Your Question
Coming from a background in performing, how do you compare the way male company heads deal with female talent to the way you do? Are there things in that area that you consciously set out to do differently or try to change in the industry as a whole?
My Answer
I can’t speak for everyone and I don’t know that gender necessarily plays a role in making one more sensitive or compassionate. As an actress I had worked for some of the early female film directors. Ann Perry Rhine was a lovely woman to work with who gave me the freedom to express my own sensuality in PRO-BALL CHEERLEADERS, while Svetlana, whose film ULTRA FLESH I did a challenging stunt/sex scene for, was not someone I found to be particularly warm or sensitive.
When I was an actress I felt good about what I was doing when I worked for a director who seemed to really care about what they were doing and treated me with respect and kindness. I was a professional and gave my all, and I deserved to be treated well. But when I found myself working for sleazy producers who displayed disdain for the talent I felt badly about what I was doing. I always remembered that. I still hear from young women who are hit on by so-called adult “filmmakers” who feed them lines like, “I have to make sure you can do it.” These people give the business a bad name and should be run out of town.
I think the people who are willing to perform sexually for others to watch are providing a real service and putting themselves out there in an extremely vulnerable way. They deserve to be treated with respect and compassion. I expect professionalism from them, and I reward them with a work environment that’s safe, sensitive to their needs and fun to be part of.
Your Question
What challenges did you face as a female director in what has long been a male orientated industry, not only as far as being a woman, but also producing films that were so far removed from the ‘stereotypes’ of the time?
My Answer
Everyone assumes I was probably given a hard time by the adult film biz but they always treated me fairly, even if they at first doubted me. They’ve come to respect that I was the first one with vision and recognition of what would become the “couples” market.
Your Question
Having been in front of the camera, you’re obviously an openly sexual person. Does that play into the way you run shop (i.e. do you mix business and pleasure in any way)?
My Answer
I do not mix business and pleasure. Once you cross that line with a performer (or an employee) it changes the working dynamic. You are no longer in charge and they will try to take advantage of the “new” relationship. At least that’s how I feel as a female director. I’m certainly flirtatious – I like to flirt, and I let my actors and my actresses know I find them sexy and desirable, but I do not cross that line.
Posted in: The Royalle FAQs