Editrix Abby |
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Benny ProfaneNon-Conformist PornBenny Profane exploded on the purported alt-porn scene with the first in his four-video Psychocandy series. He has since been shooting bigger budget features for the bigger budgeted studios and recently wrapped a film for Adam & Eve’s Bad Seed line based on the “Stagger” Lee Sheldon legend. He took a few moments away from the editing bay to chat with ErosZine about striped socks, clean fingernails and his halcyon days of dilaudid-induced screwing that influence his films.ErosZine: Let's start with the obvious question: How did you wind up making porn? Benny Profane: Three years into it, I can no longer tell you. I think I just saw the emerging Christian hypocrisy of the Bush era, and I wanted to live as contrary to middle America's stupidity as possible. The hue and cry over stuff like same-sex marriage, or Janet Jackson's nipple, led me to realize that we live in a very sick society, so maybe fucking on camera and showing it off to everybody was a healthy act of resistance. EZ: I reviewed your first three films, the Psychocandy series. How did the initial filming go? BF: Having moved on to big budget, professional porn sets, I am amazed by how efficient and chilled out we were on the Psychocandy series. If we knew what we were doing, we probably would have fucked it all up. EZ: Did you film all three at once, or over time? BF: We pretty much shot the first two over a couple of weekends. "Psychocandy 4" took something like two years to complete because the crew was increasingly at each others throats over non-porn stuff. EZ: And you've had follow-up Psychocandy films. Will it be a long-running series? BF: Everybody asks me that. I dunno, right now I want to focus on making movies with other people's money. If Zak Sabbath and Mandy Morbid get married, maybe they'll let me tape the honeymoon night. Then that can be "Psychocandy 5". EZ: How did your choose your nom de film? BF: "Benny Profane" is one of the main characters in Thomas Pynchon's novel "V." The name just sounded pornier than "Tyrone Slothrop." EZ: Your starlets all look like they're friends of yours. Is that the case? BF: I should think that everybody is your friend when you're eating their pussy. (Sound effect of a rim shot.) Yeah, the Psychocandy girls were all friends and neighbors of ours for the most part. One or two went on to big porn careers afterwards, like Zoe Matthews. Ironically enough, Caroline Pierce is the only really famous porn star to have appeared in the series, but she wound up being as friendly and down-to-earth as anybody else. By the way, I hate the phrase "down-to-earth," but I couldn't think of another phrase for "opposite of a stuck-up jerk." EZ: So then how the hell did you talk all your friends into starring in porn? BF: It was pretty straightforward... the ones who were willing to do it didn't have to be asked twice, and the ones who I asked twice were never gonna go for it. "You wanna fuck on camera?" "Sure, lemme go shave my cooter." That's how most of the conversations sounded. EZ: You also put them in great looking clothes. Is that a passion of yours or do the women dress themselves? BF: It's definitely one of my big fetishes. The costumes were always very tied in with the girl and the mood and the overall fantasy. EZ: In the genre of "alt-porn" yours seems to occupy an even more specific niche: goth/pirate/fetish porn. Was that deliberate or incidental? BF: As for the goth thing, I'm just obsessed with goth girls in my personal life. C'mere, all goth girls reading this... I got something for ya. The pirate thing was definitely a fetish for Rebecca What, the original producer on the first three "Psychocandy" videos. EZ: You also seem to make a point of casting women of all shapes and sizes. Another personal preference? BF: Again, I have to give Rebecca credit for that. If anything, she was pissed off that the girls were too skinny and porny looking for her tastes. EZ: Is "alt-porn" more about the women, the clothes, the music? BF: I really think that "alt-porn" is just a label that somebody dreamt up as a marketing thing to reach a new audience. I like pale skin and black stockings. I like purple hair. I like to fuck. If that puts me in a specific genre, it wasn't my conscious goal. EZ: Who’s the audience for that flavor of porn? BF: As far as the audience, everyone in their thirties or younger grew up either in or around punk culture, so it's become interwoven into all forms of media these days. Everybody wants to believe that they are some kind of non-conformist or punk or rebel. That's why pop stars all wear studded belts and striped socks and shit like that. For some people, it's a real lifestyle, and for others it's just fashion. But not me. I wear a suit and tie and keep my nails clean. EZ: Who does your music, friends also? BF: Spelling Bee, our editor, composes all of the music. He watches the scenes very closely and tries to time the crescendos to the energy and rhythm of the sex, so that's probably why it fits better than, say, the generic rock or dance music in your average gonzo movie. The only time Bee used music that wasn't directly scored to the scene, it was a classical piece: Ravel's "Bolero" in volume four. I am secretly hoping that Ravel's corpse rises up from under the Parisian ground and comes looking for us, to exact his zombie revenge. I would, in fact, be sublimely thrilled to see that happen. EZ: What -- or who -- have your inspirations been? BF: So much different stuff. I love Ridley Scott and Takashi Miike. I obsess over Alejandro Jodorowsky movies, manga by Nirasawa, Pynchon novels. All of these get referenced in my work on some small level. I also love drugs. I've had a lot of problems with opiates over the years. For better or worse I have eroticized heroin and morphine in my head, so a lot of "Psychocandy" has a very dreamy, druggy vibe. Somebody called my stuff "shoegazer porn” and I really liked that description, because back when bands like Jesus And Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine were in vogue, I was laying around getting high and fucking lovely, crazy girls. A lot of my movies just replay those halcyon, somewhat orphic days of dilaudid and rainstorms and long pink hair falling into my face. ...I think my cock just got hard. Excuse me. EZ: That’s poetic! And hilarious! So were there any mainstream porn movies that made a particularly lasting impression on you? BF: Not really. I like the camera work in Jules Jordan's movies; it's very intimate. I don't think we ever pulled off that level of intimacy, although we tried a couple of times. EZ: You just completed a film for Adam & Eve's new alt line and I was lucky enough to visit the shoot for an afternoon. The wardrobe and set looked amazing. Tell us what to expect. BF: We just shot "Stagger Lee" for Bad Seed, and we (that is, the royal we) are very excited by the rough cut that's playing in the editing room. It's based on the true story of "Stagger" Lee Sheldon, the man who inspired countless folk tales, blues songs, etc. It's set in 1895 and has a really surreal look, kind of a mix between 19th century burlesque and 20th century punk rock decay. The cast and crew created this bizarre little fantasy world, like nothing you've ever seen anybody try in a porn movie before. It stars Page Morgan's mouth, Caroline Pierce's ass, Satine Phoenix's eyes, and ALL of Sasha Grey, so it's gonna be most excellent. EZ: What else do you have in the works? BF: I think I'm going to start making darker, spookier movies. I've got a fetish for Nazi and fascist imagery that I might explore in the next movie. I also want to shoot more girl/girl stuff. EZ: Cool, we’ll look forward to that. Thanks for your time, Benny! I can't wait to see the new movie! BF: Thank you, Abby. [Written April 2007] |
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