This article originally ran in the January 2018 issue of AVN magazine.
When one meets MimeFreak for the first time, he makes a memorable impression. A tall, good-looking guy, he’s also blessed with no small amount of charm and an easy smile. And he was smiling broadly during an interview with AVN, talking about the company where he serves as general manager: ArchAngel Video.
The adult studio, which hit its third birthday in November, was founded in 2014 by Gabriel Guzman and Brian Bullock, and MimeFreak has been there since the beginning. But this year has been especially eventful, and he was happy to talk about several milestones.
For one, the studio released its first production shot in 4k: The Booty Movie 6: The MILF Edition. It’s apropos that this ArchAngel series should be the first shot in 4k, given that Volume 1 was the first DVD released by the studio. Also fittingly, Booty Movie 6 features Kendra Lust, who has had a close working relationship with the studio.
“We felt like there were some MILF performers with some pretty nice derrieres so we figured we’d give them their own title,” MimeFreak said. “And since this was the movie that started it all for ArchAngel, we figured, ‘Let’s just make it 4k.’ We didn’t want to rush out into 4k until we had it right.” In addition to Lust, the movie features Nina Elle (another ArchAngel regular), Brett Rossi and Cherie DeVille.
To hear MimeFreak talk, he’s a bit of a one-man show on his sets. He shoots without production assistants, saying, “I move a lot faster and I’m a lot efficient when it’s just me. I’ve tested it: How long did it take me to shoot the tease, the pictures, the sex and get in and get out? And it’s faster. It sucks when there’s a heat wave, and then I wish I had somebody.”
In the business for 13 years, MimeFreak remembers the day when porn shoots had much bigger crews. “I started under Chris Streams and Pat Myne. They brought me in. Chris found me at Bed Bath and Beyond, of all places.
“I was working in the duvet section,” MimeFreak said, chuckling. He recalled that Streams needed to return some sheets. “I didn’t know how bad it was, but he said, ‘Do you think I can return these sheets?’ and I said, ‘I’ll return them personally.’ So I told him, ‘Just fold them up as tight in that bag as you can.’ … I was asking Chris what he did and he said, ‘I’m a director.’ So I looked at him and I said, ‘You don’t look like no Hollywood director.’”
Once the curious salesman learned more about the porn veteran’s filmography, MimeFreak told Streams, “I got music for this,” and then asked the director for a job. About a week later he was on set.
“He put a camera in my hand and I started working as a production assistant,” MimeFreak said.
But it was Pat Myne who gave him the chance to direct for Black Ice, a Zero Tolerance imprint. MimeFreak recalled one title in particular, Black da Fuck Up, which he directed under the name Dynomite Dolomite. Released in 2006, it starred Jada Fire, Marie Luv, Chyanne Jacobs, Candace Von and Jemeni.
After a two-year hiatus he came back to work in the Zero Tolerance warehouse and then started shooting with both Mick Blue at ZT and Jay Sin over at Evil Angel. “Mick hired me as his cameraman full time, so he kind of fine-tuned me. … It was because of Mick that I got in the door at Elegant Angel.”
That led to another door when ArchAngel launched, and MimeFreak’s been happily at work there since. But this past year he’s taken things to a new level, partly inspired by Kendra Lust, whose Lust Army movies are released by ArchAngel.
“At ArchAngel we were just gonzo,” he said. Then Kendra Lust Fucks Couples came along, MimeFreak recalled. “She was doing storylines and I said, ‘Aww, I want to do storylines.’” He fulfilled that ambition with Don’t Screw My Mom, nominated for Best Comedy in the 2018 AVN Awards. “I like comedy. I like to make people laugh,” he said.
“Believe it or not, most of the people we used [for non-sex roles] work for us, for the owner of ArchAngel, in different areas. So it was kind of fun seeing all these extras on camera playing sons. They’re all in that movie.”
That created some tension at the office. “All the older guys got pissed; they were like, ‘Hey, how can you put all of the young guys in the movie and not us?’ I said, ‘I got you.’” His solution is a sequel to the original, Don’t Screw My Daughter, which will feature ArchAngel’s older employees in non-sex paternal roles.
Even bigger, though, is MimeFreak’s most recent venture: Beginners Luck, an imprint that spotlights brand-new girls. “I’m not only lead director, general manager—now I’m co-owner.”
His impetus to create the studio, MimeFreak says, was to have an outlet for working with first-timers. He cites specific regret over not getting to shoot 2016 Best New Starlet Abella Danger when she first came on the scene. “If we would have gotten one of her first scenes and put it into an amateur release, just imagine what we would have had.”
The ArchAngel imprint hit the market in October with its first release, I Want To Be A Porn Star 1, directed by MimeFreak and starring Alana Summers, Alanna Bentley, Kayli Moon and box cover model Tana Lea.
“It’s kind of like casting couch meets amateur meets BTS,” MimeFreak explained. “It’s not that serious—you can have fun. At the end we ask, ‘Would you do it again? Is it what you thought it would be?’ We wanted to make it very, very amateur. Some amateur companies, it looks great. I don’t really want that.”
He continues, “And then we have phase two of the company, which is a big secret, and we’re not going to start that until 2018. But it’s in the works. It’s going to be challenging but I think it’s going to be very fun, and it has a lot to do with the fans.”
Finally, the company has also been sprucing up its online digs. “We’re starting ArchAngel World. That’s new too. We’re redoing our site. We’re redoing Kendra’s site. And we’re starting up Beginners Luck Productions. It’s all going to be under the ArchAngel World umbrella. We’re kind of starting this little cult. In 2018, we’re going to do things very opposite. I have some pretty exciting shit that I’ve got coming. There has to be something different. The last two years with porn has been kind of run of the mill. … It’s just a matter of time putting it together.”
