SUN VALLEY, Calif.—The gaffers have adjusted the lighting.
The camera operator is in position.
And bottles of lube have been placed strategically in the corner of the Adult Time set.
Everything seems primed for shooting to commence—until production assistant J.J. Graves approaches Stella Smut, who is seated on a nearby couch.
“Excuse me,” Graves says as he hovers over his boss for the day. “Would you mind holding my cock?”
Graves extends his arm and dangles a thick, flesh-colored dildo inches from the face of one of the top up-and-coming directors in porn.
“See? Sssseeeeeeee?” says Smut, bursting into laugher as she shoos away her prankster. “This is what I have to deal with every day.”
Or at least every day she’s on an “Oopsie!” set—where the tomfoolery and shenanigans between cast and crew fit right in with the campy, light-hearted content that’s every bit as zany as its name suggests.
Launched in May, “Oopsie!” is quickly becoming one of the most-watched series in the Adult Time catalog. Each episode opens with 60-90 seconds of slapstick comedy, complete with over-the-top facial expressions and silly scenarios that will evoke chuckles from both cynics and simps.
Siri Dahl discretely spitting a mouthful of cum into her date’s soda at the movie theater, Rocky Emerson’s Ben Wa balls setting off an airport metal detector, Seth Gamble ejaculating onto a senior citizen at a hospital … nothing is off limits for “Oopsie!”.
Another fun fact: All of ‘Oopsie’s’ pre-sex comedy bits are performed without any words or dialogue. If not for the hokey, light-hearted background music, it would feel like a silent movie. “It’s a such a departure from the serious, dramatic work we’re known for,” Adult Time Chief Creative Officer Bree Mills says. “It’s refreshing to do a little vaudevillian comedy every so often.”
Mills tells AVN that trans performers are the stars of some of Oopsie’s most popular content, and that includes “The Cum Sauna”—arguably the brand’s signature scene to date. Boasting an A-list cast of Kenzie Anne, Khloe Kay and Emma Rose, “The Cum Sauna” captured the trophy for “Best Trans Group Sex Scene” at the 40th Annual AVN Awards last month in Las Vegas.
“One of the hottest things I’ve ever been a part,” Rose, AVN’s reigning Trans Performer of the Year, says.
“The Cum Sauna’s” success prompted Adult Time executives to spin the idea into a miniseries. And so, on Jan. 17—less than two weeks after capturing the trophy at the AVN Awards—the “Oopsie!” crew gathered in a Sun Valley studio to shoot “The Cum Sauna: Blow Off Steam.”
The scene opens with Rose and surging trans star Gracie Jane draped in towels while relaxing in a makeshift sauna. As Jane dozes off, Rose catches Siri Dahl peeking through a window on the sauna’s door, so she summons her inside. After some brief flirtation, Dahl goes down on Rose for some hot oral. Just as Rose is about to climax, Jane awakens and gasps, causing Dahl to spit a heaping mouthful of cum—or should we say, “cum”—in Jane’s direction.
“You want this on the rocks,” Graves, the production manager, says as he hands Dahl a glass of the fake semen.
Dahl laughs.
“This is the most fun I’ve had in forever,” she says.
That’s not to say things don’t get hot and heavy on an “Oopsie!” set. The best part about the comedic portions of each scene is that they only last a minute or so before transitioning seamlessly into a sizzling sexual encounter that leaves an equally-lasting impression on the viewer.
“We get the goofy stuff in the lead and in the ad shots,” Dahl says. “But the sex itself is hot. It’s straight gonzo. We’re being ourselves and going with the flow and doing whatever feels good.”
Smut agrees.
“The comedy bit is just the right amount,” she says. “Anything more and people wouldn’t take it as seriously, or be as turned on. We still want to deliver a really hot sex scene.”
And “Oopsie!" continues to do exactly that, especially as more and more elite performers line up to be featured in the series. Kira Noir, Anna Claire-Clouds, Jewelz Blu, Jade Venus, Ana Foxxx, Charles Dera and Seth Gamble are among the names that have appeared in “Oopsie!” scenes during the past year.
Along with working for an Adult Time brand, one of the appeals of shooting with “Oopsie!” is the opportunity collaborate with Smut, whose popularity continues to rise among performers.
From producer to director to photographer to production assistant, Smut has served in virtually every capacity since joining Adult Time, where she continues to turn heads.
“When Stella is behind the monitor and we’re rolling a scene, we get really good feedback,” Dahl says. "I know I did a really good job on a take if she’s cackling in the background. Not every director is like that. Some are like, ‘OK, that was good.’ They don’t emote a ton of emotion, even if they love what we just did. With Stella, there’s just a ton of energy.”
A self-described cinema nerd, Smut was raised in Los Angeles, where she was a theater standout in high school. Smut’s dream was to write—or perform in—sketch comedy for Saturday Night Live. She penned a comedy column each month for her school’s newspaper and was also a photographer. Smut studied her passion in community college before pursuing a professional career.
“I’m over the top and cartoonish and theatrical,” Smut says. “I feel like that comes across in what I do. I tend to be more comedic. I’m very ‘camp.’ I grew up watching old vaudevillian movies, and I like slapstick—that over-the-top, comedic type of vibe.”
Smut also says she spent an extensive amount of time studying silent films.
“You don’t even need dialogue,” she says. “You can tell a whole story through movements and facial expressions.”
It’s easy to understand, then, why Smut is an ideal fit for “Oopsie!”
“You can just tell when you’re working with her that’s she’s a highly-creative person,” Dahl says. "We usually have an outline of the shots we need to get. But then Stella will have some super-amazing idea that’s not written into the shot list. What if we did this?
“We shot a Valentine’s Day promo recently, and she had this really cool idea to do an American Beauty-esque shot with flowers all over the bed. It was sooooooo good. Seeing her get all excited about a shot gets everyone else excited, too.”
Smut appreciates the praise.
“The sequences are written out for us based on metrics and what’s selling and what people want to see,” Smut says. “But we’re still directing it. It has our own signature style. The actors, the shots … we’re the ones bringing it to life in our own little way.”
Even though she’s not the only Adult Time director working on the series, it’s feeling more and more that “Oopsie!” is Smut’s baby.
“Stella and her team have been instrumental in developing Oopsie so far,” Mills says. “They have been our primary crew since it's inception, and Stella brings her love of theater, comedy, and experience shooting for our other brands to the table to help make this one really stand out. She also works closely with other key contributors to this project, from sales to post-production, to stay on top of the results and always keep improving. That's one of the things I value the most in working with her for this project—and in general.”
Mills will no doubt be pleased with Smut’s latest effort.
Moments after “The Cum Sauna: Blowing Off Steam” wraps with Jane and Rose painting Dahl with double-facial, the energy is still high. Rose hugs Jane. “That was amazing,” she says. Jane then high-fives her scene partners. “We slayed that, ladies. We slayed that!”
Dahl concurs.
“You know I’m loving a scene when I start making noises I’ve never made before,” she laughs.
Smut, meanwhile, is already being asked if the second installment if “The Cum Sauna” will enjoy as much success as the first. Or any of the other 20-plus “Oopsie!” scenes, of which she can’t pick a favorite. They are each special for different reasons.
“Serious porn with deep storylines is great,” Smut says. “But there’s nothing else out there like (Oopsie!) scenes. We have a lot of fun doing these. A lot of fun.”
Pictured from left: Emma Rose, Siri Dahl & Gracie Jane
