Porn director (photos)

Mining the Porn Industry for Laughs: Interview with “The Auteur” Writer/Director James Westby

“The Auteur” is the story of renowned porn director Arturo Domingo (Melik Malkasian), the creative genius behind classics like “Five Easy Nieces” and “Requiem for a Wet Dream,” who has arrived in Portland, Oregon to receive a Lifetime Achievement award at a film festival. Arturo is delighted at the prospect of reviving his sagging career, yet troubled that fate would lead him to the hometown of his only true love, Fiona (Katherine Flynn). Encountering crazed fans, former collaborators, bitter enemies, and free-loving hippies, we follow Arturo as he frantically attempts to raise money for the film that could put him back on top: “Gang Bangs of New York.”

James Westby: This movie, like all my other features, started with the actor Melik Malkasian, who is a chameleon on the level of Peter Sellers. He’s also my best friend, and I wrote a 5-minute film for him which we made in 2002 also called “The Auteur.” It consisted simply of a Mediterranean porn director (Arturo Domingo) recording a commentary track for his latest DVD release, “Requiem for a Wet Dream.” Those kinds of stupid puns, plus a full-bodied performance with a perfect Italian accent, seemed good enough for a feature-length film featuring the same character. From there it was a matter of coming up with even more stupid puns, as well as romanticizing my adopted hometown of Portland, Oregon to the hilt.

nna Arrowsmith (aka ) has been a porn director for 12 years. This made her recent campaign as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Gravesham rather controversial. “Not my cup of tea”, about her occupation. But what she has been doing is not mainstream pornography, but independent porn made for women.

“It is a prejudice to say that women don’t like porn,” says Erika Lust, another fem porn director. “Sex images make you hot, but pornography has been made by and for men. In mainstream porn everything is about male pleasure and women are objects. Oral sex for men can last forever, but when women’s turn comes it lasts 10 seconds. Female orgasms are not an issue in most of the films. And women are shown mostly as prostitutes, which is sad.”