Buttman’s Brain

The following article appeared in Buttman Magazine Vol. 5, No. 5, in October 2002, as John was editing the film that would win a record 11 AVN Awards…

The Fashionistas

Behind The Scenes

By John Stagliano
“The Fashionistas” is my attempt to make a high-budget adult film. I wanted to do the hardest film I thought I could do well. I wanted to shoot a 35-mm film that would give me the experience of writing, producing and directing an adult project that is in many ways similar to a mainstream production.

And I also wanted to do the best “porno” movie I could possibly do. Not just a couples movie with bland, middle-of-the-road-type of sex, but a movie with cutting-edge sexuality in it: the kind that you see being explored so much today in the gonzo genre. I wanted it to be a truly sophisticated adult film.

And the tools for creating such a project are abundant here in Los Angeles. The American girls getting in the business today are stronger than ever before. So many of them are doing gagging deep-throat like Linda Lovelace never dreamed of doing, and gaping anal sex that would have shocked the most jaded porn viewer just a few years ago — rough sex of all kinds that no pornographer dared shoot in the recent past. I wanted to be able to use these wonderful tools now available to me to help create a film that glorified the spirit of these men and women in porno today. I’m not trying to shock anybody; only entertain in the most primal way, in a way that is new and exciting to the uninitiated.

I had the pleasure of meeting Belladonna when I was starting to work on this script at the beginning of this year. She seemed ideal for the lead female character that I was creating. In fact, the character changed to better utilize Belladonna’s unique talents as I continued writing the script with her in mind. I had always intended the male lead to be Rocco Siffredi. Rocco and I have worked together numerous times in the past. He brings incredible talent to any project he works on, as well as a total dedication that is rare in this business.

After I saw the scene they did together in Rocco’s movie “Super Moto Hard,” I knew that they were ideally cast in the lead roles.

The most difficult role to fill was the one of the second lead character, Helena. I really wanted a beautiful woman who could fill the role of a professional Domme. I was incredibly lucky to find Taylor St. Clair for this part. Besides being a part-time professional Dominant as well as an adult film star (with great skills at face-sitting!), she was also a tall, strong woman with huge, firm, natural tits!

My love triangle was complete. Now I could experiment with the male-submissive stuff that excited me tremendously in the context of a big-budget film. The shooting went exceptionally well. I used the same cinematographer that I used on “Face Dance.” His contribution to “The Fashionistas” was enormous.

At the time of this writing I am in the middle of editing this monster that I have created. Originally I swore to everyone that this would only be a one-cassette-, slightly over two-hour-movie. But I’ve found that I still can’t cut my ideas short. In the end I’m thinking this could be a three- or four-hour movie. Actually there may be more than one version of this film: one for video cassette and DVD that will have all the tease and sex full-length in the final product, and one for a film-cut theatrical version that will have to be less than two hours long. This version will have to be redesigned for this very different market. Since it’s impossible for a couple to fuck in a theater while they watch the film, I will keep the sex and tease scenes very short. Actually, I should warn my fans that all versions of this film will be very heavy on dialogue — I hope not too much so — but my goal is to make an adult film that is as close to a mainstream film as possible, and still be a highly erotic movie.

Now I have to get back to editing. I have no idea if I can get this thing done in time for my release date — but I’m trying…

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