"We rented a mansion on Florida's western coast and informed the owners that we were doing a fashion shoot. Big mistake!" notes studio executive James Ian. "We had to time the shooting of sex scenes between the maintenance staff visits. That wasn't easy! One day, a rare coral fish - flown in from the Philippines - was to be delivered for the library's salt water aquarium. We had to put the entire shoot on hold for half a day while the ‘fish expert' formally introduced the fish to the tank to prevent it from going into shock."
On another day, star and new director Rafael Alencar decided that his scene with Antton Harri had to be filmed from above - with a cherry picker. "Finding a cherry picker and getting it into the grounds on such short notice was a chore," Ian notes of the boom lift used for the scene.
But it was a chore that was worth it...the aerial shots were one of many memorable sequences from Dreams of Rafael, a release that put the company on the quality map immediately. The New York-based studio was founded by Alencar - one of the most popular stars in the industry - and Chris George ("A veteran of the fashion industry, who possesses a keen business sense," Ian notes) in 2006.
During the early stages, famed videographer Mr. Pam became an integral part of the company, which has armed itself with former European and South American fashion models - and a crew with backgrounds in art and fashion.
"Our performers will look as if they've just stepped out of a glossy fashion advertisement," Ian says. "From the beginning, we've had the good fortune of having worked with people with backgrounds in art and fashion. This has given us an advantage by having a more critical eye for aesthetics."
The focus has been on making erotic, animalistic sex with stunning models and locations. The studio followed the debut release with Obsession of D.O., starring one of their two exclusives (D.O., pictured, is joined by Rocko).
"Black Scorpion is distinctive in that we're fanatical about detail and strive for complete perfection in every production. Nothing will be brushed aside simply to make a deadline. If we have to completely redo a scene that isn't 100% up to par, we'll do it. No questions asked," Ian says. "In a recent film, we ended up with poor sound quality in a couple of scenes. We ended up revamping both scenes with two brand new actors who watched the real footage and created the new sound track. They must have been enjoying themselves because they ended up having sex and getting off, even without the camera."
For third release Hunger - combining fine dining with sexual fantasies - the studio enlisted Argentine musician Dardo to compose new music for the sex scenes, and added the CD as a bonus in the DVD package.
"We're paying close attention to the marketing and how it ties into our movies. With Hunger, we created an exclusive media kit that featured truffles made with South American spices. For our most recent production, Man Island, we created a more authentic tropical, summery feel with customized blue and green M&Ms - the colors of Caribbean waters - and had them tailored to read ‘Black Scorpion' and ‘Man Island'. We plan on pulling out all the stops in marketing and promotion for each movie."
Man Island, shot on a private island in the Mexican Gulf, was released early this year. Black Scorpion plans to release four new titles in 2008, including Cuma Sutra and Man Battle. The company will also expand this year with new division Black Rat, which will release four titles, too.
The company is also constantly expanding its website and recently partnered with Sureflix to build a streaming movie theater. Black Scorpion is also planning a promotional tour with D.O. and other models later this year. As for the shooting nightmares...those have been eliminated.
"These days, we let people know what we're doing before we rent a location," Ian says. "During a New York City-based shoot for Obsession of D.O., Josh Weston was getting pretty vocal in a scene where he's getting fucked by D.O. on a Vespa. At the same time, in the studio right above us, German Glamour magazine was shooting a cover spread. As luck would have it, somebody forgot to close the door during our filming, which we discovered after the scene was finished. We thought that the managers were going to ask us to leave, but they were all smiles and very accommodating. They even sent us a Christmas card and asked us to come back anytime." end
CONTACT: BlackScorpionvideo.com; (212) 929-4908; [email protected].
GayVN
- By
