Resurrected in Brian Surewood’s living room.

The news will be official on Monday or Tuesday, but it
looks like I will be directing my new project for
Elegant Angel. I am looking forward to it.  Patrick
Collins and Axel Braun are really good people.

I took two months off which I know is crazy in this
business. I needed to get away for a while and decide
who I was and where I wanted to go with my life. I
read Dostoyevsky again and tried to find out if I
wanted to continue making movies.  That sounds weird,
but Dostoyevsky’s work  has influenced me more than
anything or anyone else I have ever come in contact
with in my entire life. I wanted to see if I could
regain the passion and desire that I used to have,
that made me want to be a pornographer.   After
literally doing nothing for two months I realized that
making adult movies is what I really love to do.

When I made the decision to start making movies again
I went to High Society, as a friend of mine told me
they were really interested in me when they found out
I had left Extreme. They loved my stuff and they were
ready to give me a really big budget, although I had
to tone things down,

OK, back to High Society. I am very anti-social in a
lot of ways. As much as people think I have this big
ego, I’m really insecure and I hate schmoozing or
having to sell myself. The thing with High Society was
in many ways a blessing in disguise because it went so
smoothly.   But then, as I started casting, I got a
call from Bob Johnson (the head of video production)
that High Society was pulling the plug on their video
lines, which they had just started only a few months
ago.  I was disappointed because it seemed too good to
be true.  I mean I just got the courage to get back
into making movies again, and it was like, "Man, this
is great.  I’m going to have my pick of the companies"

 As  I said, it was  the first call I made and I
didn’t have to jump through any hoops. After that I
made a couple of phone calls to a few companies I was
referred to and when I didn’t get a call back right
away or I got a bad vibe, I was just like, fuck it.
Then I wrestled up the courage to call Patrick at
Elegant. 

Brian: I’ve seen him around.

TZ: Rog is one of the few reviewers who liked Mammary
Man.

Back to Elegant. I knew I had to find a good match. If
I went to Vivid, they probably would avoid me like the
plague, primarily because my reputation in many ways
is so notorious I think they would immediately call
security and hang crosses and garlic across their
front door.  So I had to find a company that would be
compatible with what I do and who would also be
open-minded enough to actually sit down and watch my
movies.  I met with Axel Braun first (Patrick was in
Brazil) and we hit it off right away. He is an amazing
guy with his background and lineage, one of the most
educated and intelligent people I’ve ever met in this
business.  So, after the first meeting he took home
copies of my flicks and actually watched them.   Then,
during our second meeting, he told me that he was
really impressed by my work, that it wasn’t what he
expected it to be.  What followed was this great
conversation about filmmaking.  About a week later I
met with Patrick and they decided to give me a chance.
So far the reception has been great. Everyone is so
happy to have me there and that is a great feeling.
Everyone at Elegant has treated me with the utmost
respect. 

It’s funny how this works. What I respect about you is
that you actually WATCH all of the movies you review.
If you like it, it doesn’t matter who made it, or what
your relationship with him is- You don’t let all that
other stuff affect your reviews. Axel told me that
there was so much of a pre-conceived notion about my
movies and the whole Extreme thing, that people were
shocked when he put them in the vcr and they actually
WATCHED them. When they finally got to take a look at
the movies and see what I can do, they saw what I’m
really about and their attitudes changed almost
instantaneously. In this business you are defined and
stereotyped by people who haven’t seen a single thing
you’ve done. I honestly believe that I’m capable of
directing anything someone needs, be it a Jules Jordan
rip-off, Michael Raven or Andrew Blake.  Like is that
a real Van Gogh or an imitation?  That’s easy.  Sadly,
imitation and a formulaic way of doing things seem to
be the standard in porn.  What these people fail to
realize, however, is that whether it’s gonzo, shock
porn, or cable-friendly product, the people who did it
first are really the true artists and innovators.  We
all take a little from here and there; there’s no
escaping it, but I like to think that the movies I’ve
made have created their own unique niche. 

So yes, to answer your question, I knew that I had to
choose companies that would be receptive or at least
open minded when it comes to the reputation I’ve
acquired. .

(He laughs) That’s true.

(He keeps laughing.)

Brian- He’s got you there.

You are right. There are a lot of companies that I
didn’t go to. I hate the process.

Brian- You wouldn’t be comfortable shooting for those
companies anyway.

That’s true, but even if I wanted to tone it down, I
would hate calling up all these people. That’s the
process that I hate.

It’s actually a deal for this one project. I am going
to do this first movie and then we’ll talk about a
more exclusive deal. I’m not working for anyone else
right now. The reality of the situation is that I put
everything into the project I’m working on.  I only
work on one at a time and sometimes that even seems to
be too much.

We work well together. Brian understands exactly where
I am coming from. He doesn’t like it most of the time,
but he does what it takes to get the job done.

Brian- Tom likes making me jump through hoops of
flame. He loves to make me do ten takes of something
that we could have done in one. If the situation were
reversed, I would do the same thing.

We have been together forever. There are very few
people who are true friends. Brian has always been
there for me and that’s priceless. To get back to your
question, yes he will be in the movie.

I am hoping to use the new Elegant Angel contract girl
Ann Marie. She is very cute and I’m hoping to do with
her what I did with Kristi Myst in "Days of Whore."

This might be her feature vehicle for Elegant.

It’s called "Flesh Circus" and it’s about a girl who
is driving from Vegas to LA. Her car breaks down and
she starts walking. In the distance she sees lights.

Yes, this was the big project I was working on. It’s a
sexual odyssey for this pure young girl. Axel and
Patrick looked over five treatments that I had and
this is the one that they both wanted.

You will appreciate this. I’m going to focus on making
sure that the sex is really hot and then everything
else will fall into place. The sex will be at the
forefront and everything else will secondary to making
the sex as jackoffable and erotic as humanly possible.

My experience with Extreme was enjoyable. I have
absolutely nothing bad to say about anyone there. But
the company was continually going in a different
direction from where I wanted to go. I left, I was not
fired. Everyone there knows that to be true. But if it
makes them feel better to say I was fired, then I was
fired.

I like to think so.  But as in all things in life,
it’s not that black and white; it’s all shades of
gray.  One thing that I learned during my three months
away is that there is something very important about
goodness, trust, and standing together with all of
those in this business. There are so many outside
forces against us, the last thing we should do is
attack each other. My current philosophy in life is to
be good to everyone and let what I do and what
everyone else does speak for itself. There is no
reason for cruelty or putting other people down. What
I’ve found is that in this business when people put
other people down, it’s to make them feel better about
themselves and to hide their insecurities and failings
as a human being.  I can’t do, nor want, to do that
any more.

I know it’s so Pollyannaish that you’re going to puke,
but it’s genuine and it’s how I am approaching my
life, both personally and professionally.

It’s really great to be back in the porn community. It
is amazing that so many people have been so receptive
and appreciative of me and my work.   I can’t thank
them enough. This is where I want to be. I chose to be
in this business because I love pornography. I’m a
pervert. I like being part of this community instead
of being on the outside. It is great to be working for
a company that is happy to have me. There is a lot to
be said about positive reinforcement for motivational
purposes.

In the middle of March and it should be out in late
April.