Page 50 - AVN November 2017

GAYVN
FOUR PLAY
CockyBoys and Bruce LaBruce team up for an epic anthology
NOW PLAYING | By Brady Jansen
Y
You’d think that Jake Jaxson has seen it all. It has to be hard to shock
the acclaimed pornographer, right? But while on location in Berlin
for a shoot by director Bruce LaBruce, the producer turned to fellow
CockyBoys creator RJ Sebastian and shared a moment.
“The one thing that sticks out for me the most was shooting a scene
for the short film The Purple Army Faction, which is kind of an homage to
his film The Raspberry Reich. Bruce has them fucking at the Berlin Wall.
Here we were, the Berlin Wall,” Jaxson says with a laugh. “They had
gotten permits to do the scene there, and it was 10 o’clock at night.
The guys are leaned up against the wall, fucking! I’ll never forget it. I
just kept looking at this and then looking at RJ going, ‘They’re fucking on
the Berlin Wall!’”
Jaxson still marvels at the memory, almost like it was a dream. “First
of all, I do not think about creative things that I do not believe are
possible. So if someone’s like, ‘Yeah, I want them up against the Wall
and then he’s gonna pull his pants down and he’s gonna fuck him…’”
he says, pausing in disbelief. “It was so cool and interesting, and I just
couldn’t believe it. That was incredible. It was really fun to be on the
shoot and to see it—but at the same time making sure that I didn’t get
in the way.”
The short is one of four that CockyBoys is producing for writer/
independent filmmaker LaBruce, whose unique voice has found life in
a wealth of provocative works like Hustler White, Skin Gang and 2010’s
L.A. Zombie—his last foray into the gay adult world.
“This project allowed me to return to my guerrilla filmmaking roots
in a way. So although we had permits, which I’ve often worked without
in the past, we were shooting sex scenes in public spaces and trying to
avoid the authorities, which is always fun,” LaBruce says. “I worked
with a great film team in Madrid who shoot a lot of commercials,
so it was a real pleasure to work with professionals with a high-end
camera.”
The collaboration was initiated after LaBruce had asked performer
Tayte Hanson—whom he had befriended online and had worked with
CockyBoys previously—about the studio. Hanson put LaBruce in
touch, and encouraged him to propose directing for them.
“I must confess, I didn’t know too much about CockyBoys before I
approached them, but I was definitely aware of their brand,” LaBruce
says. “I knew that they were a studio that was really emphasizing the
personalities and star personae of their actors, and that they were
doing narrative stuff.”
THIS PROJECT ALLOWED ME TO
They had a meeting in May when he was in New York City where
they got to know each other and discuss ideas.
RETURN TO MY GUERRILLA
“I was really excited. He came in to the office and met myself and RJ,
and we just kind of shot the shit,” Jaxson says. “He wanted to feel us
FILMMAKING ROOTS IN A WAY.
out, like how we work. We talked and laughed and got a sense of each
other, and then literally about three weeks later, he sent me some short
film scripts and said, ‘How about we do one of these?’ And it happened
SO ALTHOUGH WE HAD PERMITS, WHICH I’VE OFTEN WORKED
very quickly. I said yes right at the start.”
Jaxson was clear that he wanted it to be LaBruce’s full vision. While
he suggested some CockyBoys for the project, the director cast the
WITHOUT IN THE PAST, WE WERE SHOOTING SEX SCENES IN PUBLIC
films as he wished.
“I wanted this to have every opportunity to be the best Bruce
SPACES AND TRYING TO AVOID
LaBruce movie that it could be. I was like, ‘Let me give you access to
all the tools in my toolbox and let’s see what we come up with.’ One
of the first guys I pitched was Allen King, and he was like, ‘Oh my God!
THE AUTHORITIES, WHICH IS ALWAYS FUN.
Allen’s your guy?!’ I started pitching people and he got really excited by
—BRUCE LABRUCE
them. We signed Sean Ford, and Bruce was over the moon—and he
wanted to work with Colby Keller. So those things just organically sort
of fell into place. And as I sit here today, I could not be happier with
where things are.”
As for the thought of trying to co-direct along with LaBruce? Jaxson
laughs at the suggestion.
“It’s a collaboration because we are all bringing our own resources
to the table, but I would be foolish to co-direct with him … he doesn’t
need a co-director. He’s got a point of view that is unique to him and
50 | AVN.com | 11.17
Director Bruce LaBruce took the actors in “Diablo in Berlin” to a cemetery to shoot the short film. Photo courtesy CockyBoys.
only him. And that would dilute what I think is exciting about this project, which is bringing
his viewpoint, his style, his energy—I call it the ‘so wrong it’s right’ point of view of the world.
I live in a completely different space, so instead of trying to be him, act like him or direct like
him, I’d rather just support his work in that regard.”
The inspiration for the films originated with LaBruce’s travels.
“I’ve spend a fair amount of time in Madrid, and I was traveling there in June anyway for a
solo photos show called ‘Faggotry’ at the gallery that represents me there, La Fresh. So I wrote
the films around some great locations in the city, including the famous Almudena Cemetery
and the infamous Aqueduct of Segovia. In Berlin, I shot a kind of variation on my movie The
Raspberry Reich, including abduction and fuckwashing, which is a theme in several of my films—
and many photographs and Polaroids. And Fleapit is my homage to B-movie theatres, when
people used to have illicit sex while watching movies.”
LaBruce notes that the Berlin shoots were especially difficult because they had a bit less
money and crew.
“It was a challenge. We also had heavy rain on one outdoor shoot, which always sucks. And
of course we shot the four films in six days: three in Madrid and three in Berlin, which isn’t a
lot of time for the fairly ambitious scripts we were shooting. So getting all the material I wanted
was challenging, but we managed it. The most rewarding part so far has been watching the
footage in editing, because it all looks so fantastic!”