Category: filmmaking

New erotic film: Evolution- Ages of Sex

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On the erotic filmmaking front, a short film I made entitled Evolution (which is part of a larger film called Ages of Sex for Thagson Media in Spain), is finally available digitally through my website!

Evolution is about a loving couple whom has lost their passion for each other, due to being bogged down in the day to day routine of life. However, an unexpected arrival unlocks hidden desires and reignites their lust for each other.

Interested?  Check it out here 

If you would like to learn more about the film and see me with shocking white blonde hair, you can see the behind the scene here.

 

Wicked Women

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Japser Layouts – Wicked Women

At the end of last year, I had the privilege of being chosen as one of 10 filmmakers to be part of an ABC Arts and Screen Australia initiative, Love Bites.  Film Victoria came on board too! The films were part of the 40-year celebrations of Mardi Gras.

 

I had pitched the idea of a film about a lesbian sex magazine, called Wicked Women, that ran from the late 1980s until the mid 1990s.  For me this film was about highlighting the pioneering women who were brave and broke away from conventions around sexual and gender expression, and who ultimate made it easier for me and many other to explore our sexual expression.

 

I’d like to give a massive thanks to all at the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives, who without their amazing resources this would not have been possible.  Especially to Nick Henderson and Kathy Sports for the generosity of their time and knowledge.

 

Making a film is a collaborative effort, so I would also like to thank Stitch Williams for letting me cover her hands in makeup, Felicia Smith for her beautiful images, Hannah Palmer for making magic with lights, Troy Mauri for his sound design, Tony Stevens for his editing and being a creative collaborator, Jo Chichester at the ABC for her wisdom and assistance in guiding me through this process, Alicia Brown at Film Victoria for helping out this underground indie filmmaker make sense of funding processes, Alyssa Orvis  from Screen Australia, Kate Pappas for being a wise owl, Shaun Miller for providing reason at stressful times, DJ Gemma and Mystery Carnage for music, and Glitta SuperNova for the extra stories!

 

There would be no film without the Jasper Laybutts, Lisa Salmon and Kimberley O’Sullivan.  Thank you to you all from your time and stories from that era, and for trusting me to upholding your legacy.

 

If you are in Australia, you can check the film out here.

 

And the winner is…….The Bedroom for Best Director.

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Much to my surprise The Bedroom has won Best Director at the International Toronto Porn Awards (formerly the Feminist Porn Awards) on Sunday night!

I was hoping to attend the festival and awards this year but work and other commitments conspired against me…maybe next film!

Thanks again to all the crowdfunding contributors who helped make The Bedroom!

You can check out The Bedroom here:

http://www.poisonappleproductions.com.au/product/the-bedroom/

Or if you are in Melbourne you can come and see it on the Big Screen with a Q and A with the cast, giveaways and lots more!

http://www.poisonappleproductions.com.au/product/the-bedroom-melbourne-screening/

Or maybe you’d like to learn more about how the film was made?  Megan Spencer spent time with us on set capturing the ins and outs of The Bedroom!

http://www.poisonappleproductions.com.au/product/the-bedroom-behind-the-scenes/

I hope you enjoy!

The Bedroom now available online!

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Yes, I have finally moved into the digital age and you can now purchase all my film online!

However, if you like to rock it old school style you can also get The Bedroom on DVD, which is a strictly limited edition of only 100 that are hand numbered!

Zahra Stardust and Stitch The Bedroom 1990
Zahra Stardust and Stitch The Bedroom 1990

Developing “Falling in….”

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A work in progress by Annee Miron.

This evening I am off to begin shooting a collaborative piece with Melbourne Artist Annee Miron and Finnish- Argentinian choreographer Favela Vera Ortiz.  It is currently entitled “Falling in ….(insert city of choice)” and is an exploration of sleep.  My partner finds this very amusing as I struggle with insomnia and they feels I have limited personal knowledge of the topic!!

However, via various online medium we have been discussing the project for several months now and Annee has just completed an artist in residence at Yarra Sculpture Gallery, so it has given her an opportunity to begin building pieces.

Getting closer

After what feels like a long hiatus from shooting anything, its nice to be able to create again, but what I am finding most stimulating is the method in which I am working.  Lately, my work has been long format and narrative in style, where as this piece is more experimental, like my earlier work.  Its such a liberating way of working as there is less structure and we bounce ideas off each other.  I don’t feel the usual pressure of shooting as it isn’t constrained to a set period of time and the nature and stage of the work means that I can go back later and shoot again.  Very liberating and stimulating too.

Up close and personal

Inside                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

These are some images I took while visiting Annee in the gallery last week with Royce who had a great time playing in and out of the work.  The gallery, as you can imagine has not heated, so it was freezing cold, but a few cups of tea and a shared coffee scroll later I hardly noticed it at all.  Royce’s hand were like little icebergs by the end but he was having so much fun and like most children doesn’t feel the cold!

I’ll post more images later this week.

Annee helps Royce climb “Rope Mountain”.

Tristan Taormino talks and other adventures.

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Last month, I spent a highly entertaining night listening to sex positive feminist, Tristan Taormino talk about her very interesting life and journey to making porn films.  It was a captivating and fascinating two hours.  Tristan is a great public speaker and if you ever get the chance to hear her talk I highly recommend it.

She spoke about her ethical approach to her actors: good pay, reasonable hours, providing safe environments, and giving actors the freedom to do what they wished rather than dictating to them.  It was strange to hear this referred to as ethical treatment of actors in explicit films as I thought it was the ONLY way to treat actors, but then again I have chosen to forge my own path and not be dictated by the mainstream industry, and I guess that what makes the difference. 

I decided to get up and ask a question about safe sex and the use of condoms in her films, as it is one of the things I feel very strongly about and think as erotic filmmakers it is very important to promote, especially as there is a rise in sexually transmitted diseases (which I find shocking, as choosing to have sex with someone is also about making a respectful choice to use condoms).  Her take was quite different and I do wonder how much of it is dictated by the studio she worked for or if it is as she said, a choice she let the actors make.  She was actually quite surpised how many of them would rather have sex without condoms!

The evening also gave me a chance to catch up again with Louise Lush, who I haven’t seen in the flesh since “The Band” screened at the Berlin Porn Film Festival in 2009.  Wow how time flies!  Finally, I got to meet two actors/makers I have been wanting to meet, Angela White and Liandra Dahl.  We where all standing around being total video/film nerds getting excited talking about RED and Lexus cameras, steady cams and jib arms!  Pretty funny!

I actually stood next to Angela White for quite sometime until I realised it was her!  In the photos she has sent me she looks like an amazing amazon, yet in person she is still amazing but petite.  She had just returned from a month in the US filming scenes for her website and was looking forward to going home to several terabytes of video footage and begin editing!

Afterwards, I was hoping to talk with Liandra further about her films, but unfortunately she had to leave early, but we did catch up later that week.  She came by my office and we talked non stop for 2 hours.  I could have spent the rest of the afternoon talking with her, but unfortunately prior commitments prevented us from doing so.  However, I’m sure we will have many more discussions in the future.

It was great to be surround by such a wonderful group of sex positive women and so nice to talk openly about sex without anyone looking shocked, disgusted or horrified, but that it is just a natural part of life.  This is what I love about Pleasure Salon gatherings!

Hats off to amazing sex therapist, Cyndi Darnell from Pleasure Salon for organising yet again another sex positive evening.  Pleasure Salon holds monthly nights in Melbourne and I highly recommend you go and have a look, they are always informative and interesting.

In other news:

I’m giving a talk at Melbourne University this Friday 4th May at 12:30pm about Feminist and Queer Porn, for their “Rad sex and Consent week”, which is free!  I’m looking forward to it but I’m also slightly nervous that Shelia Jefferys and her anti sex minions will be on hand!  However, the organisers look like they are providing a very safe space for people to discuss and explore sex and its many variations through workshops and talks.  If you want more information, check it out here.

Must go and finish practicing my talk.  Hope to see you there.

Writing a new erotic film.

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Finally, I have found  focus and  begun working on a new erotic film entitled “Screwed in Suburbia”.  It feels great to have something to work towards, as I was feeling lost towards the end of last year and didn’t know where I wanted to go in regards to my next film.  More details on it soon, but we already have at least a US distributor attached who is they love it may take on international distribution!

I’ve been trying to write without putting pressure on myself as I have a habit of wanting to make everything perfect then and there rather than just letting it flow and leaving holes in it that can be reflected upon and fixed later.  Fingers crossed I can push out a draft before I return to teaching this year!

Also, I have begun a collaboration with an amazing script writer, Shanti Gudgeon.  We are creating an erotic thriller together which is very exciting.  I love writing with other people as you can bounce ideas off each other.  The last film I wrote in a partnership was “The Money Shot” with Lance Petrie.  It was great as I would write a scene get half way through loose my focus and pass it to him and he would finish it off.    It speeds up the process dramatically.

Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my crafty heart!

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Here’s a very blurry picture of myself at home just before “Making it Handmade” premiered on ABC2. As you can see I lead a glamorous life, in my tracksuit pants, slippers, the washing drying in the back ground and a knitted nanna rug on my knees (yes I did make it myself) and of course a glass of bubbly in hand.

It was strange to watch it,as I have seen it so many times, so it was very surreal, but I did enjoy the bottle of bubbly…maybe a little too much as I struggled teaching the next day!

Thank you to all 33,000 of you who tuned in to watch it and to the 9000 odd of you who watched it on iview. I was astounded by the numbers considering nearly all of the publicity was done through social media sites of those involved in the film!

The film stirred up some passionate discussion online:

On the films facebook page comments varied from:

Quoting Cheryl Rabe
“Thought the documentary was very disappointing. Not all crafters are activists. I’d like to think the majority of us make tasteful and useful things for others to enjoy, without sending any sort of political message.”

We then proceed to engage in a debate about if the act of making is political in itself!

To:
Quoting KrÌstíÑã Gréeñwõod
Loved it. It’s re-ignited a spark in me. Chronic Illness has taken away a lot of things from me. I have a creative mind and a bit of a wicked sense of humour. This is right up my ally. 😀

Searching online I found so many different response so of them that caught my eye talked about:

– the craft demonstrated was of low quality. This I find interesting as often craft can be elitist and not inclusive. I liked the idea that in the doco, its about giving it a go. After all even if you are now highly skilled, you started off this way and its just been practice that has enabled you to make amazing work that is technically perfect!

– that the documentary was anti making money from craft. To be straight, no I’m not. I actually think that it is amazing that something so lovingly crafted can make you money, especially as in the past it was seen to have no commercial value. I guess I wanted to show that it is a hard road, that its not easy and there is a lot of work involved. Also in my research I was finding lots of women who were experiencing burn out from trying to make a full time living from crafting and giving up on it. However, if you can make a full time living from craft, I think you are amazing and I take my hat off to you all and bow down low in respect of your brilliance!

– Offense. This happened for may reasons, Casey’s work was obvious but that I had left out so many women who make beautiful practical things has come up a few times. I wish I had the money and time to make a whole series on the women and the men I meet, spoke to, interviewed and read about online who are making wonderful, amazing stuff, who are from all walks of life and ages. When I was researching for this film it just kept on growing and growing, but I was restricted by the fact, I had no money to make this doco. I had no funding, it was made in my holidays with the money I’d managed to save from teaching. I shot it over 2 years and then edited it over about 9 months. Thus I had to keep it simple and that’s why all the women are from Melbourne ( which is where I live). I wanted to challenge the idea of how society perceived crafters. I was drawn to women who were using traditional craft but subverting it in someways. From embracing the idea that it was about spirit and giving it a go, not making it perfect, to being craftivists.

– Inspiration This of course is my favorite reaction. I loved receiving posts and email from people who aren’t crafty feeling inspired to give it go, or others who are lapsed crafters wanting to make again.

If you missed it, you can order your own copy on DVD here.

Also there will be screenings happening in Radelaide on Saturday Oct 8th at 6:00pm at the Reading Room as part of the Festival of Unpopular Culture . Check it out the screening and there is a radical craft workshop beforehand.

Or if you are in Western Australia you can check it out at the Soul Highway “Wave Rock Weekender” on from Friday 28th Oct til 30th Oct.

Thanks once again to all wonderful people who helped make the film and also to all the wonderful people who have watched it. Keep crafting.

Australia’s sexploitation and erotic filmmaking history!

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Last week wasn’t as productive as I hoped. The intense and ongoing heat, knocked me out and made it impossible to sleep, but the rough cut for “Making it Handmade!” is still chugging along. I’m finding it interesting to see how over the year or so that I shot this documentary, not only did my interviewing technique improve but also my shooting skills. Yet again making another film has been a massive learning curve for me! I guess that is something that sucks me in…everytime you make another film you learn something new!

Any of you reading this are probably thinking, but what does that have to do with Australia’s sexploitation and erotic filmmaking history….to be honest not much, accept I was working on the film when I spoke with legendary Australian Erotic filmmaker John D Lamond. Like most Australian genre filmmakers you may not know his work but if you’ve seen that great documentary about ozploitation, “Not quite hollywood!” you would probably know who he is. Just to refresh your memory, he is the one being interviewed with a pole dancer in the background or you may have seen some of his film “the ABC of love and sex: Australian Style” and “Felicity”, just to name a few.

I was interested to talk with him but also a little weary as I have found male film makers of that generation to be …..how does one put this…pigs! However, John was anything but! He was lovely, humorous and extremely personable. We talked about the trials and tribulations of making erotic films in Australia, from dealing with censorship issues to trying to find cast who can act and don’t have a problem taking off their clothes. He was as wealth of information and shared so many stories about his filmmaking adventures not only here but overseas. One story that suck in my mind was how he challenged the censorship board in regards to masturbation scenes in “the ABC of love and sex: Australian Style”, inspirational and sad that still as a society that is so inundated with sexual images in our daily lives from advertising to music video clips on TV, we still are more threatened by sex than we are by violence….. It was truly an honour to speak with him and fingers crossed I get to work with him in the future.

I have always felt like I was working in a bubble here, until I went to Berlin last year and meet so many amazing women making films, so it was nice to connect with a fellow erotic filmmaker here in Australia who strives to make good erotic films with high production design, good scripts and acting. I no longer feel so alone!!! hee hee

Must return to the edit suite as I have a strict deadline to have the rough cut finished by the end of Feb. As my dad would say its time to put your head down and your bum up!

Director’s commentary for THE BAND

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Today, I edited together the Director’s commentary that I recorded last week. It’s very strange listening back to ones voice and I find that I constantly stumble over words and use the wrong ones. Some sections I want to redo but due to time restraints I have to use what is there, which is disturbing as I think of people who don’t know me will listen to this jumble of words and think I don’t make sense.

I’m so tired that I can’t express how I feel very well….my language escapes me…and thinking back there are other stories I have forgotten to tell about the journey of making the film…like the masturbating auditioner (sic) who was quite happy to let us film him jerking off, but afterwards had second thoughts about being in the film and only wanted to if he could wear a mask! Or the horrible nasty emails I received from someone pretending to be from Family First (a right winged christian political group)…so many stories…its hard to remember them all when you are standing alone in a recording studio! Oh well.