Rock musician Dave Navarro has teamed with Teravision to direct his first adult movie, Broken. Set for September release, the movie stars Sasha Grey as "a woman torn apart by the duality of control and powerlessness in her life."
Broken is the first in a planned series of celebrity-directed porn movies from Teravision. Navarro conceptualized the movie with producer Sancho, who recently made his own directing debut for the company with Ferocious.
"Dave's innovative sound with Jane's Addiction was always creatively inspiring to me," said Sancho. "I loved the combination of depth, eroticism and dark, moody art. So it was not surprising that Dave and I both had the exact same vision for this movie. We wanted to break the cookie-cutter mold and do the exact opposite of what is happening in adult. This is the foundation of what I stand for in this business. So working with Dave was perfect."
"I have always had an interest in film making and the visual arts, so when Teravision approached me about directing a film, it felt like a natural partnership," said Navarro. "I have known Evan and Tera for years and have many friends in the adult entertainment industry, so I figured... What a great opportunity to work on a feature length project with people I already know. I have missed the sense of danger and edge in the music business for many years and working on this project reminded me a lot of the old days when we were just a bunch of kids in Hollywood playing the clubs, getting our hands dirty and raising some eyebrows along the way."
Navarro's camera crew included Teravision directors James DiGiorgio, Ethan Kane and Axel Braun. The core of the movie was produced as a six-camera shoot in which the crew taped four separate scenes at once, in a single take.
Although Navarro has no intention of performing sex on screen, he does appear in the movie as himself, directing the action.
"What happens is, the film breaks fantasy and goes back into reality and you’re actually on the set, so my interaction is mainly me giving Sasha direction," Navarro told AVN. "You might see me walk up to her and direct her where to go – when you see me interact in the film, it’s as a director. The movie opens with kind of a theme and as it progresses into the six-camera day, the theme continues but the fourth wall is broken – you can see cameras, cables and lights, almost as if you’re watching Sasha go to work."
"We had all six cameras rolling at once," Sancho explained. "We had Axel, Chris Hall, and Jimmy D shooting, and then we had Dr. Philgood running a jib arm and a Steadicam, so we shot all the sex scenes simultaneously in one take, together, and they all intertwine because Sasha and Dave go in and interact in each scene. It was a brand-new experience for me, for sure; I've never shot anything that grand."
Navarro told AVN that there are no scripted lines in Broken. The movie's seven erotic scenes are lniked thematically by Grey's character.
"We’re not reinventing the wheel- we’re just making a film," Navarro said. "What’s most exciting about the opportunity was to literally get behind the camera and work in the direction field. If anything, there’s definitely an artistic flair and sensibility throughout the picture that might at times appear self-indulgent – I hope so!"
Broken also stars Jenna Haze, Victoria Sin, Audrey Bitoni, Lisa Daniels and Kayla Paige. Male talent includes Mark Davis, Marco Banderas, Tommy Gunn and Spyder Jonez.
"It was great that Sancho and Dave both understood each other's visions, making the process all the more enjoyable," said Sasha Grey. "Working with a new director can be a positive or negative experience and this was definitely a positive. There was collaboration between the three of us, a vision, and now something that everyone can get off on!"
In addition to performing in a boy/girl scene, Banderas contributed to the production by picking up the camera for Tommy Gunn's scene and shooting an orgy from a POV perspective.
"Marco didn't realize who Dave Navarro was until after the shoot, when he saw Navarro in a magazine," said Lisa DeMarco, Banderas' wife.
On the subject of his first-time adult directing experience, Navarro said, "As a creative force, I was more interested in what was going on on the monitors, with the lighting and the angles. I was thinking more as a director rather than a voyeur. It was a lot more technical than I had thought it would be. I do a lot of different short films for my internet show [Spread Entertainment] with my partner Todd Newman, and those are all reality-based clips. I’m less concerned in those cases when it comes to shooting; in editing , we make it work. Here, since I was dealing with a fantasy world, it was important that it be shot in the way I had envisioned it."
Navarro is not contributing any of his own music to the project, but he is personally supervising the soundtrack.
"We're getting a great hard rock band with a female vocalist to score the movie," Navarro said. "They do everything from super-heavy, hard metal to really ambient, hypnotic trance-electronic music. They cover a wide spectrum of emotion, much as the film does from scene to scene. Within the theme of female empowerment, to have a female vocalist fronting such a heavy band is appropriate."
"Dave is an extremely talented artist with tremendous vision which he has always communicated through his music," said Tera Patrick. "I truly believe that with the Teravision team, Dave is breaking down barriers and exploring a new medium, erotic cinema. With our society so hung up about sex, yet so comfortable with violence, I think Dave's involvement in this project is a breath of fresh air and real stand for freedom of speech. Make love, not war! The music to the movie is incredible and I truly feel the bar has been set very high for those who will attempt to follow our lead. Dave and Sancho have created a movie that stands alone, and in many ways literally defines originality. Sasha's performance will take you up and down through many emotions, but always so hot! I think a scene with Sasha is definitely in the cards. . .and as for Dave working with Teravision. . .why not? He is hot as hell, and what woman wouldn't want him working under her?"
"We have been biding our time, waiting for the perfect way to fuse porn, rock and celebrity into a dark new artistic vision that will put both the porn and mainstream worlds on notice," said Teravision owner Evan Seinfeld. "I give Dave a lot of credit for having the guts and the true rock star attitude to do what safe, corporate rockers and rappers can't. Porn is not taboo. The real taboo is people's innate fears that they will be judged for embracing sexuality. His movie sets the bar high in terms of intensity and creative expression with a focus that goes beyond the hot sex. Teravision is already closing a deal for the next movie in the celebrity series. This is what it's all about."
Broken is scheduled to arrive in stores on Sept. 27.
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