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North Carolina artist Ron Royster is an accidental porn director but one with a singular vision that sets him apart from all the mainstream moviemakers as well as many of his alt-porn contemporaries. His Technicolor candyland of a porn movie Atomic Vixens was stunning, both aesthetically and sexually, and he elicited inspirational scenes out of his starlets. Aside from his industry status -- such that it is, living so far from the Valley -- Royster is a total character, a movie role waiting to be cast, not to mention a truly nice guy. Without an ounce of sleaze up his sleeve, it's a miracle he wound up in smut. Here, Eros Zine has a few words with the ever entertaining auteur. Eros Zine: How did you wind up as a porn director? Ron Royster: I started out at Adam & Eve doing soundtrack work. At some point I thought it would be a cool to produce a movie, so I got online to see if there might be something fun or a cool niche to fill. I searched all over the net for some inspiration and was really disappointed in what's out there. Then one day I found suicidegirls.com. It was like -- WOW, here's some girls who are beautiful vegetarians, who listen to Björk and have cool purple and pink hairdos. All of a sudden I realized that I couldn't breathe because I was so excited! Then I asked myself why that had happened and it dawned on me -- they were real! That's when the whole idea of making an erotic documentary was downloaded into my brain instantaneously. So I hired my friend to come down from Seattle. He's like a Swiss army knife of talent because he can direct, edit, score, light and shoot. The day before production starts, I was driving from Chapel Hill to Atlanta when he calls me to say his girlfriend will leave him if he makes this film, so good luck. In a panic I called a film industry friend who knew a fantastic cinematographer and I was able to rope him in. He asked who was going to direct and when I said I had no idea, he insisted I do it because I was the one with the vision. I had never been on a film set and in fact had no fucking idea what I was doing. Somehow, everything worked out though, and that's how we made Alternative Worldz Atlanta.
Ron Royster: The weird thing is, I had the visions in my head for months. Whenever I saw images on the internet that captured the feeling I was looking for, I would nab them. After I submitted the proposal for the movie and it was approved, I happened upon Winkytiki's site and was blown away to find MOST of those images I submitted were Octavio's. I got his number and called him and after rambling on for a few minutes about how his pictures shared my vision and how we were going to make this crazy movie, he said "Great! Great! Let's do it! …Who are you?" He is one of those Swiss army knife dudes I was speaking of earlier. I got on a plane to come to California and came up with the story line and the name on the way over. Eros Zine: Did you contribute to the set design and wardrobe choices? 'Cause they're awesome! Ron Royster: I helped with a couple of set designs, but for the most part, everything else was ALL Octavio and people he brought in to help with the clothing. I got a call VERY early on a Saturday morning and he said he had been up all night working on set designs. He came over and had these mind-blowing great stand-up cut-outs of two of the sets. That's when I pretty much realized that he is a fucking artistic genius. That's when I decided to let him guest direct a scene. He earned it. Eros Zine: And what were your inspirations? Ron Royster: PBR, Foghat and pretty girls usually would do it, but in this case it was my crew! If anyone ever had more fun working on an adult project, I'd like to know! It was after making the movie and knowing we had created all of this fantastic footage that I felt a lot of pressure to come up with an equally amazing soundtrack with NO money. Then I was on MySpace one day and heard a band called The Shifters from Canada. I was like, "Holy crap, these guys are great." I then spent the next five weeks sifting through the worst crap ever and finally found 30 songs that I loved. G-Spot Tornado is unbelievable. On the song in the soundtrack, the dude screams his ass off for, like, 40 seconds or something. The title track, Daktari Freak, was done by a Mexican surf band called Telekrimen. As soon as I heard it, I played it for Octavio and was, like, "How could one song so totally capture the spirit of the movie?" After they saw the movie, they wrote back and thanked ME for allowing them to participate. I almost wept. I was really proud that we ended up in an AP story about music and the adult industry.
Ron Royster: The greatest thing about Justine is she will always give you more then you expect. I always try to get the girls to have REAL onscreen orgasms. I know it sounds crazy, but I really believe on some level that we are really capturing kinetic energy and the viewer can pick up on that somehow. I asked her if she thought she could do it and she said yes, but warned us she would be useless afterwards. The big moment came and she blew out a major O -- legs shaking, lips quivering, the whole shebang -- and then she just laid there for a long time. It was the hottest thing I ever saw. I didn't see any of her competition's work, but I would put her solo scene up against ANY in the history of adult films. Plus, what most people don't know is that Justine is one of the smartest people you would ever meet. She's off the charts on intelligence. Eros Zine: You had a somewhat disappointing experience with the big LA porn movie companies. Do they just not "get" art? Ron Royster: I try to see it from their perspective. They have to put their ass on the line to make a profitable movie. They have to weigh out art over profits. I always try to describe what they do as the I Love Lucy episode where the chocolates are coming off the conveyor belt faster then she can pack them. They are really geared to do it that way and anything off that track is scary territory for them. I think it comes down to more art films will be made and with bigger budgets when people start supporting the ones that are already out there. The movement has been started, but we REALLY need the love and support of porn art lovers to take it where it needs to go. Eros Zine: What other movies did you make? And what happened to them? Ron Royster: After I made Alternative Worldz, I decided to try to go down to Florida and try to make some "mainstream porn" movies. It was a pretty crazy time because the flake factor was off the charts! I had girls bailing left and right, a crazy feuding crew member and a dude who showed up for a midnight shoot two hours late with erupting boils on his ass! It really was the Vietnam of movie shoots. Somehow we still got enough good footage to put out a couple of decent flicks.
Ron Royster: Pornocopia and Florida Girls: Sunnyside Up. I was really proud of the Veronika Raquel scene with her coming out of the foggy bog naked. I love it when things work out the way you envision them. I also got to work with Hailey Young, who is one of my favorite Industry pals. Eros Zine: What makes your work different from most mainstream porn? Ron Royster: I try to make my movies with women and couples in mind. I think I like a lot more erotic images then the gonzo dudes. On my MySpace page I posted a blog where a reviewer says that Alternative Worldz was the worst movie EVER. [Laughs] My mom liked it, so that's all that matters. The meat and potato porn guys don't really have an appreciation for my work, which of course is a badge of honor for me. I guess one thing is, I always try to facilitate real orgasms from the girls. I'm not so sure anyone else thinks that's important. Wouldn't it be great if I started a trend! [More laughter] Eros Zine: And what makes it different than other alt-porn? Ron Royster: I haven't really wrapped my brain around what exactly alt-porn is. My definition may be movies that don't feature the gals that look like they bought the porn-girl franchise, complete with fake double D-cups and L'Oreal Ultra Light Ash Blond. I honestly cannot tell them apart! I know the term alt-porn sure angers a lot of people, but if it makes them angry then I think they need to get a fucking life. Come on. I don't really like rap music, but I respect others' right to listen to it. I do know that I'm honored to be clumped in with Benny Profane, Joe Gallant, Eon, Octavio and Jack the Zipper. They are my pals and I admire them and their accomplishments. They, like the Atomic Vixens, are out to save the universe one orgasm at a time!
Ron Royster: My favorite erotic movie of all times is Zazel: The Scent of Love. It takes a lot to blow my mind and after viewing that masterpiece, I still haven't been able to reassemble all the pieces. Philip Mond is a flat-out fucking genius! I felt pretty confident that I, as a director, under the right circumstances, could give anybody in this business a run for the money… until I saw that movie. I'm not worthy of carrying his handy wipes. It's my dream to collaborate on a movie with him. Holy crap, that would be fun. Eros Zine: Who are your favorite porn starlets currently? Ron Royster: Mika Tan is like family. She is the hardest working and nicest person ever! Hailey Young, Justine Joli, Veronika Raquel, Jade Starr, Keani Lei, Tyler Houston is fucking nuts, but I love her. The same goes for Little Diva (the dwarf from Pornocopia) and Kandy Kane. Eros Zine: Anyone you'd love to work with but haven't yet? Ron Royster: Daisy Marie is incredible and Satine Phoenix is like some magical princess. I went to The Exotic Erotic show in San Francisco a few months back. I wasn't on the press list like I was supposed to be and the organizer didn't believe I was me, which is understandable because I can't believe I'm me either. Things were looking pretty bad for the home team when Satine grabbed me and marched me in with her whole entourage. I was like, "How did you do that?!?!" She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Because I'm Satine Phoenix!" Eros Zine: So is yours a conscious decision NOT to live in LA? Ron Royster: I'm not a big fan of LA. The whole stuck in traffic deal drives me fucking nuts. I also go crazy with the Hollywood celebrity trip. Why Paris Hilton is a big deal is beyond me. Being rude, stupid and shallow are not really redeemable qualities in my book. My life back in North Carolina is such a different world. I have five cats and I live on a big farm. My friends there are the most wonderful people on the planet. I'm homesick every day.
Ron Royster: Yeah. When I started making my first movie I was under pressure to come up with a name for my company, so I went with Eroticist Films. It may be the stupidest name ever for an adult movie company. Nobody can say it, spell it or understand what it means. Why I didn't just call it Big Bang or something simple, I will never know. The only full-time employees are myself and my producer, Vien (pronounced Vinnie). We have executive produced movies for Benny Profane (Barbed Wire Kiss), Tim Polecat from the English rockabilly band, The Polecats (Vampyre Assassin), Slyck Spyder (Eurotrash Sex Hostel Babes) and Cat Purcel (Alpha 15). They are all on VCA. Eros Zine: What are you working on now? Ron Royster: We are working on another movie for Benny that will be mind-blowing and original. Then we will be making a movie for Bob Coulter of crazybabe.com. Both of those will be coming out on Bad Seed (Adam & Eve) next summer. Eros Zine: And any other major films in the future? Ron Royster: Well, yes. I'm working on a very big and complex movie idea that will require one of the biggest budgets in adult history. If we can make it happen, it will have many big mainstream names attached to it. That's all I can say for now. Eros Zine: Wow, well, we'll look forward to that! Thanks, Ron! Readers can find out more about Ron Royster at the Eroticist Films website.
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