The premise of “story” has long been a part of the XXX industry, even before there was such a thing as film, or a camera to freeze those beautiful moments in time for all of us to gaze upon. Story has always been something more than just “water-cooler” talk at the office, or friends hanging out at the local pub blowing the froth off a couple, talking about how cute Kenzie Reeves is. This industry’s roots in history can date back many years ago. Rooted in the circus.. yes, the circus. Some say the origins may even go as far back as Ancient Rome, in times when soldiers were cured of the battlefield ailments (we call PTSD) by visiting their local brothel—on the orders of their general—to simply put love back into their hearts by making fantasy a reality. Other historians, both erotic and contemporary, say that the true beginning was around the eighteenth century with a brigade of talented people were more known as traveling performers. Now, this is not a tale for the kiddies. This is a yarn about the performers who put on a show of another kind… one that is still rooted in today’s world of feature-dancing and the traditional “sex show” that has found its way to many, many more places besides the wonderful city of San Francisco.
This month’s column is a feature spotlighting not so much the beginning of story within erotica, but its evolution. This is a showcase of how it is alive and well within the “independent” cinema in the adult film world. Since 2016, MissaX and All Her Luv have been steadily becoming a part of every XXX fans “storied” collection of films. The way the owner of this company has been accomplishing such feats is through amazing story and powerful acting that has long been the key to what creates every fantasy within this land of allure—even the gonzo productions believe it or not.
Performance has always been about creating an illusion. That is what every adult production truly is beneath its fancy feathers of makeup, stilettos, and lingerie. It is what adults paid to see “under the big top” many decades ago when the adults would drop the rest of the family off with the elephants and clowns, just so that mom and dad could get entertained themselves on a Saturday night. That art of performance always comes from one place, no matter if it is a live presentation, or on a 1080i jumbo screen in your living room. That source is the pen and mind of a storyteller and that is what MissaX is at its core and always has been. The best things in life happen by accident. That is what director Missa will tell you about the company that she started with her husband. I asked the busiest writer in the industry where the idea for a company whose cornerstone was story and writing came from:
“I fell into sex work entirely by accident. I was selling clothing on eBay when a guy asked if he could buy my panties underneath my jeans, instead of the jeans. He offered well over what I was trying to sell the jeans for, and all he asked for in return was a faceless picture of me in the panties. I was more than happy to satisfy him and then I started to search out guys who were looking for used panties. I started a used-panty business where I was selling way more than I could wear, and I commissioned other women to wear panties as I took their pictures (nude and non-nude). The used-panty business eventually was kicked off of eBay, where I was forced to look for a new outlet to sell on. That’s when I found a little fetish site that allowed the sale of used panties. I was asked to do masturbation scenes, then sex scenes with my husband, fetish stories that span from giantess fetish to taboo role-play; I did it all! I never thought I was in porn. I thought I was selling individual scenes to the custom video buyers who promised to keep them private. I believed them! I was naive. I found out how naive I was when I saw my scene exploited on tube sites with millions of views, right next to popular porn stars. I am an extremely modest woman. I do not even wear a bikini when I go to the beach, only a one-piece swimsuit with a T-shirt overtop of that for extra modesty.”
“I took a couple of weeks away from my online sales and played whack-a-mole with the pirated scenes and learned that my sins were very public; there was no way of putting the cat back in the bag. Once you do one porn scene, you might as well have done thousands. I decided to get back to it, but this time have an exit plan so that I could remain behind the camera. I worked hard making fetish scenes where I sold them on the best clip store in the world, Clips4Sale, and learned everything I could about different fetishes. The taboo fetishists were especially interested in my custom video business, and they were generous enough to share the intricacies of their kinks. I webcammed with my fans who became my friends and learned how their fetish originated, what turns them on and off, and other things about their personal life. I have made a lot of friends from my customers, and although I have lost many friends and family since my exposure, I have gained a little family inside our industry and with my fans.”
“My amateur scenes were shot with a $200 camcorder and my husband’s industrial lights from his home-remodeling business, but as we gained an audience, we improved our camera and lighting equipment. In 2015, I put out a Craigslist ad looking for couples to film fetish scenes with. Our favorite amateur that we hired from Craigslist, Brianne Blu, still works with us to this day. The amateur models allowed us to hire professional models, and now I am a writer and director, completely behind the scenes. I feel happiest and most comfortable behind the scenes.”
What is no accident is the fact that every single performer in the game hopes to one day get that call from their agent that they are booked to shoot with MissaX. Trust me, I have heard a lot of pleading in my day since this company opened its doors, and rightfully so. Every single year they become the company that innovates and sets the bar for many other companies to imitate. This is one of the first true companies to open up their doors to adult performers. Give them a chance to write, direct, and learn the concept of production. MissaX.com was a year ahead of everyone else when she began to start putting more investment in other brilliant minds in this business, growing their own passion for the art of erotica. Look at today’s hottest directors, like Ricky Greenwood—a true filmmaker who would get a call asking to take a trip to shoot and film, all while spending a Saturday night in casual attire showing his cast some of the methods that he learned making all sorts of cinema and presentations. This was all as he was getting ready himself to begin venturing to places never seen with a camera in this business. Bringing to life stories like The Specialist and Life After Divorce. True films created with a roll-of-the-dice investment by MissaX that is paying off and beyond. These are films about real-life subjects. Some are comedic, all are real as can be. Scenarios that every human being has faced with love. Ariel X, one of the stars of Life After Divorce, told me within seconds of request how much she loved to work with MissaX and Ricky Greenwood, and how passionate these projects are. Ariel told me:
“MissaX’s Life After Divorce was a special performance for me to be able to do. It was so special because the storyline and script were very well-thought-out. The movie touched on some very taboo fantasies while carrying very relatable characters. It’s really great when I can perform in a movie as a character and I can roleplay and have fun with being someone else for a day. Missa movies always have great scripts and character development and I’m so proud to have been a part of Life after Divorce.”
Now, to be fair, we cannot only feature the performers who are the seasoned veterans of cinema. Focusing on what the future brings is what this column is all about. In a world where voyeurs call the shots from the closet and the term “fetish” has perhaps a thousand meanings, fans may not really know that what performance truly is, lying within the passion and filth that we all love to see. That is how we have always named such pleasures of sexuality, and never has it ever been so beautiful as it is today. Performance: the act of modeling, posing and creating. It is a bigger part of who a porn star is. I think it is far more important than the look of their million-dollar anatomy.
Never has that been so true as it is with new starlet Kenzie Reeves, one of the fastest-rising performers to receive nomination for Female Performer of the Year. This petite beauty has nothing small within her when it comes to how she faces everything in the adult industry. Since her start the same year as MissaX, Kenzie has devoted so much to who and what she is to acting. This is a performer who spends more on her outfits than most performers do on their monthly tabs at the LA nightclubs. Kenzie is a woman who has grown her brand massively. This is a performer who gets her hair done before a shoot, who invests in things a model must, like exercise and shaping her body the way all true models must. She got the most stunning pearly whites from the same doctor that created them for industry giant Abella Danger. That is what you call dedication to one’s craft and brand. That is what kind of performer MissaX is rewarding and helping to grow alongside her business and brand. All with the same types of high-dollar spending that may not make sense to fans in many ways, but are what make us all stop and stare when we see these actors onscreen. On the Mend is her second starring role alongside Tyler Nixon. I had to ask the lovely Miss Reeves, what is it that makes MissaX so special to who she is, Kenzie Reeves the actor?
“I loved being on that side. I feel like we’re creating more than just porn; it’s a real movie. I love that the acting itself is just as important as the sex. I love being a part of that. For sure one of my favorite productions.”
Now, do not take it from me, take it straight from the performer’s mouth as this is a side of the business most people do not know nor have seen. For many years producers and directors thought that you simply could not show the woman behind the performer. That you could not dare let the envy of men everywhere see who the person was behind the nine and half inches, or the apple and pear shape. The truth of today’s world, people are finally getting to see that we are all just people. Some are just born with more God-given talents than others. I can not say for sure, but I think that is what really sparks the pen behind such wonderful stories with MissaX. The Specialist is about a woman who has never known an orgasm—a massive, and I mean a massive, problem in the sex lives of many people across the globe. Other tales include the forbidden draw of another woman, which I have never seen so powerfully done like it was with Bridgette B. in Obeying Instinct. This tale was about things that we all feel, places we have all been. I do not care what your experience levels are with the opposite or same sex. Those productions are all something so real. I can remember fans telling me for days that this story made them think of their own relationship, their friends, or even parents. Now that is powerful cinema. On the surface, I think many fans believe it is those desires of the flesh that are the only things that draw us in to adult entertainment. No, far from it. It is that emotion that we all feel and is what the stories that MissaX creates that are putting her ahead of so many in this race of adult filmmakers who wish to take home the purse and the trophy at the end of the day. These creations are taking the industry to new places, and dare I say, opening up a new world and vision of sexuality that every single person can relate to. If that is not art, I do not know what is. I asked M this in closing, to tell us what it is about story that captures everyone’s heart, even those who have never picked up a novel in their life.
“I want to give my viewer something to remember when the story is finished. He should dream about the characters. What comes next in their story? What happened in her life prior? I want to wonder about her, who she is, when he is at work, at home in secret. I want him to crush on her, and anticipate the days when the next story will be released, so he can repeat the process all over again with a different female lead. In order to accomplish this, we need to have a special actress who can connect with our viewers. She must understand how to portray emotion, and to take the black-and-white words on the script and bring them to life. We look for actors who enjoy the acting process. I am inspired by everything! I am inspired by things that happened to me, or something that happened to a friend. I am inspired by a song, a character in a book, a quote I saw embroidered on a pillow, or the actors themselves. We have so many actors in our industry who should be acting in mainstream movies. I want to write something that is worthy of their talents.”
“I’ve always loved forbidden love stories ever since I was a little girl. The Orphan, Cinderella, came from a poor family, and despite all of her struggles, she married the prince and lives happily ever after. As I grew older, my thirst for romance took me into poetry and into classic romantic novels from Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. I love period stories so much because there are so many rules to follow. A person truly had to seduce another with actions and words before being so bold as to go in for a kiss. When you watch a MissaX porn scene, it’s not likely you will see a kiss before a proper push-and-pull from our characters. The actors will show you a beautiful seductive dance with words and actions before they undress. That’s how real life is, and that’s how porn should be as well.”
Watch MissaX‘s popular catalog on HotMovies!
Follow @TheDonJuanXXX and HotMovies on Twitter and Instagram