LOS ANGELES—The road to the set of Adam & Eve’s next feature winds through the Hollywood Hills, curling around narrow street corners high above Sunset Boulevard.
Then at the end of a hidden driveway comes the reward, a beautiful view of the city that will provide the backdrop for the story-driven porn that’s about to unfold.
“This aside from all the homes I saw in Santa Monica felt the most beach,” director Kay Brandt tells me as we walk across the secluded pool deck on this casual Friday morning. “This feels like a beach house to me.”
It’s a good thing because Brandt & Co. intend to recreate lots of beachfront boffing during the next four days as she brings Selena Kitt’s notorious novel Babysitting the Baumgartners to life. The anticipated adaption marks the first time one of Kitt’s New York Times best-selling books is being turned into a film.
“I’m thankful that we’re going to have sun,” Brandt says. “I was able to rearrange my shot schedule because Sunday is supposed to rain…Monday is supposed to be thundershowers. We’re catching B-roll on the 15th on the beach, weather permitting.”
The volatile weather pattern, circling helicopters and nearby construction noise will be recurring challenges for Brandt’s larger-than-average crew—it’s about 10 deep—that’s filled with experts in their craft. For starters, Mike Quasar is the director of photography; David Lord the production manager; and Nate Liquor is running the second camera.
Meanwhile seasoned event photographer Rick Garcia received the nod to shoot stills for Brandt, who wrote and directed Safe Landings last year for Adam & Eve, adapting the screenplay from her book of the same name.
That movie received six nominations for the 2016 AVN Awards and was released as an e-book last summer through Kitt's Excessica Publishing. It also paved the way for Brandt to get the green light for this big-budget undertaking that is Adam & Eve’s most elaborate production this year.
The Michigan-based Kitt gave Brandt her blessing to adapt the book, consulting on everything from casting decisions to wardrobe. Brandt brings a breadth of experience that includes directing more than 40 adult movies since 2009 as well as authoring eight erotic novels en route to achieving her own best-selling author status on Amazon.com. Uniting the world of erotic literature with porn is a natural progression, Brandt says, and she’s just the person to do it with Adam & Eve’s backing.
“We’re actually filming chronologically for most of the day,” Brandt explains. “The last scene of the day is not, but we’re going from the first chapter in the book.”
That means the initial order of business is to begin the seduction of the babysitter at the heart of Kitt’s kinky story, a naive young woman named Ronnie played by the adorable Sara Luvv.
But the first plot twist isn’t in the script. Brandt tells me she already had to replace her male lead Ryan Driller, the popular performer who called in sick and couldn’t play the role of Mr. Baumgartner, aka Doc.
On the surface it’s a major setback, but Brandt could not have improvised any better, hiring Mick Blue to be the horny husband, who along with his wife Carrie is going to do lots of delightfully dirty things to Ronnie.
Mick’s heroic save worked out because Carrie is being played by the dreamy Anikka Albrite, the 2015 AVN Female Performer of the Year who happens to be Mick’s wife in real life.
“The other options we had this morning would’ve been OK, but their chemistry of truly being in love is going to be what sells it,” Brandt reasons. “It is what it is. We’re used to this. This is not the first time this has happened to me…”
Brandt says when she first heard Driller was out she consulted with her production manager Lord and then called a couple of agents to see who might be able to step in. Then she placed a call to North Carolina, where Adam & Eve’s Head of Production Rachel Vigneaux is stationed.
“She was great. You never know when you’re calling the head of production for a company. She texted me a couple names,” Brandt continues, noting that Vigneaux endorsed Mick coming aboard, calling it “a wonderful idea.”
“She was like, ‘you’re going to be fine. It’s going to be great. You’re doing the right thing.’
“It’s a good thing this is a sex-heavy movie…He’s got a little bit of dialogue to learn but today is mostly sex. So he can cram tonight.”
No doubt Blue will be cramming later, but not necessarily with script in hand.
The Austrian-born stud is in the midst of his 16th year in porn, rising to the pinnacle of his profession as the two-time and reigning AVN Male Performer of the Year. He’s done it with remarkable reliability, a tireless work ethic and sexual performances that have positioned him as one of the most requested guys in the business.
As fate would have it, he had been booked to shoot for Mason today, but there was no female talent so the scene was cancelled. Not surprisingly, Mick volunteered to chauffeur Anikka to her shoot.
“Anikka is going to have some really long days this weekend and she doesn’t really like to drive at night,” Blue tells me. “I said, ‘I’m free today. Why don’t I just drive you to the set and pick you up later?’”
When they were halfway there, Albrite got the call that Brandt needed backup and she recommended her hubby.
“I don’t even know what [Ryan] was getting [compensated],” Blue continues. “It doesn’t matter at this point. I can spend four days with my wife…money is secondary.
“I dropped her off and I went back [home] to get wardrobe for the movie and now I’m here.”
Blue is typically booked every day of the month either for the studio he co-owns with Anikka and Maestro Claudio, BAM Visions, or someone else. Fortunately, he says he was able to postpone three BAM shoots in order to clear his schedule for Adam & Eve.
“Usually I don’t like to cancel productions because I know girls are counting on the work and the makeup artists, too,” Blue explains. “But we were able to fix everything. All the girls were able to keep their bookings.”
Lounging on the cozy couch in the living room while Brandt captures establishing shots of Luvv and Albrite laying by the pool, Blue says the last feature he did with his wife was Couples Wide Open, which coincidentally was also for Adam & Eve and recently got released.
“But this is the first time we actually play what we are in a feature movie,” Blue notes.
Brandt’s adaption calls for a whopping 14 sex scenes, nine of which involve Blue. He’ll do two with Albrite today from the first chapter, both of which entail Luvv masturbating in the hallway watching them. There are only four characters in the film—A.J. Applegate plays a supporting role as another babysitter (Gretchen) and will be on the set for Day 4.
Luvv, who turned 22 three days ago, emerged from an open casting call in February for the part of Ronnie. A fifth year performer who grew up in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley, she’s become a regular for Adam & Eve, but this assignment without question is her most high-profile to date.
“I’m excited,” Luvv tells me. “As I was reading the book I kind of started to realize why she wanted me so badly for this part. I do kind of fit that role of a young, innocent girl who gets corrupted.
“My first thought when I was reading the book was this character is very sheltered. … There’s a scene where she says, ‘is that going to hurt when you shave my vagina?’ Like I know nothing, which is really funny, and it’s going to be fun to dip into that.”
Luvv continues, “I also really enjoyed just how nonchalant the Baumgartners are about being sexual with me… ‘Oh honey, it’s OK, let me take care of you.’ They’re very nurturing about the entire thing. It adds a little more of a perverted depth to it.”
With more than 230 movie credits for all the top studios, Luvv is also no stranger to getting naked with Blue and Albrite.
“I’ve worked with Mick a few more times than I’ve worked with Anikka,” she says. “I’ve only worked with Anikka once and it was not a one-on-one scene so I’m really excited to get her to myself. It was like a group girl scene, there was like five of us girls. It was an orgy-type thing.
“When I did do that scene with Anikka there was a lot of really good chemistry there. We kind of just kept gravitating towards each other. It’s going to be really good and I’m excited to see her play that part.”
The former hostess at Acapulco and cam girl says she enjoys every opportunity to act before the sex.
“Because I like having that backstory in mind during the sex so I can kind of reference that while I’m doing it and I can put emotion into it, rather than just doing it for no reason,” Luvv admits. “There’s so much history between the characters throughout this movie, all of these emotions that change during each sex scene.”
She tried camming first for LiveJasmin and then for Streamate before breaking into porn in 2012.
“It flew by,” Luvv says. “It’s insane and I’ve learned so much and met so many incredible people. I’m so happy that it happened.”
When she isn’t on set, she makes regular use of her Disneyland pass; she was just there with some friends on her birthday.
“I do that a lot. I also have two cats and I hang out with them a lot,” Luvv says. “I take myself out to dinner. I’m very much a loner. Dinner alone… I’ll go out and have a drink. I’ll go to Disneyland alone, I don’t care, it’s fun. Sometimes you go out and you meet new people.”
By 1 o’clock, it’s time to stop mousing around and get serious with the first sequence. Anikka rubs suntan lotion onto Sara’s back and gets her topless as Mick ventures outside to jack off in front of them.
“We gotta make this ridiculous thing work,” Brandt jokes in between takes.
“That’s some fine jacking off you did there,” Quasar cracks.
When the movie wrapped, Brandt said it all couldn’t have been scripted much better.
“After we got over that first challenge with the helicopter and the work being done on the house above the location, everything else went smoothly,” she concluded. “I think the movie's going to turn out beautifully.”
Calling Blue’s chemistry with Albrite and Luvv “off the hook,” Brandt said the scenes are “loaded with passion.”
“I think we captured the book almost exactly.”
Adam & Eve’s Babysitting the Baumgartners will be released later this year.
Photo by Rick Garcia.
