LOS ANGELES—Breaking boundaries is part of the job at Evil Angel, the production company that defined “gonzo” with their no-holes-barred shooting style (pun intended) and wall-to-wall sex scenes. The new genre was born when Evil Angel founder John Stagliano decide to skip the parts of X-rated movies many viewers were fast-forwarding through anyway, on their VHS tape players in the late ‘90s.
With the industry’s edgiest directors at the helm, including Stagliano and legendary icons like John Leslie, Rocco Siffredi, Belladonna, Manuel Ferrara, and others on a roster of A-list fornicators and fetishists, the studio set the bar with its own brand of taboo. Stagliano’s Fashionistas (2002) is considered a classic of fetish hardcore. Prolific, veteran performer-director Joey Silvera pioneered trans content in the early ‘00s with his Rogue Adventures and Big Ass She-Male Road Trip series.
Now, the next performer to make her directorial debut for Evil Angel is the winningest trans star of all time, Aubrey Kate.
The three-time AVN Trans Performer of the Year and subject of Evil Angel’s award-winning 2021 adult documentary I Am Aubrey, Kate told AVN she feels at home in her new role at the company.
“I love to be creative and utilize my creative ideas,” Kate said. “I did feel like directing was always the next step for me, but I wanted to wait for the right moment. I still perform now of course, but I felt it’s finally time to dip my toe in the water of directing since I’ve been able to plot out some great movie ideas. From there, it only felt natural to direct where I first started things and knew I was always treated right, at Evil Angel. Not only to be treated correctly by everyone at Evil, but also to have extremely similar visions and desires when it comes to the movies, I knew it’d be the right fit and the best start for my directing.”
Kate is keeping plans for her first project low key, not wanting to give away too much and ruin the suspense. But she indicated that what she has in mind may break from Evil Angel’s familiar scene-forward format.
“I can’t give too many details on that directly, but I can say I’m more of a bigger project director rather than individual scenes,” Kate shared. “I love being creative and having the storyline of a movie. It’ll ideally be a fusion between gonzo scenes and features. You will see my debut in the very near future—and expect it to be big."
Kate, who was Evil Angel's first trans contract girl, also confirmed she will continue to perform. “I will continue to perform, as well, for the time being. I just love my work as a performer and it’ll be hard to let that go. Eventually, I plan to fully switch over to director, but not for a while. For the time, I plan to balance the two hand-in-hand.”
In addition to the new gig, Kate is a partner and art director at the Transcending Agency, which represents trans and cis performers and models in the adult and fashion spaces. She said she looks forward to working with some of the agency’s clients for upcoming projects.
“In terms of trans, as well as cis female performers, I’m looking forward to working with many of the girls in my company, Transcending. At Transcending, everyone is familiar with each other and knows each other on a friend level, rather than [as a] work associate. So, I wish I could give just a couple names, but there’s so, so many girls I would absolutely love to work with still, regardless of if we’ve already worked together. In terms of male performers, I’ve been working with a few new upcoming names and love working with all of them! Austin Rex and Sage Roux are two studs that I AM ALWAYS a ‘yes’ to work with again,” Kate said.
Preferring to avoid political commentary, she did note how much the industry has changed for trans performers since the beginning of her career in 2012.
“When I first started, every trans model had to fend for themselves and received little help from others. Obviously there were some huge names back then as well, but in many instances, trans porn wasn’t taken seriously the same way cis porn was,” Kate described.
“Since then, there’s been so much growth in so many avenues, from better safety features with testing for models, to the importance of consent with all participants, to simply the representation for our community that so many models have been fighting for before me and still are today. The progress here, much like the industry as a whole, has been exponentially increasing and it’s an honor to play an active role in that as a performer, director, and model agency owner.
“Seeing the progression of all my colleagues, in addition to my own works, has been so meaningful because the past struggles are slowly being rectified to bring us all as a community closer, stronger, and ready to work,” she added. “Obviously one huge example and ally to all this is Evil Angel. I more or less started my career through them giving me (and so many others) the opportunity. Always being treated respectfully and in a proper manner, it was and is the reason I still work with Evil Angel today.”
But it’s not all work and no play for the budding director. Being in the business of fantasy is a full-time occupation that few get to experience and Kate said she finds it liberating.
“It is so much fun working for Evil Angel! Everyone has the same end visions in mind, so work just comes naturally,” she said. “At Evil, you’re also given the freedom to run with your ideas and express your individuality with new scenes. Some companies are rigid and want things in a very particular way, which they are entitled to and I don’t blame them. But working with Evil Angel, they are just different in that aspect with giving you the freedom, which makes work fun and not even seem like work!”
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