Animal Instincts: On the Set of Disruptive Films' 'Honeyguide'

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif.—The modest façade of the house on a side street off Topanga Canyon belies the luxurious mansion inside, with a vaulted ceiling—painted with a blue cloudy sky—held up by gold-topped columns over a wide staircase leading to lower levels, all with high ceilings and large windows giving a view of the valley below. To the left of the staircase is a formal living room, filled with portable clothes racks with talent wardrobe. To the right, a casual lounge where the owner of the house displays several of their adult-industry awards in a glass-fronted shadowbox. This is where Disruptive Films is shooting Honeyguide, a drama inspired by the mainstream film Saltburn.  "A honeyguide is a bird that practices brood parasitism," co-director Siouxsie Q explains. "It lays its eggs in other birds' nests, and when the hatchlings hatch, they eat the eggs and the mother as their first meal."  "I felt a pull toward [Saltburn] because there was a homoerotic aspect, but they don’t go too deep into it," co-director Jessica Jasmin explains. "That's why I wanted to do it. They have that guy who takes over a family, and their home." "I look at these characters as animals," Siouxsie Q adds. "Neither good nor bad. They're just doing what they do, and what feeds them. They're looking to get fed in these ways that are ultimately destructive... but such is nature, right?" People drift in and out of the kitchen as Siouxsie Q and cinematographer/co-director Michael Vegas discuss shots and set dressing with PAs.  "We're going to start with the sex scene," Siouxsie Q tells performers Ian Holms and Hoss Kado. "I always like getting sex out of the way first. Takes the pressure off." In the consent interview, Holms and Kado show each other their tests and discuss preferences for the scene, including lube choices and particular words and actions to avoid. With the parameters set, Siouxsie Q says, "Let's make a cool movie." The sex scene will take place in the kitchen, and the techs look for a soft blanket or covering to put on the granite island in the middle of the room. A brown throw is deemed "too dark" so a pink one is retrieved from a nearby couch and set on the stove, at the ready. While the pre-production flurry is going on, Kado stretches out on a couch, eyes closed. He could be asleep. Twenty minutes later, he's still there. A PA comes over and wakes him up. I knew it.  Vegas enters, wearing a camera support belted around his hips with arms stretching over his shoulders leading to a boxlike frame that holds the camera, a monitor and a supplemental light. Kado and Helms take their positions as Siouxsie Q heads to her monitors to watch the action. Vegas blocks the opening shot, shooting into a mirror, planning to show the front door reflected in the mirror as Holms lets Kado into the house. While Vegas frames his shot, Kado and Holms run their lines, making last-minute adjustments and working out business. When the scene begins, Kado has a full innocent-nerd appearance here, with glasses, but he is almost bullying to Holms, asking "What happened to the butler?" before softening to say, "You really are doing it on your own, aren't you?" A second camera gets the reverse shots at the same time, and Vegas directs on the fly from behind the camera, saying things like "Touch him on that line" as the scene progresses. The dialogue setup completed, Siouxsie Q asks, "Do we have lube ready to go?" And after getting affirmative grunts and a "fuck yeah!" she says, "Shall we?" On Vegas' "action," Kado sits on the island, opens his pants, Holms leans down to suck him. Low groans as Holms bobs up and down, holding Kado's balls in a firm grip. The big skull tattooed on Kado's leg looks ominous. "Oh fuck yeah. I've been waiting a long time for this." "Will you be my daddy?" "I'll be your fuckin' daddy." Kado pulls off Holms' shirt, throws it across the room. It hits the wall with a quiet thump. Somebody is growling in sync with Holms going up and down, could be either of them. Holms pulls off, strokes Kado's cock, then spits on it. Holms turns around and Kado pulls down his pants, and noses into Holms' ass.  When they're naked, the contrast is striking. Holms is old-school: compact, bearded, hairy, uncut. Kado is totally contemporary: he's tall, lean, clean-shaven, tattooed and has a white-sidewall haircut. Kado spreads Holms' ass and tongues in, stroking himself, and then ducks under to blow him. Long sucking sound like a straw as Holms groans "'Oh yeah'" and fucks into Kado's mouth. Holms turns around to face the camera, Kado keeps sucking with eye contact, not blinking as he circles his tongue around the head and then deep-throats him, coming off with an audible pop. Holms' vocalizations are getting higher pitched as Kado bends him over the kitchen island and gets ready to go in. Water break.  "Thank you for being aware of where the camera is," Vegas says. Then he asks Siouxsie Q, "Everything OK?"  Siouxsie Q gives an affirmative "Uh-huh" and says they can continue "at the leisure of our stars." Vegas calls "action!" as a tech grabs a C-light. They flip the script and Holms bends Kado over the island and goes in as Kado wails "fuck me, daddy!" Holms pulls all the way out, then goes back in as Kado moans in a high pitch, turning around to look at Holms, who leans down to kiss him. Looking at the monitors, Siouxsie Q nods approval. Holms sits on a kitchen stool, Kado climbs on and sits on him, bouncing, holding Holms' head, looking at him intensely. A momentary break to reset the chairs. Holms wipes off his dick on a towel as somebody says, "Turn your watch off, we're getting some stats on you." Everybody checks their watches.  Kado puts Holms across two chairs, pulls his legs up, goes in. Groans. "Don't stop. Don't ever stop. Oh daddy! Ohhhhhhh daddy!" Slap slap slap of flesh against flesh. "Oh fuck yes!" Inarticulate groans. "Oh yeah! Don’t stop!" "I'm gonna cum!" and a loud shout. Siouxsie Q, behind the monitors, flips her hand in the rock-n-roll devil's horns gesture. Must look good. They stage the finish, with Holms' pop dripping out of Kado's ass. He kneels down, picking it up and fingering it into his mouth.  "Cut!" Applause. Kado and Holms head off to shower as Siouxsie Q tells Vegas and the techs "We're not finished in the kitchen, we'll do the cooking montage next.... "But first — lunch!" Photography courtesy of Disruptive Films