Gamma's Bree Mills Talks About Girlsway’s Big First Year

This article originally ran in the October 2015 issue of AVN magazine. Click here to see the digital edition. Bree Mills was always a fan of girl-girl adult content, but wasn’t always able to find the content she wanted to see. “I have always been a lover of GG content but would often find myself disappointed in what I watched … simply because the scenes lacked the chemistry, passion, and storylines I was hoping for as a fan,” the lesbian producer told AVN. Mills—head of production for Gamma Films (the production arm of award-winning Gamma Entertainment)—had a major goal when she took on the role of producer and lead writer for Girlsway, the Gamma Films imprint that debuted last October: produce quality content like what she wanted to see. “When I took on the role of head of production for Gamma, two of the first sites I produced for were Webyoung.com and AllGirlMassage.com. This is how I met Stills by Alan, my principal director for Girlsway, and we formed a very unique collaboration. The success we had in adapting those GG sites were what gave me the confidence I needed to create this all-girl network. Our goal was simple: to create a fantastical world where every woman was a lesbian at heart … or at least had the potential to be if she met the right girl!” From that auspicious start, Girlsway has already grown into a major provider of unique girl-girl content. The personal pet project has grown to include not only Mills but also Stills By Alan, who has co-directed the first Girlsway features with Mills and was recently signed to an exclusive directing deal. “I’m very happy to share this exclusive with AVN,” Mills said. “After several years of working closely together and him being an integral part of the Girlsway project, Gamma Films signed Stills by Alan to an exclusive director contract this past spring. I wanted to publicly share it on the heels of the success of our first two features, since they are a testament to why I chose to sign him in the first place. Rarely have I met someone with such passion, dedication, and talent as Alan. In our years working together, he and I have formed a real creative partnership that has not only been vital to the success of Girlsway but I see expanding to other Gamma Films projects in the future as well.” Together, Mills and Stills By Alan plan to continue creating girl-girl content similar to their already popular The Business of Women feature and an upcoming movie, The Turning. The Business of Women tells the story of a lonely escort (Samantha Rone) who is recruited by a powerful business woman (India Summer) to leave the call girl life behind and join her empire. After a rival business woman (Vanessa Veracruz, in a career-topping performance) discovers the one woman (Shyla Jennings) who can bring Summer’s empire crumbling down, it’s up to Samantha to use all her loyalty and training to save the business. Also featuring Charlotte Stokely and Abigail Mac, the tension-filled erotic feature leaves you questioning till the very end: Who will become the ultimate boss babe? “The Business of Women originally began as a pilot episode that we shot last January,” Mills said. “I had wanted to test a darker subject matter and style of shooting, one that mirrored a few of my favorite films from the 1940s and 1950s. Alan and I were both on hand to co-direct the pilot and were stunned by the response from fans. As with most things that happen at Girlsway, we saw an opportunity and acted quickly. The pilot quickly grew into a full-fledged movie, which was initially released in weekly installments on the Girlsway.com website and then presented in a two-disc DVD. The film’s style is different since it has a film noir look and feel to it. It’s something that not only caught attention of fans, but its stars as well. “I knew I wanted to be a part of The Business of Women because I already worked with and loved working with Bree, and I was so excited to be able to work with India [Summer],” said Vanessa Veracruz. “I had never worked on a feature this big, and I don’t think I really realized at first how big the whole thing was. I was a little taken aback and a bit nervous at first.” Veracruz said the dark story line was very different that anything she had done before, but she was willing to tackle the project based on her previous work with Girlsway. “They really encourage their members and their performers to interact with one another,” she said. “They made it a point early on to tell us, ‘You are a girl-girl performer and we want to support that. We want to work with you to make the best content we can.’ Before we ever started shooting, Bree sat down with me, telling me what she saw in the character and what she thought I could do with it. She really made it a point to sit down with everyone and help them bring their character to life.” Mills noted the project relied heavily on the talents of Veracruz, Summer and all the stars. “In particular, we wanted to use this project (our first feature) to really challenge some of our top models, in the same way we like to challenge our crew,” she said. “We strategically cast performers who love to act, who care about their content, and who were willing to put in the long, hard hours required to pull this off. In the end, I believe we have captured career-topping performances from some of the best models in the industry: India Summer, Vanessa Veracruz, Shyla Jennings, Abigail Mac, Samantha Rone, and Charlotte Stokely. “Fans have gone absolutely nuts for this series—asking for spinoffs and second seasons!” Mills continued. “So, naturally we’ve already released a prequel for some of the characters and are weaving the BOW storyline through some of our other series. We aren’t known as the ‘Marvel Comics of Lesbian Porn’ for nothing!” For as much buzz as The Business of Women got for its film noir style, Mills and Alan are going in a different direction for their next feature, The Turning, and dabbling in the horror genre. “I believe we are entering into a new era of adult filmmaking, one that really challenges the status quo of what porn should and should not be,” Mills said. “One of my great passions is to take inspiration from mainstream film genres and twist them around for our industry. Each of the feature projects that Alan and I co-direct are heavily inspired by a specific cinematic theme—such as film noir for The Business of Women and horror for The Turning. We love to give these as challenges to our crew, because they bring such a wealth of experience, expertise, and sense of experimentation to our productions. As for what to expect from The Turning, I think it reflects exactly where Girlsway is right now. This project is firing from all cylinders: From the level of pre-production to the tremendous all-star cast to our editing and worldwide release campaign, we are trying to make a statement with this feature because I truly believe it’s the best thing we’ve done so far.” Girlsway officially marks its one-year anniversary in October 2015, and there are no plans of holding back or slowing down, Mills said. She noted she and Alan plan to have at least one feature series airing at any given time—both on Girlsway.com and on DVD. Following the release of the six-part The Turning, the company will debut Sharing the Bed, another pilot scene that was so well received by fans it’s also being expanded into a multi-episode series. “I am in the midst of pre-production and script writing for the next feature, as well, which will be a psychosexual lesbian thriller,” Mills said. “And Alan and I are already bouncing around a bunch of other crazy ideas for 2016.” Girlsway also plan to celebrate its success with fans at the 2016 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo by having its stars conduct in-character autograph sessions. “As we approach our first anniversary, I’ve found myself reflecting a lot lately on what a wild and crazy year it has been,” Mills said. “The success of the Girlsway imprint is something that has far exceeded Gamma Films’ expectations, especially considering it began as a personal dream project. We wanted to test a bunch of different styles of shooting and storytelling and work very closely with models and fans to adapt and evolve our brand together. “I am very happy to say that, one year later, we’ve done just that,” she continued. “Girlsway has evolved tremendously from what it was last October and that is the result of constantly listening to feedback and fine-tuning our production to reflect what our fans are looking for. We have totally broken down the concept of standalone web content and are now producing lesbian erotica and features in the same way that television channels produce shows. It’s not just about our fans getting off ... it’s about getting off and being equally excited for next week’s episode because the stories and characters are so compelling.” Pictured from left: Vanessa Veracruz, Bree Mills, Shyla Jennings, Abigail Mac