Page 96 - AVN May 2018

FEATURE | (Continued from page 54)
in different formats, and they have their own system in
place and I don’t know that system yet, so I feel like I’m
flying blind and that makes me uncomfortable. And I know
that I’m being scrutinized and judged a lot harder because
they’re evaluating. Honestly, the biggest change for me is
that I don’t get to write my own scripts anymore. They write
the scripts and give them to me and any changes have to go
through this whole chain, whereas I had so much control
before.
Tibbals reconnected with Daniels after she wrapped Highway
Home, a story about a young woman on a journey of self-discovery
that culminates in a reconciliation with her past. Here’s what she
had to say:
Well, how did it go?
It went well. It was very different and I felt very out of my
element the whole time, but I was still very pleased with the
performances and the footage we captured. I think [Digital
Playground] will be happy.
I had my same crew, which almost made it more difficult
because they all felt out of their element too. These guys
and I have worked together, most of us for over a decade,
and we have our system in place and the way that we do
things. And then you take us collectively and put us in a
situation where all of the protocols and the system and
everything is different and we are all learning together—
when it comes to paperwork and all of that, it was a little
bit like the blind leading the blind. Digital Playground is
very detail oriented and I am used to having more creative
freedom, so I felt a little confined at moments—but the flip
side of that was that I also felt a little bit relieved to not
have to make every single decision, especially considering
everything that’s going on [in the “off set” world] right now.
I LIKE THE COMEDIES
AND THEN MY SECOND
FAVORITE IS REALLY DARK
AND SUSPENSEFUL. I HAVE
A REALLY HARD TIME
WRITING JUST A ‘NORMAL’
ROMANCE.
FEATURE | By Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals
Team Stormy on the set of “Highway Home.” Bottom right, Arya Fae, Kimber Woods and Jenna Sativa. Photos by Rick Garcia/@IndustryByRick.
I spoke to [director, producer and performer]
Keiran [Lee], and he said “I’ve been telling Stormy
to join MindGeek and Digital [Playground] for a
long time. I’ve always felt she was held back in
some ways at Wicked and always had to play second
fiddle to other directors.”
I’m too loyal for my own good. I probably should
have left a while ago.
...and now you have. So, how do you feel
about MindGeek’s reputation for piracy and
generally gutting and monopolizing the
industry?
I felt like I was meeting with the enemy. It was
really hard for me to accept, and there’s no easy
answer to that. What I did not know—and I will say
was kind of eye-opening—is that their reputation is
far worse than what they’re really doing. Like I was
always told from Wicked that they were stealing our
content, but then they showed me that they have
a deal in place with Wicked. I knew they ran the
Wicked website, but what I didn’t know was that
[Wicked] made separate edited clips specifically for
the tube sites.
I didn’t know that it was like that. I still don’t
like it, but that’s just the changing environment and
technology. I wish people still went to record stores
and bought CDs, but that’s not the nature of the
business. It’s either adapt ... or don’t.
96 | AVN.com | 5.18
So you’re adapting via this new contract.
What does it involve?
I’ll be directing for all the different projects under
the Digital Playground label—like, their series, their
scenes, and their movies—every month, so there’s
not a set number of projects required because they
format things a little bit differently than I’m used
to in relation to the way my old contract [with
Wicked] was structured. As far as performing, we’re
starting with two scenes—one for Brazzers and one
for Digital. The bulk of my deal is directing, but
I’ll have the option to do more [performing] if and
however often I want to.
Why do you think they hired you?
I know that they are wanting to return Digital
Playground back to its original classic format,
which is back to the feature movies that they were
once known for. ... And I’ve been directing features
exclusively for fifteen years, and I know that they
are very excited to add a female director to the
MindGeek brand. And hopefully, they hired me
because I’m awesome and I know what I’m doing.
Your first shoot for them is coming up at the
beginning of April. Are you nervous?
Oh, I am shitting my pants. I don’t like change
and literally everything, even the budget form, is
different. They upload differently, they need things
How do you feel about your future in this new
environment?
Well, depending on how fucked-up the paperwork is ...
aside from that, I’m feeling pretty confident!
Honestly, I feel a little bit confined, but I hope that as the
company and I develop our relationship—both creatively
and our working relationship—that I’ll be able to address
some of those things and the crack in the door will be
widened for creative input and ideas. I feel like they are
open to listening, I just have to prove myself first.
As a takeaway, what do you want the lovers (and the
haters) to know about Stormy Daniels, Director?
I hope that people, both cast and crew, don’t treat me
differently on set because of everything that’s going on.
That would affect performances for sure, and that’s the last
thing I want to have happen—because making great movies
... writing and directing and creating interesting projects for
the fans and viewers, as well as for the talent ... that’s still
my first love.
Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals is a sociologist and author. Contact her via
Twitter at @drchauntelle.