Checking In with Shine Louise Houston and Jiz Lee

February 25, 2019
HOLLY-KINGSTOWN

Support "Chemistry"!

Longtime porn creator Shine Louise Houston (shown below on the right) has an Indiegogo campaign up right now that supports the making of her upcoming erotic comedy "Chemistry Eases The Pain". I talked with her and her first assistant director Jiz Lee (shown below on the left) about this completely fabulous sounding movie that will star Lotus Lain, porn legend Nina Hartley, Mona Wales and Michael Vegas, along with others.

Fleshbot: Hello, Jiz and Shine! How are things?

Jiz: Great! Busy! We hit the year going fast with a bunch of projects, like adding vintage porn titles on our indie adult film site PinkLabel.TV (hello Wakefield Poole, Radley Metzger, Fatale Media, Maria Beatty -- we count 90's and 00's as vintage now, right?) and it's only two months in, but we've already shot and edited a bunch of super sexy episodes for our queer porn site CrashPadSeries.com. Now, we're gearing up for Shine's new film, "Chemistry Eases the Pain", which means returning to crowdfunding. It's rewarding, but also stressful. Running a crowdfunding campaign always feels like a sprint.

Shine: What Jiz said! (laughs)

Fleshbot: So tell me about "Chemistry", please, Shine? What was the inspiration behind the project?

Shine: I starting writing "Chemistry" years ago, and the company is now in the position to produce it independently. And I keep thinking that the issue, of identity policing and bi-phobia, is over, and that everyone's cool now. But I look around and see it is still happening, people having concerns about being in a relationship with someone, and the insecurity that comes up.... so this is a response to that. It has a little bit of dark humor and a nod to my own experiences.

Fleshbot: Jiz, what look do you have in mind for this movie? What will you doing creatively on "Chemistry" as 1st Assistant Director?

Jiz: The creativity is ALL Shine! So, the role of a first AD is to coordinate all the production activity and supervise cast and crew. It's more of a logistics responsibility - and Shine makes it easy because she's a very organized director - so how I'm coming at it is: 'how can I be the best assistant to help her accomplish everything she's set out to do?' It's a bigger and more responsible extension of what I do when we film CrashPad and I am on as Production Assistant - coordinating with cast and crew, the administrative tasks, etc.

Fleshbot: You have an incredible cast set up for this movie. What went into choosing Lotus Lain as your lead? I freaking adore her.

Shine: We auditioned Lotus for our last film, SNAPSHOT, and have kept in touch through her work in the industry with Free Speech Coalition. In our reading, she really nailed the character and she brings her experiences into the role -- she gets it! I'm really looking forward to working with her. Everyone in this cast is perfect which is crucial too because it relies on much more script and direction than my previous work.

Fleshbot: The gender issues explored in the plot of "Chemistry" are pretty compelling. What do you think locks people down inside about their sense of who that they should be attracted to?

Shine: We're often worried about what's 'normal' or being the odd guy out when it comes to sex. When we are too ashamed to be honest about our sexuality and desires, we fall inline with our peers but sometimes to a fault. That causes us to reinforce the very rules of who you're allowed to date, etc. that queers have worked so hard to break free from.

Fleshbot: Why make this a comedy? To a lot of people, sexual identity is a really serious topic.

Shine: Comedy is about truth, and can be done with honesty and grace in a way that provides a powerful message.

Fleshbot: Why crowdsource this movie? You did that with "SNAPSHOT" back in 2015, Shine. What about that experience made you choose to do that again?

Shine: Crowdfunding gave us the means to an independent production meaning the creative control to tell the story we want to make, with the bodies and desires we want to show. We could raise the funds to do it ourselves but it would take a long time. Doing this cuts out the big producers who usually dictate what's sexy, and puts us directly in touch with our audience. And it helps create a little buzz and excitement about the new project!

Fleshbot: There are some incredible rewards available for grabs if you support this campaign. What are your personal favorites, Shine and Jiz?

Shine: If you're in San Francisco, we we'd love to have lunch with you. That's a fun perk for us!

Jiz: I have a perk where I write people's names (or their company or partner's name!) on my belly and post it on social media. That one's fun. And there are SO MANY SEX TOY PERKS it's so awesome. But I agree that the lunch with me and Shine perk is probably one of the best ones. Any perk above $25 will get you access to watch the film, and there are so many great ones to choose from -- have at it!

Fleshbot: So what is coming up for both of you?

Jiz: I'm taking it one day at a time right now, to be honest. But maybe a little mini-vacation once this fundraiser is over would be nice. I've got a lot on my plate besides Pink & White and am juggling editing the sexuality chapter of the Trans Bodies Trans Selves book as well as upcoming responsibilities as a new member of the Editorial Board of the Porn Studies Journal. I've also done some films that have been recently released or will be soon with AORTA Films and Ron Rex for XConfessions, and ShuLea Chang.

Shine: Plugging away at pre-production for "Chemistry", and keeping up with CrashPadSeries.com and PinkLabel.TV. We've also got a new porn screening series in the Bay Area that we'll announce the next date of soon. Keep your eyes peeled!

Fleshbot: Is there anything that both of you would like to say to you fans here at Fleshbot?

Jiz: Thanks for all the love you've showed me over the years. Those Jiz tags here on the site go way back! Appreciate you keeping up with my career and supporting all my passions. We can't do it without your money.

Shine: Thanks!

The images of Lotus Lain here was taken by Taryn Carter.

Click right here to help fund "Chemistry" right now!