Titan Media has signed the legendary Joe Gage to an exclusive, 10-picture deal that will take the multi-honored director through the next two years. Gage will write and direct the films for release under the TitanMen label, for which he has already contributed nine movies over the last year.
In a statement, Titan Media CEO Bruce Cam says, “I am very pleased that Joe has committed to furthering our existing partnership and friendship. Joe is truly a moviemaker, and we are committed to giving Joe the creative freedom to make the movies the way he wants to make them. There is nobody in our industry who can tell a story and make a movie better than Joe gage. We are honored that Joe has chosen Titan Media as his directorial home.”
Though some might raise an eyebrow to learn that Titan, home of super-slick videography and big-budget epics, has partnered with a decidedly minimalist indie filmmaker, Gage himself says the match is in many ways a perfect fit. “The Titan Men and the Gage men share a lot of the same traits—principally a strong, assertive masculinity combined with an open, friendly sense of humor, and most of all a smoldering sexuality that always seethes just beneath the surface,” Gage tells AVN.com when reached via email on the set of his latest Titan movie, Deep Water. “In short, it’s the all-American man writ large.”
“Joe represents the very best in filmmaking and we represent the very best in production companies,” Titan Vice President Keith Webb says. “No other company could offer him the high-quality production team, technical skills and creative freedom to make the kind of films he is capable of making.”
Gage, who rose to prominence in the 1970s as the director of the now-seminal Joe Gage Trilogy (Kansas City Trucking Co., El Paso Wrecking Corp., and L.A. Tool & Die), is often referred to within many circles as one of the fathers of gay porn. His emphasis on rugged, blue collar masculinity, realistic naturalness in place of overly-choreographed sex scenes and natural-sounding dialogue has defined him as a master in seduction scenes, and his recent films for both MSR Video and Titan (he’s helmed nine titles for the San Francisco-based giant) have continued that tradition. Last year brought the arrival of two well-received new Titan titles, Men’s Room: Bakersfield Station and the multi-GayVN Award-nominated Back to Barstow, while, most recently, 110º in Tucson was released last month.
For Webb, the synergy of combining the influential Gage with his own company is like a circle coming back around. “Some of the first films I ever saw were Joe Gage films like El Paso Wrecking Corp. and Kansas City Trucking Co.,” he says. “They presented a sense of masculinity and sexuality that made me feel proud to be gay and be a man. This type of masculine sexuality is something that has come to be the cornerstone or our company since its inception. Gage and Titan are based on the same core premise of masculine sexuality.”
Gage tells AVN.com that he hopes to spend the next two years doing more of what he does best. “I hope to continue making even bigger and even hotter pictures — the kind that explore the themes and the various types of men that interest me and that the audience seems to respond to best,” he says.
“Working with Bruce and his team at Titan Media over the past year has been a very gratifying experience,” he continues. “They have given me the resources, technical support and creative freedom that have allowed me to continue in my efforts to push the boundaries and to challenge both myself and the audience with each new movie I make.”
According to Webb, the next Titan-released Gage title will be a sequel to Men’s Room, titled Gale Force, followed by Alabama Takedown.
