Page 32 - AVN November 2015

ON THE SET| |By Tod Hunter
LIGHTS,CAMERA...
Flights of Fantasy
On the set of Kay Brandt’s ‘Safe Landings’
in a sundress, London bare-chested in sweatpants. Quasar readies his camera, just
in case. “Remember what’s in your mind,” Brandt tells London. “The truth must
come out.”
They rehearse, stills guy snapping away. Their confrontation is quiet, intense.
London feels betrayed, James is defensive. Brandt stops them. “Quit being so
damn passive,” she tells James. “I need you to go into flight attendant mode.”
To reinforce this, they add business with James nervously picking up and rinsing
coffee cups.
Rehearsal complete, they go to record. The scene is intense, hard, with London
demanding to know what’s going on, and James not giving an inch. The drama
grabs everybody in the room; nobody makes a sound as the scene unfolds until
Brandt calls cut.
“I had been emailing with Bob Christian at Adam & Eve since 2012,” Brandt
tells me. “Things were glacial—they moved slowly. I made three movies for an-
other company. Back when I left mainstream for adult, I did it because I wanted to
make a difference. I wasn’t going to do the same thing as everybody else. I wrote
myself out of a job,” she adds with a laugh. “I’m not just a writer, I’m a storyteller.
Storytellers write screenplays, and not just a 10-page screenplay to wrap around
sex scenes. The style I’m doing is really strong story, strong acting. Not a parody. I
do real character studies, real character development, real backstory. A fully devel-
oped concept. In two days. Yesterday we wrapped at 3 a.m.”
The next scene is a seduction between James and August Ames. “She’s the
predator, you’re the prey,” Brandt tells Ames. “Back and forth. She brings out in
you something you didn’t know was there.” Brandt turns to James. “You back off
because you can tell she hasn’t had any experience.”
“Yeah,” James says, turning to Ames and riffing on the no-experience idea:
“You’re a really shitty kisser. Have you even been with a woman before?” Every-
body cracks up, including Ames.
James and Ames sit side by side on a couch, sharing wine from a prop bottle
with a “Cherry” label, a reference to Brandt’s previous film series. James reaches
for Ames, talking about the plane crash they survived—”When I grabbed you and
Kay Brandt tells Brenda James. ‘I need
from most location houses: Nobody lives here. Sets of duplicate furni-
ture sit in unused corners of rooms, ready to move into position to give
The multi-story location house crawling up a canyon hillside is different
”‘Quit being so damn passive,’ director
you to go into flight attendant mode.’
a new look. Small camera domes inconspicuously dot the walls to record
damage by careless crews. Fortunately, the bathrooms and kitchen are
fully functional.
This is where Kay Brandt is directing her new movie, Safe Landings, based on her
own erotic novel. The movie and book were simultaneous released by Adam &
Eve this fall. Safe Landings tells the story of two women, a married flight attendant
and a young engaged woman, who survive a plane crash and build an emotional
bond that leads to a psychological dependency—and the realization that they have
to either spend their lives together or part and never see each other again.
The kitchen is the setting for today’s first scene, a confrontation between
Brenda James, who plays the flight attendant, and her husband, played by Marcus
London. The morning sunlight is supplemented by large lights shining in the
window as London regales us with a story of a production company that made a
pair of elevator sandals for him to use in scenes when he has to compensate for
his 5-foot-6 height. “They call them Air Londons.” Brandt pulls London and James
aside to confer with them, working on readings and motivation, and the hubbub
you grabbed me back, I knew everything was gonna be okay”—and going in for a
sisterly hug. Quasar holds on Ames’ face, then pans down. “It is a nice shot, the
emotions on her face,” Brandt says appreciatively, and Ames, noting her face is
off-camera, breaks into a goofy grin before settling back into character.
James pushes Ames’ hair back, goes in for a kiss. Ames pushes James away, then
lowers her resistance. No, then yes. Hands go forward and back, Ames retreats,
James follows, on top of her. Ames looks up, a look of almost-fear on her face.
James pulls up Ames’ dress, kisses her middle, moves up to her face, caresses
Ames’ breast, then moves in close. Ames returns the kiss, giving in to the seduc-
tion. James starts to unbutton her own shirt when Brandt calls her off.
“Too fast,” Brandt says. “Put your shirt back on. I’ll tell you when to move on.
Start kissing your way down her neck.”
This is going to take a while. Much like a real seduction.
Safe Landings, directed by Kay Brandt for Adam & Eve Pictures, is out now on
DVD and VOD.
around the coffee machine dissipates as everybody discreetly moves to an adjacent
room, one by one, to give them space.
Conference over, Brandt summons cameraman Mike Quasar and places the
actors (“How many scenes have we shot in this kitchen?”) for rehearsal. James is
32 | AVN.com | 11.15
Soft Landing Brenda James and August Ames engage in the art of seduction on Kay Brandt’s set.