We’ve had the pleasure of working with Kay Brandt this month
as our Erotica Author of the Month. Kay
delighted us by answering a few questions inquiring minds wanted to know. Her interesting life, in both writing and
directing, sounds like a good movie in and of itself. Keep reading to learn more about the tantalizing
sexy, Kay Brandt.
KinkCrate:
What was your favorite story to write
and why?
Kay: I’d
say out of my 21 published offerings, Safe Landings has been my favorite one so
far. I was half way done with writing the novel when Adam&Eve gave me the
green light to write and direct the feature film version of the story. I knew
where the story was going and how it would end, but when I changed aspects of
the story while writing the screenplay adaptation, it made me rethink a few
things, especially with character development. The changes were unique to the
film and hadn’t been originally written in the book, and when the film was
finished, I added some of those changes into the manuscript. It was surprising
how the movie became its own entity not reliant on the book to tell the story
in full, and vice versa. I had a creative realization, suddenly understanding
why we often hear “the book was better than the movie” because film
adaptations just can’t contain every detail or story point in a book. There’s
just no way. The overall creative experience of making both a book and a film
based on the same story was truly amazing, and I grew as a writer because of
it. I had to be my own tough critic as well as my biggest supporter to keep my
ego out of the projects, and let the story tell itself for two different
mediums almost simultaneously, which was strange, exciting, terrifying, and
completely amazing. Safe Landings, the movie, went on to earn high praise from
film critics and received 11 nominations from AVN and XBIZ during the 2016
award season. And the book sold well, too, earning similar high praise from
readers and reviewers.
KinkCrate: What are you working on now?
Kay: I’m in the final draft stages with At Mother’s Command 2 as
well as Naked, which is a novel based on my upcoming adult feature film of the
same title. Cutters, my second horror novel, is also being worked on and I have
plans on publishing it via Fido this winter. Hotwives & their Dirty Desires
was made into a feature film two weeks ago and should be released just about
the time the book sequel is published this fall or early 2018.
KinkCrate: Tell us about your adult industry experience.
We understand you do erotica and porn.
Kay: I am both a writer/director of adult films and an author of
erotic books. I’m also a screenwriter/author of other genres, like horror
(non-erotic and erotic), comedy, sci-fi, romance, and fantasy. I’ve always been
a writer and was a prolific playwright in the 1990’s, writing, directing,
producing dozens of stage productions, some of which were erotic. I worked in
mainstream film for a decade, and then my resume was found on a benign
mainstream entertainment website by the man who created Girlfriends Films, a
lesbian XXX company. After some talk, and soul-searching, I jumped at the
opportunity to write and direct mostly vignette style lesbian erotica, and
found I really enjoyed the work (once I got past my fear of directing actual
sex performances) and my movies gained popularity with the diehard fans of
Girlfriends Films. That opportunity lead to more, and I later took a position
writing/directing for a Digital Playground. It was there that I created the two
biggest-budget all-female films ever made in the history of porn, “Cherry
episode 1” and “Cherry 2.” Those two films won big awards with
both AVN and XBIZ in 2012, and the movies are now considered erotic classics.
It was also those movies that spurred me into writing erotic lesbian books, and
I turned the two films into an entire book series, “The World of Cherry,
1,2,3,4 &5” I never imagined that I’d get to make a New York Times
bestselling novel like “Babysitting the Baumgartners” into a film
years later, or my own novels like “Safe Landings”, and now the
upcoming “Naked” and “Hotwives and their Dirty Desires”,
but somehow this crazy road has brought me to this point where I’m creating a
new genre of adult film, all based on erotic books.
KinkCrate: Do you pull from your film work for your stories, or
vice versa?
Kay: I have, like with The World of Cherry series, which is
based on the two award-winning movies I made, “Cherry episode 1,” and
“Cherry 2." My raunchy lesbian novellas "Lusty Lawyers and
their Innocent Interns 1 & 2” are loosely based on an x-rated series I
wrote/directed while I was working for Girlfriends Films called Lesbian Legal.
My best-selling erotic shorts “My Mommy’s Got Your Daughter
1,2,3,4,5” are also loosely based on a series of movies I wrote/directed.
And then there’s the five books I’ve adapted for film over the past two years,
“Safe Landings” “Babysitting the Baumgartners”
“Adventures with the Baumgartners” “Naked” and
“Hotwives and their Dirty Desires.” So, yes, I’d say I pull from and
give back between the two mediums frequently.
KinkCrate: Do you have a favorite sex toy? If so,
what? Has it worked it’s way into your stories or movies?
Kay: My vibrators!!! And yes, I often include solo
masturbation scenes in my films and my books. I dig strap-ons, too, and have
filmed and written scenes around the use of them. I have visions of elaborate
sex machines that I write about in books, and would love to do a series of
films with characters using them. In my book, At Mother’s Command, there are a
few extravagant machines, apparatuses, restraints, and other devices, including
a vibrating seat with a dildo attachment used by the characters.
KinkCrate: Do you have a favorite type of sexual scene to write
for film?
Kay: I love writing lesbian scenes that are filled with lust and
animal attraction. Recently I’ve discovered just how sexy a FFM or
female-female-male scene (a BGG menage for film) can be. I just filmed one in
my latest feature, Hotwives and their Dirty Desires that blew me away between
Mercedes Carrera, Nina Elle, and Codey Steele. It rivaled the beauty and
intensity of the menage scene I directed for Forked last year, which was my
x-rated cooking show, that featured Mercedes Carrera, Mia Li and Damon Dice.
But I’ve filmed and written extravagant orgies and elaborate BDSM scenes that
own special places in my heart, too. In many ways, every sex scene I’ve filmed
is like a work of art to me, and I hope that same magical feeling translates to
the explicit scenes in my books as well.
KinkCrate: Being in the adult industry creating
both erotica and porn, what do you see as the difference between the two?
Kay: Books are way, way, wayyyyy dirtier than porn (film). And
authors have far more freedom to explore topics and genres than a filmmaker
could ever get away with, not even for porn. Shocking, right?
KinkCrate: Back to writing, how do you deal with writers block?
Kay: I shiver at the words: writers block. Yikes. It’s horrible
when it happens, and scary. There are times when my blocks were so deep that I
wondered if I’d ever write again. And there are times when the words, thoughts,
scenes flow so freely and in abundance it feels like it’s never going to end.
For me, I deal with blocks by changing directions. I get away from my computer,
throw on my sneakers and go run it out. I talk to the sky, blast music in my
ears, I let my mind go anywhere it wants instead of focusing on one story, or
set of characters, or plot points. I remind myself blocks are temporary, and
the answers I need to continue with a story are there when I’m ready to write
them. The mind needs exercise just as the body does, and staying in one place
mentally isn’t good for the creative process. So, don’t force the blocks to
dissipate – just learn how to most effectively use the downtime.
KinkCrate: How did you start writing erotica? Have you
written other genres before?
Kay: In the late 1990’s I wrote an erotic-themed play about two
lesbian strippers called “Kiss Me Twisted.” At the time, stage plays
that pushed the limits of how far a writer/director/producer could go with
nudity and explicit content was the trend and I was very comfortable writing
about sexual situations and emotional dynamics, which is what Kiss Me Twisted
revolved around. The characters were exploring their own personal demons,
passions, needs, wants – I wasn’t simply writing a play to titillate. As a
screenwriter, I’ve always loved writing comedies, dramas, horror, sci-fi and fantasy.
For me, it’s story first, with well-developed characters, and the setting is
just the setting. Like when I wrote the screenplay version of my horror book,
“Soles,” I didn’t set out to write a horror movie specifically. I
started with the main character and his dilemma and special set of
circumstances, and then realized his story was best told as a horror, with a
bit of dark comedy mixed in. My adult films, although they’re entirely erotic,
run the gamut of genres and styles, like comedy, drama, romance. I don’t ever
want to be “one thing” or one style as a writer. That’s way too
limiting, robotic and predictable. I would be denying my creative spirit if I
was a one-trick pony.
KinkCrate: Best piece of sex advice you can have
for another human?
Kay: Have as much of it as you can. Don’t feel guilty about
loving and wanting sex. As long as every experience is consensual and everyone
is getting their needs met, than enjoy yourself to the fullest.
Follow Kay:
Twitter: @jewelboxfilms
IG: https://www.instagram.com/kay.brandt/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Kay-Brandt/e/B008AC6306/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kay.brandt.75
