LOS ANGELES—Three-consecutive-time AVN Best Actor and Gamma exclusive contract performer Seth Gamble makes his official directing debut with new Wicked Pictures anthology The Red Room, whose first episode with reigning AVN Female Performer of the Year Emily Willis premiered today on Wicked.com.
“There is no denying that Seth is a natural-born director,” said Wicked head of production Axel Braun, who produced the project. “Because of his acting ability, he has been exposed to some of the most talented feature-oriented directors in the industry, and thanks to his sexual prowess he has performed on hundreds of gonzo shoots. But Seth doesn’t just show up to do his job, he always comes focused on learning as well, and thanks to his kinesthetic personality he can absorb information very quickly. So for the past 15 years he watched closely everything that surrounded a film production, and built an extensive skill set which he can now use to tackle this new chapter in his career.
"When he came to me with the idea for The Red Room, seeing the passion he had and the level of detail with which he was explaining every movement, every camera angle, every transition, I just knew he was ready to take the leap into directing," Braun continued. "The result is a movie that I am extremely proud of, just like he is. The beginning dialogue sequences are very cinematic and visually acted, with music specifically picked by Seth that set the tone for each scene, and he managed to craft a storyline that gave his co-stars a feeling of empowerment while showcasing not only their best physical assets, but also their individual personalities. The sex scenes are passionate, real and visceral, and everybody brought all the heat they could bring. After filming wrapped, as every accomplished director does, Seth worked closely with my editor until he was 100 percent satisfied with the result. This is truly a fantastic directing debut for him, and he’s just warming up!”
Gamble, who is the first director tapped by Braun to helm a project since he started running Wicked last December following the company’s acquisition by Gamma, expressed abounding enthusiasm about taking this step into another area of the adult moviemaking process.
"It’s not easy to put into words how excited I am,” Gamble said. “If you had told me I would get to have my directorial debut under the Wicked brand when I did my first Wicked scene in 2009, I wouldn’t have believed you. I have to give sincere thanks to Axel Braun for allowing me to showcase my creative abilities without restriction. I also want to thank my wife Kenzie Taylor for her support, my makeup artists Dusty Lynn and Lucy Rita, and Claudia Ross for her amazing virtuoso editing. I had the fortune of working with several different amazing cinematographers: Andy Zane, Chris Streams, Alex Ladd and of course Axel Braun, who all did incredible jobs conveying the vision I was looking for."
On developing the concept for The Red Room, Gamble divulged, "The first thing we discussed when starting this project was to give it a specific aesthetic, I wanted something that popped out. There is something very sexy and erotic about visually using the color red. Also I find that it brings a sense of energy and urgency, which works perfectly with the way the sex scenes are shot. I’ve been in the adult Industry for 15 years and something I’ve always noticed was there weren’t many projects that offered you the enthrallment of a storyline and the visceral nature of gonzo-style sex. It’s usually one or the other. Usually a feature consists of a storyline followed by voyeuristically shot sex. This is with good reason, as with storylines you want to be able to visualize the characters you're watching engaged as actors and continue with those characters during the sex without breaking the fourth wall. With gonzo you get that visceral real sex in your face, so I really wanted to combine the two. Throughout my career I have been known primarily for my acting ability, but I truly love performing and giving passionate and powerful sex scenes, and this project gave me the perfect platform to showcase both. I wrote, directed and performed in all scenes, and the amount of passion I put into The Red Room is beyond measure.”
The opening scene with Gamble and Willis is a hardcore anal romp, and Willis echoed Gamble's elation about his maiden voyage in the director's chair.
"I was super excited and honored to be Seth’s first scene as a director,” Willis said. "He really had a very specific vision, and came up with some great ideas! I know how much this project meant to him, and watching him bring it to life was super neat. Also, we have great sexual chemistry together, so needless to say it was an amazing day! I think you guys will really enjoy this scene.”
Gamble was quick to return the praise: "Emily Willis is the ultimate superstar and our on-screen chemistry is undeniable. I couldn’t have been more honored and grateful to have had her set the tone for The Red Room. One thing we both share is the idea of giving 110 percent to everything we do, and she brought everything she had in this incredible anal scene. I couldn’t be happier with the scene, and look forward to showing everybody how amazing Emily looks and performs in it!"
The star-studded cast is rounded out by Aidra Fox, Kenna James and Lena Paul, an accomplished director in her own right who now rarely performs.
"Shooting for Seth’s directorial debut was such an honor and truly a pleasure,” said Paul. "The art direction and concept were so fun and it was one of my favorite scenes I’ve shot this year!"
"Working with Seth has always been one of my favorite things to do,” James offered. "Now that he’s not only performing but also directing, he's absolutely phenomenal! He understands things from both sides of the camera and I just know he’ll go far as a director [that] he did a performer!”
"Getting the chance to work with Seth as not only a performer but also as a director was just wonderful,” Fox concurred. “Shooting for The Red Room was such an authentic experience and I love how there was a mixture of storyline, vignette and also gonzo-style sex. That mixture isn’t seen much in our industry, and I love how he put it all together, I think everyone who watches this is going to love it because it fits into so many different niches. This was such a great project and I was so happy to be a part of it!"
"I have to finish this off by once again saying thank you to Axel Braun,” said Gamble of his longtime friend and mentor, for whom he has embodied characters as diverse and challenging as Luke Skywalker, Captain Boomerang, Mr. Hyde and of course Deadpool, the role that gave him his very first AVN Best Actor award and that he recently brought back to life for Braun’s high-profile summer release Black Widow XXX. "Thank you for your friendship, your constant support, your encouragement, and for giving me the opportunity to show everyone my creative abilities not just in front of the camera but now behind the monitor as well. Thank you for seeing this in me all along, from the day I first set foot on your set, and for aggressively making sure everyone did too. None of this would have been possible without you and my gratitude is endless."
See scene one of The Red Room now at Wicked.com.
