On the Set: The Return of 'Babysitting the Baumgartners'

This article originally ran in the January 2017 issue of AVN magazine. Click here to see the digital edition. Doc and Carrie Baumgartner—that "loving polyamorous married couple—are back on film, along with Ronnie, the babysitter whose sexual awakening at age 18 they helped facilitate three years earlier. That's the setup for Babysitting the Baumgartners 2, the sequel to Adam & Eve Pictures' heavily marketed 2016 hit based on the bestselling series of novels by Selena Kitt. In a house in a secluded canyon in Beverly Hills, director Kay Brandt is conducting the first read of a dialogue scene that introduces major elements of the story. Sara Luvv, once again starring as Ronnie—the role that earned her a Best Actress nomination from AVN—is joined by A.J. Applegate and Katy Kiss. Seated side by side on a couch, they run through their lines as the crew sets up lights for the first scene. Tomorrow, at a different location, on the final day of the three-day shoot, Mick Blue and Anikka Albrite, reprising their roles as the title characters, will have a scene of their own. The crew is large for an adult movie and features such industry veterans as cameraman Mike Quasar, production manager David Lord and stills photographer Rick Garcia. In charge of everything is Brandt, an attractive forty-something brunette with a seven-year history in adult. Later today, two male actors will join the girls in the action. Newcomer Ricky Johnson is already here, hanging out with the crew on the patio. Xander Corvus is expected soon. "They are brand-new characters," says Brandt. "They've never been in any other book. Ricky plays Tyler, who is the boyfriend of the character Katy Kiss is playing. Xander is playing a character named Dick, who steals Sara from A.J." A.J. plays Gretchen, the neighbor nanny who had a brief fling with Ronnie in the first movie. Now, three years later, they live together. As for the men, the reason they've never been in one of the six Baumgartners is that the book hasn't been published yet. Author Kitt has adapted the screenplay for a new novel that will come out at the same time the movie is released—a rare tie-in for an adult production. Rail-thin redhead Katy Kiss is new to the cast and less experienced than her co-actors. She is noticeably nervous with the dialogue and the ever-patient Brandt goes out of her way to help her. Lord, a director himself with experience on many adult sets, later tells how impressed he's been with her ability to coax good performances from untrained talent. "I'd put her in the top five directors in the business as far as working with actors." Brandt tells the girls to "just relax." They giggle, and she settles in behind the video monitor. She makes sure that Katy emphasizes a key line about the Baumgartners, one that sets up the whole story. "If you're open [in marriage], it's not cheating." "Your elders are sexually active as a group," Brandt explains. "This is the artistic vision of Selena Kitt." And it's key to the movie. "The Baumgartners were the couple that helped my parents adopt me," Katy reveals, and a few lines later, "I overheard my parents talking about the fun the four of them had." The girls segue into some playful chat about sharing boyfriends. Katy says, "I think watching him with another girl would be incredibly sexy." And then she pops a question that makes Ronnie blush: "Have either of you been with the Baumgartners?" At this point cameraman Quasar calls, "Cut. Let's get singles," and moves in for close-ups of each girl. He catches Katy saying, shyly, "I know Tyler loves me. ... I haven't actually shared him." The other girls restate the movie's mantra. "If you're open it's not cheating, but agreed to." The girls start kissing as a warm-up for sex and for the stills. A.J. does some nipple-pinching and Katy spreads her legs for the camera. Sara sticks her tongue in A.J.'s pussy. "Very nice!" the director comments. Brandt takes advantage of the break to explain the somewhat complicated order of Selena Kitt's six-volume Baumgartner series. The first movie was actually the second one in the series, chronologically. Between that one and the third, Crazy About the Baumgartners, there's a gap, "and this one fills that gap." Babysitting, which sold two million copies, is an ongoing saga, "but all the books have been published for years. She hasn't actually written another Baumgartner book in probably four years—it's been a while. So this is a really big deal that she's written another one and that it is going as a partner movie all the way through." Brandt has worked in the porn industry for seven years. She says she's directed 40 movies, 30 for Girlfriends Films, later working with Robby D. at Digital Playground as an in-house writer-director. "I did two of the biggest budget girl-girl movies ever, Cherry 1 and Cherry 2" (the latter an AVN award-winner for Best All-Girl Release).  When DP was sold, "I left the industry and became a best-selling author. Selena Kitt is my publisher. She owns a company called Excessica. I have 20 books out ... The World of Cherry, four of those, they're a series of erotic lesbian stories. And I've written many others, including horror." She couldn't be happier working for Adam & Eve. "It's great, this is my fourth movie for them in a year and a half." (The others, besides the two Baumgartners, are Safe Landings and Forked.) The girls are finished with stills and super-cute Sara Luvv gets to relax for a few minutes. She worked on the shoot yesterday and today, and has real affection for the material. "I think it's great that the book is being written based around the movie. The first time it was really tough trying to make sure all the sex scenes were exactly as written [in the book]. This time it's more flexible, a lot more natural-feeling." Again, she's the main dish in the movie's carnal buffet. "I do a scene with A.J. I also do a voyeuristic type scene, where I watch Katy and Ricky have sex. I do this threeway coming up. I also have a sex scene with Xander. And there's also a foursome between A.J., Katy, myself and Ricky. There's something like 12, 13 sex scenes. ... It's heavy on the sex." Does she get back together with the Baumgartners? "No, no." She laughs. "They kick me to the curb. They used me up." So this shows Ronnie all mature? "Yeah. And Xander plays my personal trainer/new boyfriend. And A.J. is kind of my girlfriend, but it's a little blurry. We don't know ... I had sex with her in the first movie. And now at this point I've been living with her for three years. Yeah, Ronnie's all grown up." About the director she says, "She's so easygoing on set, she's also really good at keeping everybody on track, making sure that things get done." Now it's time for some serious sex, girl on girl on girl. "You better fuck your brains out," Kay yells. Laughter all around. Babysitting the Baumgartners 2 debuts exclusively on the membership site AdamAndEveTV.com from March to May. The main DVD release will be May 23.