Page 53 - AVN April 2020

Abigail wants to let Melissa down gently
and tell her that Parker is not the answer
to her problems.
A huge oak tree arches over small
tables, set up to resemble an outdoor
patio. Bird cages hang from the
branches, adding a touch of boho charm.
Production manager/assistant director
Mo Reese asks where the extras will sit
and director of photography Bryn Pryor
surveys the setup, wearing his camera in
an Easyrig. They decide to leave some
tables uncleared and Calvert asks that the
coffee cups be filled, so they’ll have the
right heft when the actors pick them up.
“You do know that he has two other
girlfriends, right?” Abigail says to Melissa
at one point. “You’re the only one who
wants more from him than he can give.
You deserve to be with someone who
wants you like you want them.”
Soon this pivotal conversation is captured
and attention turns to Kira Noir and Small
Hands, who are negotiating their own open
relationship. “It’s the only time where the
two storylines intersect,” Calvert explains.
“It’s two big conversations and I haven’t
decided how to cut them together.”
Serena Blair, Isiah Maxwell and Michael
Vegas round out the eight-person cast.
Calvert confides that her inspiration is
Easy, director Joe Swanberg’s anthology
series on Netflix that follows a group of
Chicagoans moving in and out of romantic
relationships.
It’s not just the dialogue that differs from
many adult sets. There are new faces
on the crew—many of them women.
According to Calvert, this is “important
and deliberate.”
When Calvert went to Spain to act in
Erika Lust’s The Intern, she says, “It was
really, really nice that there were so many
women on set. And I wanted to create the
same environment for my actors here that
I had in Spain. … I have a woman on the
’I love the bright, white gonzo style … but that’s
not what this is. It’s something different. ”
grip and electric department; I have women P.A.s. And quite a few of
them have never been on an adult set before.” That includes the stills
photographer as well.
Calvert has directed all of the women in the cast before, either in
customs or for all-girl studio Girlsway. And she’s quite familiar with her
leading man: “I’ve never directed Derrick but I’ve worked with him a
million times.”
Pierce is also excited to be on a Lust set. He observes that the focus
in sex scenes is on emotions rather than mechanics. For instance,
during an anal scene with Foxxx he was told to “just have fun” and not
worry about opening up for the camera. “I said, ‘How will you know it’s
anal?’” Cameraman Pryor told him, “I’ll get a glimpse of it somewhere.”
Pierce also says, “It’s nice when you know the director has gone
through the same shit you’re going through. Casey is the consummate
artist.”
Before she got into adult, Calvert says, she watched mostly amateur
porn. Her primary interest in the industry was its value as a safe place
to explore her sexuality, including an interest in BDSM. But soon she
began to explore making custom videos. Then came the opportunity to
work for Girlsway.
“Shooting customs is creating a product that specifically caters to
one individual—what one person wants to see,” she says. “Shooting
for [Girlsway] is creating a product that caters to multiple people. They
≠ STORY: SHARAN STREET ≠ PHOTOGRAPHY: ANNA DEMARCO
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