A Chat with the Creator of Grooby-Backed Horror Film – “The Girls”

It’s not that they mix, but the two seem to have an understanding – it’s an understanding that comes from the mainstream media looking down their nose at the art form.

Both genres are loved, and both push the envelope – in porn the work liberates people from sexual repression and delivers fantasies that many could never have – in horror, the content helps people overcome fears associated with mortality.

Both are also extremely lucrative, offer very real benefits to viewers, and have a huge fanbase but still they take a backseat to “important cinema.”

My theory is, because they’re the bastard children of the filmic artform, they’re kindred spirits.

And this is why I was not surprised when I heard that The Girls, a new transgender horror film written, produced, and directed by Krista Michaels has garnered the support of Grooby who has come to the table as an executive producer.

Inspired by the exploitation flicks of the 70s and 80s, the kind with lots of violence, blood/gore using practical effects, nudity, revenge aspects, and more, The Girls is going to be a wild ride! I’m excited to share this interview with Krista so she can fill you in on how she developed the piece, what she hopes to convey with it, and what it’s like to have scored a partnership with Grooby.

Tell me a little bit about your background.

I am a transgender filmmaker based out of Denver, CO. I grew up in southern Virginia, where I took a lot of inspiration for my upcoming film, The Girls. I got started working in theatre, where I was a dual 35mm projectionist, did graphic poster design, sound design, and worked briefly as a sound mixer.

I eventually moved out to Los Angeles and got work making behind-the-scenes special features for a horror Blu-ray releasing company. That was a lot of fun, I made some cool connections, and met some awesome celebs in the film industry. I eventually set out to make films of my own, something that I had been planning since high school, and I made two short films during the Covid lockdown period.

My previous film, Mantid, had an amazing experience within the film festival circuit, we made some more connections, and that ultimately led us to be able to make The Girls.

Where did the idea for the movie come from and what was the creative process like?

One of the things that had always scared me when living in Virginia was the thought of being attacked by one of the many backwoods, redneck bigots where I grew up. And there were a lot of them!

Late one night, I had a dream (where many of my ideas come from) about a giant man in overalls, wearing a giant taxidermied bear head mask. He also had a pitchfork. I woke up and immediately drew this image to the best of my artistic illustration abilities (basically, it was terrible), and I began to formulate an idea about some trans girls at a party.

During the same time, a lot of the horrible social and political nonsense surrounding the trans community – that we are unfortunately seeing in the mainstream news cycle today – just happened to be going on around the same time. I drew inspiration from all the anger that I had been feeling at the time so with my co-writers, Brandy Bryant and Jessica D’Amelio, we set out to write The Girls.

Our process worked in such a way that we gathered around, listened to some music, and jotted our ideas that we came up with together on some index cards. After a basic plot line was developed, I would begin writing the screenplay late at night, dialogue and all, and the process continued in such a way until the conclusion of the first draft.

How did you end up working with Grooby as a partner and what do you admire most about their company?

I reached out to Steven Grooby, as he was someone that I had always greatly admired from a business sense, as well as being a personality in his own right. Having started nearly 30 years ago in the trans erotica business, I feel that Steven has done a lot for the trans community, me included.

I was in the adult entertainment industry years back, and was given many opportunities at Grooby, both behind and in front of the camera. I’ve always had a love for Grooby as a company, and they continue to be my favorite.

What does Grooby bring to the table?

As we decided to go the exploitation route of the horror genre, sex and nudity included, Grooby was brought up fairly early in my talks with our Producer, and we wanted to immediately get them involved. Not only to reach a broader audience that we had intended might be one of our key focuses for a film of this sort, but also because Steven could help me reach out to a few trans girl icons of today that I had in mind to include in the film as cameos.

I’ve been out of the trans erotica business for the most part since 2014, and though I keep up with the world, I’ve lost contact with several people, and there are many new stars that have since popped up that I’d love to work with. Grooby being on our marketing materials is also a valuable asset, because they are and have been an established, pro-trans business that I greatly admire.

I am very happy to have them aboard!

What message do you hope to convey with The Girls?

Our mission statement started out as me wanting to show strong trans women in an interesting light that hadn’t previously been done, as well as providing something new and interesting for both the LGBTQ+ and horror communities alike.

This film will contain strong, challenging language, violence, practical effects blood & gore, and sex/nudity. My intention was to show that, as deep and horrible as the bigotry of the world can be, there is hope, and light at the end of the tunnel. I wanted to show that trans women are powerful and can rise above and put evil in its place.

There are many allies that are willing to fight alongside us out there, and we haven’t failed. Not by a longshot.

What are your goals for the piece?

Our main goal is to entertain!

The political commentary of this film is something that I feel is best approached through entertainment, and not everything is so on the nose. I am very proud of my cast and crew so far, and everyone involved is so, so excited to get this film out to everyone. It’s going to be a lot of fun, with tons of surprises!!

Follow Krista on her Twitter @KristaMichaelsX, Instagram @kristamichaels, Threads @kristamichaels, Facebook @kristamichaelsx, Bluesky @kristamichaels, and her website at KristaMichaels.com.

Follow The Girls on Twitter @thegirls_movie, Instagram @thegirls.movie, Threads @thegirls.movie, Facebook, and the website thegirls-movie.com.