Page 31 - AVN December 2017

LIGHTS, CAMERA
“Let me give you a couple hints,” he tells the Instagram Live audience.
“She’s a brunette and she’s got the most amazing eyes I’ve ever seen.”
The crew applauds as Rhoades is revealed.
“We’re getting a lot of love from all over the world,” Lansky says,
checking the comments pouring into the stream.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking live,” Rhoades admits.
She opens her turquoise jewelry box and then Sunderland, in what
has become tradition, places the ‘V’ pendant around her neck.
“Do I look more beautiful now?” Rhoades says with a smile. “It’s so
pretty, thank you.”
She blows a kiss in the direction of Lansky’s iPhone.
Slipping into her black Louboutins, Rhoades declares, “I’m going to
sleep in them.”
“SHOOTING TODAY WAS
REALLY AWESOME.
OBVIOUSLY, EVERYTHING GREG DOES IS OVER THE
TOP AND AMAZING SO I
FELT LIKE I WAS TREATED
LIKE A PRINCESS.”
—LANA RHOADES “I’m so happy,” she adds. “They’re so shiny. Bloody shoes.”
They toast with glasses of Moet & Chandon champagne as Lansky
signs off. Then almost as if on cue, Cardi B’s former No. 1 song “Bodak
Yellow”—in which she raps about red bottoms being “bloody shoes”—
comes on the stereo system.
The significance of attaining Vixen Angel status isn’t lost on her
supporters, Rhoades tells Lansky.
“One of my fans got really mad every time it was someone else,” she
informs him.
“Well, now he can be really happy,” he replies.
There’s no question Rhoades has amassed an enthusiastic fan base
since making her porn debut in April 2016. Then in January at the
34th annual AVN Awards in Las Vegas, Rhoades was chosen Hottest
Newcomer in the Fan Awards voting.
She carried that momentum into 2017, landing the first showcase
movie of her career, Lana, written and directed by Lansky for his sister
studio, Tushy.
Rhoades plays an intern turned escort who undergoes a sexual
awakening in the feature, performing her first anal sex scene with Jean
Val Jean and her first double-penetration scene with Mick Blue and Val
Jean, among other hardcore encounters.
Lansky tells me the way Lana came together reminds him of Riley
Reid’s 2016 AVN Award-winning Best Star Showcase.
“There are moments where you just have a natural momentum
without trying,” Lansky says. “Everything just pieces together. She was
taking a break and she wanted to make a strong comeback. Honestly, we
worked extremely hard on it but there was an element of magic and luck
that turned that movie better than ever.”
Rhoades adds, “I’ve re-watched it since then and it’s even more special
to me now than it was when we were shooting it.
“There’s something about it that just … I don’t know. There’s nothing
else like it. It’s really classy and beautiful and I think it’s something that
people can watch for a long time. It’s a collector’s item, I think.”
As the crew gears up before heading to the shoot location in
Hollywood, Lansky can barely contain his excitement, telling Rhoades
for the first time he has hired five male models to be in the photos with
her.
“It’s a big deal. I’ve never had guys in the background,” he says. “I
know that [Jean Val Jean] went on a special diet just for today.”
“Really?” Rhoades replies. “Why, did he gain weight?”
“He wanted to look extra fucking slim and beautiful,” Lansky jokes.
It turns out Val Jean, whom they also call JVJ, is not the only A-list
stud waiting for Rhoades to arrive at the studio. Ryan Driller and Robby
Above, Lana Rhoades, sitting pretty. Below, director Greg Lansky and his cast and crew on the set of the November Vixen Angel shoot.
Photos courtesy Vixen.com.
Echo are also here, along with newcomer Sergeant O’Hara; a friend of the company, Monty, is
the fifth lucky guy who got the call.
Lansky’s wife Jennifer, the former fashion designer for Guess! who styles all the Vixen
Angel shoots, tells me the guys will be dressed in ’80s-style tuxes.
“Every guy looks great in a tuxedo,” Jenn says.
The Lansky Crew, which today is about 12 deep, will photograph Rhoades on two different
sets—first a red seamless backdrop and second a red carpet in front of a green ivy faux wall
with VIXEN in white plexiglass letters adorning it. Call it the Vixen Awards meets the Vixen
After-Party, complete with a red velvet rope and gold stanchions.
“It’s awards season right now all around the world,” Lansky reasons. “A lot of our color
code in our company is award-like—black, red, gold, which is very Oscar-like. We wanted to
celebrate that time of the year in creating a theme that’s consistent with what’s going on.
For us, awards have always been a big part of the company and we’ve never turned it into an
actual artistic vision. So we re-created a set. It’s pretty cool.”
Lansky and his first three studios—Blacked, Tushy and Vixen—have won a combined 31
AVN Awards in the past three years. Last month he launched a fourth imprint, Blacked Raw, a
grittier offshoot of his high-end interracial brand, Blacked.
While Rhoades gets her makeup refreshed, Jenn Lansky and her two assistants for the day
are sitting in the next room sewing various pieces of wardrobe to fit her exact measurements.
“We’re making stuff cropped,” Jenn explains. “We’re doing it customized so everything
looks a little sexier. … We want to show off the Vixen [lingerie] sets so we want to make it
higher cut.”
Jenn brought a wide selection of clothes and accessories that fit the theme, but Greg will
make the final decision on what Lana wears.
“I have a lot of looks so it all comes down to what Greg is going to feel,” Jenn says. “Is he
going to feel more Hollywood? Or he is going to feel more ’80s?” Continued on next page
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