I feel much better this morning, really I do. Of course it’s disappointing that folks in Sydney won’t get a chance to see DAMON AND HUNTER: DOING IT TOGETHER on the big screen, but I’ve gotten over the idea that playing at the in queerDOC, at the Dendy is proof that DAMON AND HUNTER is a real movie. To begin with, queerDOC is replacing a controversial, ground-breaking, awarding-winning documentary about gay love and gay sex with a television mini-series. In light of that, I can’t really feel it says anything about the film that they’ve decided not to risk screening it. (Is my insecurity showing?)

But that’s beside the point.

For all my doubts, I know in my gut and in my heart that DAMON AND HUNTER is as good a film as I’ve ever made. It’s a watchable, entertaining, and enjoyable little production, and it stands up next to any of films I’ve made about about “serious” and “decent” topics, all without war, death, disease. I didn’t get dyspeptic or depressed making this film, or lose any weight. In fact I smiled the whole way through.

I also feel like this adventure with the OFLC and queerDOC is another trial passed.

In the last year we’ve been approached by big name television, major production companies, and distributors; all dangling the hope of dollars and/or fame if we’d just do what we’d do a little differently. Each time has been stressful, trying to measure the needs of our family and my professional and artistic goals against the offer on the table. I’m a pragmatist, not a purist, so this isn’t an easy calculus, especially trying to factor intangibles like artistic freedom and integrity against the very tangible needs of our business and our family. If anyone has a formula for balancing my desire for artistic fame against being able to buy a new car (two kids + two big dogs = minivan), please let me know!

This also gave me a chance to see that there are people who support what we do, and that’s probably the most important thing. Long before Comstock Films ever made a nickel, there were people who said “Don’t stop. You’re doing something really important. You’re day will come.” I needed to hear that then, I still need to hear it. To the following I am ever grateful:

Lex and David at Queer Screen, for even considering this problematic little film in the first place

Brett at Qmagazine

Steve Dollar

Karen at My Secret Place, who graciously sponsered our posters

MelonFarmer.co.uk

The Sydney Star Observer

Max at RefusedClassification.com

Luke, Andrew and the rest of the gang at DNA

Mike at Indie Film Nation

Cinekink

Cathy at Bnews

YarravillePaul

JR and PJ at GayVN

Censor Watch

Ms. Naughty

Leigh and Krathyn at Bent Magazine

Raena at Frankel Lawyers

Luke at the Toolshed, who dipped into his own stock of DAMON AND HUNTER to get copies to the press and other interested parties in Sydney the same day they asked for them.

Documents on Call

Audacities of Censorship

Damon DeMarco and Hunter James

Fleshbot

Jack at GayPornBlog.com

Critter at Bitchless

The ever lovely and wonderful Viviane

Andreus

And of course Richard, Glitch Bar, and everyone else at MUFF for having the nerve to show this film to people who wanted to see it.

Over the years I’ve learned it really doesn’t matter how many times you hear “no”, so long as you hear “yes” often enough to keep going. Thanks to all of you for helping us keep going!

Regular readers have probably noticed that of late posting has been a little spotty.

Partly it’s because it’s August and there’s nothing I enjoy more than being on the water with my kids. A few more weeks and it’s back to school time, so I’m trying to get in as many beach hours with them as possible.

It’s also because MATT AND KHYM is taking up a lot of my creative energy. The problem (if one can even call it that) is that they’re too good. Their interview runs well over an hour, and it’s all good. Charming, sexy, sweet, humorous; it’s been really hard to figure how to cut in down to a managable length.

Lastly, I haven’t been writing in the blog much because I’ve been having to do A LOT of correspondence in support of DAMON AND HUNTER. It is abolutely our most successful release so far, both in terms of recognition and units shipped, and it turns out that trying to take advantage of that success take a lot of time.

We’ve been especially please with the reception DAMON AND HUNTER has received in Australia. It’s been covered in a number of magazines and newspapers, including DNA, The Melbourne Star, B-News, MCV, and QMagazine.

In July it played to an overflow audience at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival, and went on to be named Best Documentary at the fest. From there we were invited to show the film at QueerDOC, the world’s premiere gay and lesbian documentary film festival, in Sydney this September. All great news, with lots of thank you notes to write, journalist to talk to, and of course, boxes of DVDs to send to Australia.

Then late last week, the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification dropped the hammer on DAMON AND HUNTER.

On the 15th, QueerDOC received notification from the OFLC that screening D&H would be a violation of Section 8 of the 2004 Film Festival Guidelines. That’s right, in Australia the government can tell you what you can and can’t show at a film festival.

What will happen now, I don’t know. The festival has already distributed nearly 50,000 copies of the program, including two screenings of DAMON AND HUNTER (which the festival expected would sell out). We’ve already printed up hundreds of posters and flyers and made arrangements to have them distributed throughout Sydney. The festival is currently in negotiations with the OFLC to see if they can show DAMON AND HUNTER in some sort of edited form, and we’re trying to make an appeal of the ratings. (Winterbottom’s 9 SONGS, a film that featured explicit footage of straight sex received a reduced rating from the OFLC. But without the major distributor backing of a film like 9 SONGS, and the very short notice, I’m doubtful our appeal will be successful.) If I were a betting man, I’d bet that Sydney is not going to get the chance to see the film that Melbourne enjoyed so very much.

And then there is still the question of what might happen to the organizers of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival and the owners of the venue that had the audacity to show DAMON AND HUNTER on not one, but two screens. Each violation of Section 8 is punishable by a year in jail and a $20,000 fine. Perhaps I felt a bit histrionic when I said that MUFF and Glitch were doing something courageous by showing DAMON AND HUNTER, but I don’t feel histrionic now.

Of all the films the OFLC might target for censorship, DAMON AND HUNTER seems like a particularly inappropriate choice. Aside from the recognition the film has so far received as an outstanding work of cinema, it’s also been recognized for it’s value as a life-affirming and educational document. DAMON AND HUNTER is held in the Kinsey Library at the world renowned Kinsey Institute at the University of Indiana. It’s already being used by the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York, and by the San Francisco Sex Information Hotline. Just this week it’s been being passed around by deligates at the 16th Annual World AIDS Conference in Toronto Cananda. Why? Because DAMON AND HUNTER is singular in it’s compassionate, humane, frank, and erotic depiction of gay love and gay sex.

And apparently that’s something that the government of Australia needs to keep the people of Sydney, especially the gay men of Sydney, from seeing.

Success begets success (which can seem so unfair when it’s happening to someone else!); we are more than happy to take our good luck and roll with it. A round of poster and handbill re-design, press-release re-writes and all the rest of the falderal that goes with properly promoting the film. It is both exciting and exhausting, exhausting not because it’s hard work, but because it causes hopefulness, and hopefulness causes me to begin to steel myself against disappointment. (I’m surprised to find out) I’m fragile that way.

For most of my professional life most of my work was on commission – please makes us a picture of X to accomplish Y and we will pay you Z. It’s all very tidy, at least by comparison to making films and then hoping people will like them, hoping people will buy them.

One of my favorite things to say when I want to sound shrewd is that expectation management is the key to a successful low-budget film. But what do you do when something succeeds far beyond any of your own (well-managed) expectations – when hopefulness is feed log after log, and perhaps a dash of gasoline now and then? It’s a bit dizzying, but I hope I get the chance to get used to it!

Below is the press release for queerDOC, in all its self-aggrandizing glory. Longtime readers will recognize bit and pieces from previous blog posts. This journal keeping is proving useful! (Thanks Professor Wenger!)

Syndey, Australia Fresh off its win at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival (Best Documentary), Damon and Hunter: Doing it Together moves on to the 2006 edition of queerDOC, the world’s premiere queer documentary film festival. This year’s festival will feature two screenings of Damon and Hunter, to be held at the Dendy Cinema King Street Newtown. Show times are Tuesday 12th Sept at 9.00pm and Wednesday 13th Sept at 7.00pm

First held in October 1998, queerDOC has subsequently become established as an important event on the Australian and international gay and lesbian film festival calendar. queerDOC remains the world’s only documentary film festival focusing on queer (gay, lesbian transgender, transsexual, intersex etc) documentary films. As such it has a worldwide reputation and has access to the best of queer documentaries from around the world.

The Melbourne Underground Film Festival just posted a .pdf of the program for next months screenings, and I’m not embarrassed to admit it is very exciting to see Damon and Hunter: Doing it Together listed on page 7:

DAMON AND HUNTER: DOING IT TOGETHER
Dir. Tony Comstock | 46 mins. | 2006 | Documentary | USA
“Damon and Hunter” is a frank, humane and erotic exploration of the sexual and emotional relationship between longtime lovers Damon Demarco and Hunter James. The film offers a candid look at the central role that sex plays in the relationship between these two men. Forget Brokeback Mountain, if you want gay sex, check this out. Screens with PORNSTAR PETS.
Tuesday 11 July 9pm | Glitch
Q + A with filmmakers.

Of course I very nearly squealed with delight when I read “Forget Brokeback Mountain…”

The first commandment here at Comstock Films is, “Thou shall not ruin the evening.” By that I mean that we and several other couples we know have had the experience of renting a porno flick with the expectation that it would help raise the temperature of the evening, only to have it be be a complete buzzkill. In fact, in our experience, this is the rule rather than the exception with porn, and that sad fact is a big part of why I started making my movies.

By that measure, Bertolucci’s “erotic film” The Dreamers was a failure, at least here at Casa Comstock.

Between the fact that Spring has finally sprung, and Damon & Hunter is finally out the door, the sap has been rising around here, and last night probably would have ended in a tangle of arms and legs, save the fact that at 9PM we put Bertolucci’s ode to late 60’s Paris in the DVD player and settled in to see what a master of the medium might do, unburdened by proscriptions against full frontal nudity, or handling a cock in full view of the camera. But after the movie, instead of tumbling into bed together, it was more of a slump. Watching The Dreamers exhausted us.

In fairness to Bertolucci, I’m not sure he intended for The Dreamers to be a mood enhancer for us or anyone else. In fact, we woke up this morning still trying to decipher what his intentions were in making The Dreamers.

The nearest I can tell is it’s a movie not unlike Ridley Scott’s White Squall, which seemed mostly like an excuse for Scott to linger endlessly on young boys’ lithe and tanned bodies, dripping with beads of water. Substitute Eva Green’s lovely, but jarringly miscast tits as the object of the director’s lecherous gaze, and voila – The Dreamers.

Of course the movie is beautifully made. Bertulucci is a visual stylist on par with Scott; at one point I turned to Peggy and asked, “What do you suppose it would be like to make a film where not one fold of cloth was out of place?” Bertolucci’s eye for art-direction photography is unerring. There’s more craft, style and talent in one shot that you’ll find in my entire career.

But lovely as it was to see nakedness rendered so well, (including a couple of pitch perfect muff-nuzzling shots that are conspicuous in their absense from the entire rest of the catalog of cinematic depictions of lovemaking), for us the movie fell flat. It moved us only to discussion of how fractured and unsatisfying the film was, and how the nudity and sex felt forced and inflicted, which only added to our disappointment and dissatisfaction.

Now keep in mind that I come to films like this from a particular and perhaps narrow perspective. The Dreamers is part of a long line of European arthouse films that step well accross traditional American boundaries of how, and how much sex is depicted. Along with her tits, Eva Green’s sparsely furred cuntlips make an appearence in this film; the first time I think I’ve seen a twat in a “legitmate” production, and it was wonderful to see just how beautiful a naked woman and her naked sex parts can look with the full force of a studio production gazing upon them.

But like so many films that have come before it, The Dreamers wraps its sexuality inside a tale of darkness and despair. A disquieting and decidedly unerotic incest theme runs throughout the film, coating the entire movie with a glaze of sticky shame. Perhaps for some viewers that makes it more interesting, more dramatic, or even more tantalizing, but for me it’s just tiresome. I am weary of the notion that sex need be rendered so darkly and joylessly to be worthy of serious cinematic inquiry.

(Side note: Over on Tiny Nibbles Violet’s been blogging about the movie The Bridge, a production which purposely set out to, and does depict the very real, very violent deaths of several people. Do you suppose there’s any risk that Eric Steele, the film’s director will be sent to jail or have his house taken away?)

Of course I’m not sure what the answer is. As I said in a previous post No Sadness, Anguish, Pain, or Suffering, with or without sex, happiness is not particularly dramatic. But I don’t think that means that sex has to be sick, twisted, or sad to make a good sex movie. A documentary “portrait of a couple” is one answer; not perfect, but servicable. It is, however, terribly limited. I don’t expect doing what I do would hold Bertolucci’s interest for very long. But I have some other ideas too…

What shall it be next? I Am Curiuos? We have it in both Blue and Yellow. Nine Songs? Intimacy?

What a year 2005 has been for Comstock Films!

In 2005 we went from being a quirky little indie company with one cult hit, to to a quirky little indie company with two certifiable breakout best-sellers. We went from shoe-string, DIY, handicam productions to shot-on-film production methods that rival anything in the mainstream adult industry, and we went from being almost totally unknown except within a very few sex-positive circles, to national recognition for breaking new ground in erotic film.

In January, “Marie and Jack” received a warm review in Penthouse Magazine:

…Through well-done, thoughtful interview segments, they describe their meeting and initial attraction, and give insight into their sex life. Their sex scene, which runs half an hour, is considerably different from what Aria’s fans have seen before. From slow, sensuous kissing to genuine, real-life orgasms, she and Bravo open up in a way few in this business have ever done.”

That same month, we shot two new scenes, one gay (Damon and Hunter) and one lesbian (Ashley and Kisha). Both used the same intimate documentary style established in “Marie and Jack” and “Xana and Dax” , but with the growing commercial success of our work, we were able to move from shooting on video to shooting on film.

In February, Comstock Films travelled to San Francisco, where we shot five more couples (three straight, two lesbian) — burning nearly 16,000 feet of film in the process.

In late May we released “Xana and Dax”, and it immediately became a bestseller, with some of our wholesale customers making six and seven re-orders in as many weeks.

In the early Summer, the mainstream press began to take notice of Comstock films. Writing in the July issue of Esquire Magazine, Stacey Grenrock Wood said:

“You may want to try a title from Comstock Films, a company that specializes in films of real couples having real sex, documentary style. Founder and director Tony Comstock offers an alternative for those people who find themselves turned off by the established porn aesthetic.”

In the August issue of Men’s Fitness, adult superstar Tera Patrick put “Marie and Jack: A Hardcore Love Story” at the top of her list of adult films she’ll watch with you for a “passionate time together”.

The next month, in the article “Was That Movie Good for You?” Tango Magazine name “Marie and Jack” and “Xana and Dax” to the top of their list of films couples should watch to spice up their relationship:

“Marie and Jack, porn stars married in real life, have the genuine chemistry and knowledge of each other’s bodies to make this film sizzle. It starts slowly, with the couple discussing the intimate details of their love, before getting down and dirty. Xana and Dax: When Opposites Attract, offers a similar scenario.”

Of course September also brought the shocking tragedy of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, and like many of our colleagues we felt moved to respond. Starting at midnight on September 14th, we held a one day benefit, with all proceeds from sales going to the American Red Cross. The response from our customers was unbelievable, and in 27 hours we raised over $4,000.

October found us in the pages of TimeOut New York in their article “The New Pornographers”:

“One feature of the local aesthetic is that it avoids the stereotypical silicone-enhanced Barbie types. Comstock Films finds real couples willing to do the deed on camera.”

That mention led to an invitation to meet with HBO, which may or may not mean something in 2006. Whatever the case, it was fun to hear them say nice things about our work, and it was exciting to tell them about what we do!

In November we stuck our toe in the shallow end of the video podcasting pool, begining by offering “Marie and Jack” in a serialized, syndicated format. If sales numbers since then are any indication, this is turning out to be a great way to bring the Comstock Films vision of sexuality and filmmaking to an even wider audience!

That same month, encouraged by our own assessment of “Damon and Hunter: Doing it Together” as well as enthusiastic feedback to rough-cuts, we decided to re-transfer the negative to HiDef and master the project in HD. This may well make “Damon and Hunter” the first adult sexually explicit movie shot on film and mastered in HD.

December found both Comstock’s offerings on the Eros Magazine Holiday Shopping Guide:

“Comstock films released the excellent Xana & Dax: When Opposites Attract, the follow-up to their award-winning Marie & Jack: A Hardcore Love Story. Also depending on an interview format — by now a hackneyed gonzo-porn cliche — Xana & Dax is far from standard-issue porn. The sense of emotional intimacy throughout this exceptional feature is enough to set it apart — but even if it weren’t, the gorgeous performers and intense sexuality makes Xana & Dax compete with the hardest of hardcore on its own terms.”

And of course this is all beautifully capped off by finding “Xana and Dax: When Opposites Attract” on Violet Blue’s “Best Porn Films of 2005″ list!

On a personal note, one of the most satisfying aspects of all of this, is that it’s been an entirely independent effort. Our projects are independently financed, independently produced, and independently distributed. That independence comes at a cost, and the cost is increased risk – I’ve got a few more wrinkles and grey hairs than I did a year ago.

But that independence has also given us the freedom to go our own way, to shoot sex the way we think it should be shot, and to give our projects the budgets, time, and attention we think they deserve. This isn’t always the easiest way to do things, and it may not even be the best. But it lets me make the kind of films I want to make, and hopefully give people the kind of films they want to watch. And as I’ve taken the time to review what we’ve accomplished in 2005, I think we might just be doing something right!

None of this would have happened without you, the people who buy our films, tell your friends “I’ve found something different and special!”, leave comments on this blog, and send us notes of encouragement. I see each and every notification of a new sign-up for this newsletter or blog comment, and every one of them encourages me to keep going, and keep making these films, even when that gets difficult or discouraging. Without all of you, this vision that is Comstock Films would have withered away long ago. Instead it’s blossomed into something that I’m very proud of. I hope you are too!

From Peggy and me,

Thank you, and Happy New Year!

It’s time for episode 5 of the award-winning erotic documentary, Marie and Jack: A Hardcore Love Story.

In keeping with the holiday spirit, in episode 5 of “Marie an Jack: A Hardcore Love Story” we hear a thoroughly pleasured Marie explain that it’s just as much fun to give as it is to receive – and then see her bring her husband Jack to a copious orgasm!

For your iPod or iTunes:
pcast://feeds.comstockfilms.com/ComstockFilmsVideoPodcast

All others:
http://feeds.comstockfilms.com/ComstockFilmsVideoPodcast

And don’t forget, if you like what you see, you can get the entire film on DVD from The Comstock Films DVD Shop. Free shipping now through the end of the month!

It’s Monday morning, which means it’s time for episode 4 of the award-winning erotic documentary, Marie and Jack: A Hardcore Love Story.

In this installment, Marie tells us why harder, faster, and deeper isn’t always better, and we see Jack’s special technique for giving his wife love just the way she likes it!

For your iPod or iTunes:
pcast://feeds.comstockfilms.com/ComstockFilmsVideoPodcast

All others:
http://feeds.comstockfilms.com/ComstockFilmsVideoPodcast

And don’t forget, if you like what you see, you can get the entire film on DVD from The Comstock Films DVD Shop. Free shipping now through the end of the month!

Two days ago I received a note from a fellow who, although he liked many things about Marie & Jack and Xana & Dax, was rather disapointed that both love scenes ended with external ejaculation. Here’s a bit from his note (used by permission):

These videos have what I have been looking for that is missing from the usual “porn” videos with one exception. You claim that these represent real sex but in both cases the man pulled out prior to cuming and we were shown proof that he came…

Maybe these couples actually have sex in this way but I doubt it. If they do I suggest using some couples who do not as well. This was a particular issue in the Xana & Dax video where he spent some time masturbating himself to climax. Why miss out on the wonderful sensations of being in your woman before cuming unless you are not able to do so for some reason. That, to a large extent, ruined the movie for me.

Also, my wife does not often watch explicit videos because she misses the loving relationship aspect of sex that makes it good for her. There is much in these movies that I suspect she would enjoy but I am sure she would be put off by this as well. She has made similar comments about other explicit videos.

He was also concerned that this might also be the case in Matt & Khym, which he had on pre-order. I wrote back:

Dear XXX,

Thank you for your thoughtful e-mail. It very succinctly addresses some of the vagaries of shooting sex scenes of people having unscripted and and undirected sex. With your permission I’d very much like to use your letter in an upcoming blog post. FYI, Matt and Khym’s love scene ends with Matt ejaculating inside of Khym. No particular effort is made to “prove” that he ejaculated, but afterwards Khym does reach down to catch a little on her finger and taste it.

Yours,
Tony Comstock

This seemed to (mostly) satisfy his concerns:

From your response I take it that Xana & Dax and Marie & Jack choose to handle the men’s ejaculation without any direction or suggestions. If so I wonder if that is how they normally have sex or if they did it that way because they thought that it might be expected, maybe from watching “normal porn”. You might want to make it clearer to those you film that they don’t have to do things differently, especially that.

I am not complaining if that is normal for them. It just seemed faked because of the way men’s ejaculation is handled in most porn.

The “might make it clearer” comment reminds me of the conversation I had with Desiree in the weeks prior to shooting her and her husband Ben.

“Oh, so you don’t want him to cum all over my face then?” she asked in response to my saying I just wanted them do have nice normal natural sex.

“Um well,” I stuttered, ” I don’t want you to do something you don’t enjoy when it’s just the two of you just because the camera is there, or because you think we want or need you to do something like that.”

“Oh no. I love having Ben blow on my face. I think it’s great, we do it all the time!”

“Well okay then. Please don’t let our being there inhibit you!” (It didn’t. Desiree had three orgasms that were very nearly disturbing in their intensity.)

Meanwhile, a tempest in a teapot seems to be swirling over similar question about what is and isn’t real over at SuicideGirls.com. Between kids, station wagon, suburban tract house, and a BMI of 26, I’m not really an alt kind of guy, (and even when I was young and broke and played my guitar too loud, I still wasn’t wasn’t an alt kind of guy) so I don’t really know that much about SuicideGirls, besides the fact that the chicks have downtown hairstyles, tats and piercings, and the photography style tends toward the deep focus/small focal plane style that I don’t really dig.

I do know what I thought I knew about SG, which was that I thought it was some hip, alternaporn site, run by technologically empowered female scenesters who were using the internet and cheap digital cameras to deconstruct the traditional pin-up. Okay, that’s cool in concept, even if I don’t really dig it as art, let alone as stroke material. Now it turns out that maybe SG is just some site run by some guy who’s making money off a lot of 18 year old girls’ yearnings to be a little less anonymous in the celebrity-obsessed world that we inhabit. Somehow that doesn’t seem quite so hip.

So what’s it all about, Alfie?

Back during that internet thing, people would sometimes say, “Content is king,” and the inflection they used seemed to indicate they thought they were offering a pearl of wisdom. Well here’s my pearl of wisdom, at least when it comes to making sex films: Context is king. Context is king, and when you use ‘reality’ as your conceit you walk a fine line. Most audiences are sophisticated enough to know that “the truth” is not the same thing as what you would have seen if you were on the set that day. But they’re also sensitive enough to know when the “reality” you try and present is too far way from what they would have felt if they had been on the set.

I don’t know what the “truth” is about SuicideGirls. The truth about Comstock Films is that all the way along there is a conspiracy between me and the couple I’m working with to present a very idealized portrait of their sexual relationship. It’s no more (or less) real than the nightly news or a novel.

Before their scene I asked Matt and Khym how they intended to enjoy Matt’s orgasm (experience has taught me not to assume that a “real couple” doesn’t enjoy the “so fake” external pop shot). When they told me that he was going to cum inside of her, I made a couple of suggestions for how we could visually signal the audience “yes, it really did happen.” The result can be seen in that lovely Comstock Films button that Mrs.C made for us.

Does that ruin it for you? I hope not.

Says the SFist:

Don’t think for a minute that porn made in San Francisco is going to imitate the low, unerotic and wholly artificial quality that signifies SoCal’s sad contributions to the porn pool…documentary filmmaker and now critically-acclaimed couples’ erotic filmmaker Tony Comstock stopped in a few months ago to capture several local couples for his tasteful, shot-on-film couples’ series (which began with bestseller Marie and Jack: A Hardcore Love Story)

“Critically-acclaimed erotic filmmaker”, I do like the way that reads. I like it very much!

-TC

tags:San Francisco, Real Couples, Real Sex, Fisting