure Taboo productions, there are “no winners,” male or female. In fact, “there are a lot of anti-heroes.”

Sex is the Last Thing

Finally, we talk about crossing over from adult to mainstream, or, to put it another way, from Porn Valley to Hollywood.

Bree concedes that there is some crossing over between “mainstream pop culture and adult culture,” but that is more lifestyle oriented. Her dream is to have one of her films cross over.

For the upcoming year, she is developing a “primary project” that can be shopped to film festivals she characterizes as “mainstream outlets.” It will have a hardcore version for her fans.

Her objective is to create “a film with sex in it.” A workable idea, Bree insists, because “half of the films on Netflix these days [have] a good degree of sexuality being depicted.”

Though her intention is to “showcase quality stories, if people are interested in seeing the extended, uncut, uncensored version, they can,” she affirms.

Lastly, the writer/director offers her assessment of what she does as a filmmaker.

“The sex is kind of the last thing I’m thinking about,” she says. “I’m thinking about how to build the tension, build the narrative, how to develop the characters. If I have done my job right, I’ve gotten into the actors’ heads, they will carry out the scene with their own experiences.

“They know how to have sex. If can get them to have sex in their characters, it will be a good scene and secondary to the story. It’s the end result of the story.”

Then she summarizes her goal.

Create a “good enough story that people can watch all the way through, are left thinking about it, and are amazed that we can do a story that is really interesting.”

Bree Mills ends with “I think that is completely possible.”

Gamma Films’ record eighty-four AVN award nominations for 2019 validates her point.

 

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