Renowned Penthouse photographer and adult video auteur Phillip Mond has returned with Sinema, due out in April through Club Jenna.
Known for his AVN award-winning opus Zazel (1996), Mond now runs his own Florida-based production company with wife Gina, who stars in Sinema as an erotic photographer whose work comes to life in erotically-charged fantasy sequences.
"Gina basically carries the whole movie," Mond told AVN.com. "She's the chameleon of the story; she changes outfits, hair color, styles. The structure is six vignettes, no dialogue, knit together by a girl who is working on the computer trying to get some images done. She gets inspired by her own work, and that leads into different situations."
When asked how he approached directing his spouse in the new movie, Mond replied, "It's very difficult to describe. It's sort of like things don't exist anymore when you look through the lens; you're seeing the movie instead of seeing real people. The collaboration worked from both sides of the camera, Gina's and mine. It wasn't always easy, but in the end, we both had some say in it – and it clicked very well."
Mond, who designs all of the sets and costumes for his movies, told AVN that he made Sinema partly in response to criticism of his Club Jenna-distributed release Insexts (2006).
"With my last movie Insexts, some people complained that it was too artsy," Mond said. "They wanted more sex, so in Sinema, we tried to give the audience a lot of sex in a short time while still keeping an artistic flavor. It's a high-energy movie; it doesn't stop, it doesn't give the viewer time to fast-forward. There's no prelude to anything, it goes straight to the action. The film is just as important as the sex, so we looked for the ideal combination of the two, and it worked out well."
Born and raised in the Netherlands, Mond graduated from the Rieks Academy in Amsterdam, where he majored in sculpting. He began his career as a sculptor and art professor before entering the world of professional photography, selling his work to European editions of New Look, Playboy and others. In the early '90s, Mond began shooting magazine pictorials and videos for Penthouse, playing a key role in shaping the magazine's look. He made the transition to directing hardcore for Metro in 1996 with Zazel.
Mond's recent productions have benefited from his access to Florida's adult-industry talent pool; locally-based performers Chloe Dior and Jordan Ashley both appear in Sinema. Club Jenna's Miami-based director Bill Fisher (Chatte Magnifique) has lately been working with Mond as a cameraman.
While awaiting the release of Sinema, Mond promises "many, many more movies to come." The director's upcoming projects include the bizarre PandeMONDium, a story-driven feature due for release in May.
Club Jenna ships Sinema to stores April 19.
