The Visionary Director MimeFreak: Our Exclusive Interview

May 13, 2014
TUCKER-BANKSHOT

We're beginning to reach an era in porn where the directors are becoming as well known as the stars themselves. One such superstar director is MimeFreak, who has become synonymous with quality behind the camera in just a few short years. Plucked from obscurity by Chris Streams back in 2005, MimeFreak has cut a path across the industry for himself, yet is always mindful of those who have helped him along the way. Never one to take anything for granted, MimeFreak is incredibly up front about his troubled past, and how his youthful indiscretions have shaped him into the man he is today. In fact, the first line of his bio over at his personal website reads "The rose that grew from concrete," which was written for him by his lovely wife, Tori Black. He's also one of the most relaxed, generous, and funny directors working today, which certainly helps him maintain a revered status within the industry. I sat down with MimeFreak to discuss his most recent project for Elegant Angel, Caramel Hunnies, and also talk about his past, as well as his hopes for the future.

Tucker Bankshot: You credit Chris Streams, Pat Myne, and Mr. Pete as big influences on your career.

MimeFreak: And JaySin too.

TB: Okay, fantastic. So what are some of the best lessons they imparted to you as you embarked on your own career as a director?

MF: Well, they always told me just to shoot what I think is sexy. Shoot what I'm into, don't go and try to be generic and shoot what everybody else is shooting just to get a buck. Just shoot the things that you believe in. For instance, Caramel Hunnies, when you look at that movie there's a bunch of pretty black girls that aren't in front of a car twerking and have the generic all-black appeal. I wanted to give these girls a different spotlight than the normal generic look for black talent.

TB: That's a great segue into my next question which is that Caramel Hunnies may be the first big adult film to feature a black director and an entire cast of non-white actresses. How important was this film for you?

MF: Well, just like I said, I think when I came over to Elegant Angel there was an all-black line that we wanted to go with, but there was that same generic feel so I cancelled the movie and do something that's generic. However, at the same time when you think of Caramel Hunnies, it's very upscale when it comes to the talent and the girls, and it's girls that aren't your generic talent. So it was just a beautiful experience to have those girls be a part of this project, and for me to be the one getting it done, but I don't want to be known as the typical black director that only does black products, you know? I'm a director that happens to be black, but I wanted to take black product and go in a different direction with it.

TB: Speaking recently with Sophia Fiore, she actually said that her scene with Lexington Steele is one of the hottest she's ever done. How was it pairing an up and comer like Sophia with a veteran like Lexington?

MF: Well, over here at Elegant, we believe in woman empowerment and we always go to the girls and ask the girls who they want to perform with, and she said, "I want to go with the best." And of course, the two best that she mentioned were Lex and Prince (Yahshua), and Prince was already featured in the movie and she said, "I'll go ahead and take Lex." She considered Lex to be a challenge because not all the girls can take him balls deep in the ass and balls deep in the pussy, and she did both. I was really wowed by the scene, she held her own and there was this amazing chemistry, and when I saw that she was able to take him balls deep in the pussy and the ass, it was just remarkable. She was pulling on Lex. Normally people push him away, but she was pulling on him to go even deeper. It was an incredible thing.

TB: Yeah, she's a tough lady, she talked about giving back as much as she gets so, yeah, that was great to hear.

MF: Yeah, you know, that's the reason I wanted her to be the box cover girl is because she takes that bar and she raises it up a notch, and being so… I wouldn't say new, she's still fresh to the industry. If you pay attention to the scene and how she really went at Lex, I can't think of too many girls that could take Lex the way she did. I was wowed, I wasn't expecting that. She surprised me. When I went and did her piece, she said, "I've got a surprise for you. I'm going to really take him and I'm going to fuck him back, and you're going to be impressed," and I said, "well, okay, we'll see." And by the end of the day she looked at me and said, "I told you," and I said, "yeah you did! Not that I doubted you, but fuck!" (Both laugh)

TB: You have two huge movies already this year with Slutwoman and Caramel Hunnies, both of which bear your distinctive hallmarks. Where do you go from here?

MF: Well, I continue to challenge myself, you know? There's a couple of other projects that I'm going to be doing, and pretty much coming out with new lines that I can't mention, but there's a lot of things that I'm going to be doing that will challenge me and give the fans and the viewers something different. I always like to give them a curveball so to speak, instead of just doing anything traditional. That's what I think it's about. I think that porn now is back to the basic things, we're not going crazy with all the parodies, even though you probably have one or two directors that are still doing parodies. As an overall, though, I think that everybody got back to real, core sex, so it's giving the viewers, whether it be a good storyline or a good tease, hard fucking, I'm trying to wrap all of that into one movie and kind of bridge the gap of feature-type Gonzo films to where people don't want to go above and beyond because of the amount of money that they're being paid but it's the extra work that I want to put in.

TB: You've spoken very candidly on your blog about your time in prison and how you found your true self there. Do you hope that your story can be an inspiration to other young black men that may be facing some tough decisions in their own lives?

MF: Of course, and that's the reason why I put that out there. A lot of people go to prison and they feel, you know, that their life is over. What people don't understand is that there are still a lot of opportunities out there. In our country, when you go to prison, your mind frame is, "well, I can never work for another company," whereas your mind frame should be, "I can start my own company." They don't have discrimination against people that can be CEOs of their own companies. So basically, I consider myself as a role model. When I came home from prison, I wanted to be not only an example to my family first, because that was immediate, that was who was affected immediately, but to people that are on the outside of my family, to give them an example of what can be done with hard work and dedication of your craft and art.

TB: No, that's great, and it really comes through. I read your piece and it was very moving.

MF: You know, it wasn't like I was living the life of a drug dealer, I was hanging out with the wrong crowd, and that's what I told the judge. And a lot of people said, "well, why would you want to tell your story?" But, you know, my life wasn't peaches and cream. I lost it all. So for me to lose it all and then come back, you know, it was Zero Tolerance that actually put me in their warehouse. They gave me a place to come home to and they paid me well working in their warehouse. I had to start all over again. So I went from the warehouse back into film, and became a PA, getting paid half of what I was getting paid before I went to jail. And then just coming back and just grinding and getting on with Mick (Blue) and getting on with JaySin and just finding a niche that everyone enjoyed. I just kept to it, stuck to the script, and things just opened up for me.

TB: You go out of your way to respond to all communications with your fans. Do you think that makes the adult industry special, because there isn't that fake layer of show business in regard to the relationships between fans and artists?

MF: I think so because, you know, when I look at it, porn is a sorority. We have all these people that are just like, "let's talk to the cool kids," and I've always been, you know, I ran in high school, I was the track captain, I was the basketball captain, I was in student council, I was a jock. But the thing is, I never went about with my head high. There's this thing like, here's this guy over at Elegant Angel, and they're like, "Oh man, you're so cool," and I'm like, "I'm just me, there's nothing cool about me, I just work hard." So when people take the time to talk to me, you know, that's special. It's just like walking down the street. If I'm approached by somebody that says, "Hey hi, how are you doing?" I'm not going look at them and ignore them because I don't know them. I'm going to take the time to say, you know, "Hey man, how are you?" Because that's what it's about.

You know, it's so funny, with social media, there are a lot of people that don't have the confidence to speak to someone and say, you know, "Hey, how are you doing?" out on the street, but they would love and enjoy to have a conversation through a computer. So I want to give that feel back to everybody that takes the time to speak to me, I love to take the time to respond. Even if people say something stupid, even those people that have something negative to say I'll correct them, and educate them. You're not going to beat me into being mad and spreading off a bad vibe, that's not me. So even if you say something stupid, I'll still address you. I may kind of be sarcastic in a way, but I feel that the fans are the reason that these companies are afloat. It's their money that they're spending to buy our products, so as a director over here at Elegant, why wouldn't I talk to the fans?

They're telling me what they like and what they dislike about my movies, and I learn from them. I love to be able to take some of their ideas and put them in my movies and send them a message to say, "hey, you gave me this idea and I used it." And that goes a lot further than just saying, you know, "hey, what's up?" A lot of girls have Amazon accounts and stuff like that, and I send a lot of these guys free movies because, you know, it says "you helped me, and I'm going to give you something in return." There was this one guy, it was two days ago, and he said, "I bought a MimeFreak package," and I'm like, "what the hell is that, is that something new that Elegant's doing?" and he says, "no, I took a lot of these movies and I bought them." So I looked and I said, "well, you didn't get this movie, so I'm going to get that one and I'm going to send it to you, and I have something else special for you, an 8x10 from my wife." He was very appreciative, he was like, "man this is so cool!" And that's what I like. I like to be able to put a smile on a lot of these fans' faces.

TB: That's so great, and it really comes through in everything I've read about you, and everything you've said just now. When you shot Slutwoman with Maddy O'Reilly, you guys came to a bit of an impasse in regards to your vision with wanting different locations for each scene. Obviously, she came around to your way of thinking, but how crucial was it to stick to your guns on that issue?

MF: The thing is, with Maddy, she is a Taurus, just like myself, so she's going to challenge whoever. She'll challenge God, you know, that's just how she is. There's a lot of movies that these girls have their influence on, but I said to her I said, "I want your influence, but we're going to do this as a team. I really want you to trust me." She wanted to so certain things, and I'm like, "trust me your idea is great, don't get me wrong, but you have to see the overall picture." When I told her my vision, she didn't think it would work, and so I had to paint a whole ‘nother picture when it comes to sales, when it comes to being unique, when it comes to trying to set that bar higher, and to challenge yourself.

She's just a natural challenger, and she will nitpick at everything because she wants it to be perfect. The thing is though, that by me trying to get us on the same page, and me painting that picture for her, I think really helped, and I gave her a lot of tools. Hopefully she feels the same way that I feel, which is that I gave her a lot of tools that she could take with her as she goes onto her next thing and into being a director.

TB: You selected Bonnie Rotten as your Freak of the Month for May. What is it about her that impresses you the most?

MF: I think her edginess, you know, being a woman and just refusing to follow what normal girls go through in this industry. A lot of girls in this industry really do what they're told, and Bonnie listens to what she's told, and then she tells you what she can do as well. That's one thing that I think is that this industry is geared towards the outspoken woman that can actually hold her own. Of course, she can't hold the camera, she can't take pictures, but she can tell you how to take pictures and how to shoot what she wants to see, and when I first met Bonnie I said this girl is very special. She had that "I'm gonna kick ass and take names" type of attitude and I said, "man, this girl is gonna do something miraculous."

At the beginning of her career, she took on things that girls don't take on until the money starts falling. When you've been in the industry for seven years, why be a director now when you can be a director when you first start? But I don't think this industry is geared towards giving the girls these opportunities and then, and I can tell you this, when given the opportunity, some girls don't take advantage of it. There's a lot of girls that I've come into contact with and I've said, "you should this, or you should do that," and there's people that will help you along the way, whereas I didn't have to tell Bonnie anything. I told Bonnie a handful of things, and she told me, "yeah, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do that," she already had that plan, and I just said, "I cannot wait to watch you soar."

When I heard of her being a director I just thought, you know, damn she did it, and she didn't do it in a matter of two years, she did it in fuckin' six months! And that was impressive. When I first had a conversation with this woman, it was over the phone and we were talking about shooting for her website, shooting pictures and solos of her, and she said, "this is what I want to do," and she laid her whole plan out, and I said, "son of a bitch, this girl is great, and I hope that she sticks to her guns." And she did. This girl is remarkable and I can't be more proud of her. I'm all for the woman being powerful and making moves in this industry because their careers are short anyway, so what can you do to prolong your career, and she's done it, she's doing it.

TB: Yeah, I actually spoke with her a few weeks ago, and she's very aware of that too. She's definitely got her eye on what she's going to do when she's no longer performing.

MF: Right, and she has that formula. I think that a lot of these girls today are, she's starting a trend. A lot of girls are trying to direct and they're trying to shoot a camera. I have a lot of these girls that call me and they laugh when they say, "hey I shot camera today," and I'm like, "well, how was it?" and they're like, "man, that camera gets heavy after a few minutes," and I'm like, "exactly," (both laugh). You know, people think that it's fuckin' easy to shoot camera, and take pictures, and be creative, and it's not. Maddy calls me and picks my brain, and Bonnie calls me every now and then, and I have a couple of people that call me and pick my brain on things, and I always tell girls, "if you need a cameraman or you need an assistant, just call me, and I'll gladly give that to you." That's not a problem because I love to see these girls do well. And Bonnie, she's just taking this industry by storm and I really hope that these girls follow her system.

TB: I know you've talked about this on your blog, but is there anyone you haven't worked with yet that you'd really like to work with?

MF: You know what's kind of funny is that, there were a bunch of girls that I really wanted to shoot, and I've shot most of them. I would say that Veruca James is on my hit list. That girl is underrated and under appreciated. I'll say Dakota Skye. Asa (Akira), I never got the chance to shoot Asa for my own project, I've shot her for other companies. Marie Luv, she's back and I would love to shoot her. Aaliyah Love is another one that I plan on, I actually have something going with her and I can't wait to get started. I haven't booked Bonnie Rotten for one of my features. I've shot her for "Performers of the Year," but she's never been in one of my movies where I shot her. Gracie Glam. There's so many, and yet so few.

It's funny because, and you can quote me on this, I was talking to my wife the other day and I said, "I wish that things weren't the same where I could shoot you because I've never seen you perform in person and I would love to have experienced that. To be able to shoot you and see all the history and all the fan talk. I know the stuff you do at home, but that's different, you're performing, and I would have loved to put you in one of my movies just to see what it is that you're about." There's not a lot of history making girls around, ones that have that superstar status, Maddy, Bonnie Rotten, AJ Applegate, there's only a few girls that have that superstar persona. There's a lot of girls but there's not a lot that stand out, and I think that Veruca James is very, very, very, very underrated. That girl is something special, she's crazy. She's on my hit list, I'd say she's number one on my hit list right now. Callie Calypso is another one that's waiting. She's waiting in the bushes and the rocks, to really come out. She's something special too. I see it, and I'm willing to take a gamble that next year around this time, she'll be a porn household name.

TB: Alright, that's a bold prediction. You can write that in letters ten feet high when you're right.

MF: I think that once people get that name, and they get what she's able to do. You know, it's funny because Maddy brought her to my attention first and I've been watching her and watched how she's evolving, and I think she's going to be up and coming real soon. Real soon.

TB: Anything else you'd like your fans to know, or maybe anyone that's discovering you for the first time?

MF: I'm just me, you know. Right now I feel like I'm living the dream and just to be a part of this industry to where people actually appreciate my work is just incredible. But at the same time, it doesn't stop here. There's many more things I'm going to be doing in the future. Many more things.