Page 41 - AVN October 2025

“It takes a village...”
Performer Blake Lovely is wrapping up her first directing project, Once Upon a TS Summer,
here at this familiar location house with a three-way scene with Aubrey Kate and Sage Roux.
“Getting to be in the director’s seat for the first time, especially this early in my career, is
incredible. It’s such a blessing. I’m so lucky to have the people involved in this project sign
on to be a part of it,” Lovely says. “I wanted to tell a story, while making some hot-ass porn
[chuckle], that sheds a human light. It’s a real summer coming-of-age story. Each scene
connects, every bit of dialogue leads into the next. People will mention other characters
before they appear. We wanted to make it feel as grounded and real as possible. It’s going
to feel like a ‘90s coming-of-age throwback movie. I’m even driving a bright-red Dodge in
the beginning shots.
“I have a little bit of jitters, directing and performing. I’m just used to being a performer and
a model. I’ve done a lot of work this year for big studios—I’m super-blessed and honored
that they come to me, thanks for doing that, please keep booking me—and now getting to
do this on top of that is a dream come true.”
Lovely wrote the initial story for this Grooby production, about her character coming home
and taking a summer job as a teaching assistant before her senior year in college. She
collaborated with AVN Hall of Fame producer/director Andre Madness on the script. “He
came up with the dialogue, the story was me,” she says. “He brought his own flair, which
is incredible. I found myself laughing out loud.”
Madness isn’t the only Hall of Fame veteran supporting Lovely’s maiden effort: producer
Brah Bones is production manager and director/performer Aiden Starr is director of
photography.
“She basically came up with this idea. I love the humor in it,” Bones tells me. “We scouted
every location, and went over our shot list: she’s in front of the camera, so we went over
how we wanted to shoot it ahead of time. Now she can focus on the acting.
“Aiden and I wouldn’t put our name on something if it wasn’t something special.”
In the schoolroom set, Kate and Roux sit at a desk, filling in paperwork, as techs set
lights. A globe a little smaller than a bowling ball sits on the desk next to a nameplate that
says “Ms. Kate.” Fresh from wardrobe, Kate walks in wearing a half-fastened corset. “Can
you help me with this?” Starr helps her secure it, and then Kate pirouettes for inspection,
returning a minute later with the corset peeking out from under a pink jacket, along with a
short pink skirt and spiked heels with nerdy horn-rim glasses counteracting the open jacket
for the pretty-girls.
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