GRAPHIC SEXUAL HORROR Production Notes SYNOPSIS “If you won’t let me teach your children, then I will corrupt them.”
PD- artist, former Carnegie Mellon professor, creator of Insex.com By the time PD’s controversial bondage website, Insex.com, was shut down by the government through use of the Patriot Act, it had 35,000 members. Graphic Sexual Horror traces PD’s path from early life experiences, his work as an artist and a professor at Carnegie Mellon, the creation of Insex.com, and it’s eventual demise. Original Insex footage, behind-the-scenes interactions, and interviews with PD, models, members, and staff, reveal the Faustian dilemma of each participant, balancing personal responsibility with the lure of money. The unique combination of PD’s vision, his talent for spectacle, innovative use of the internet’s interactivity, extravagant props, and PD’s influences (which include Japanese bondage, methods of serial killers, and horror films) all created a heady mix of horrifying sexual imagery. Young women were put through a barrage of bondage, pain, and orgasm. As the membership grew, so did the pressure to perform. The line between consent and non-consent blurred. Yet as a model sings a moving aria from Mozart’s Magic Flute, stunning Insex footage streams across the screen. Perhaps the creation of art is not defined by content, structure, or medium. We are left with silence. Picture after picture of Insex stills stagger the mind – horrific, fantastical images. CREDITS Written, Directed, Edited, and Produced by
Anna Lorentzon and Barbara Bell Interviews (In order of appearance)
Leonore
Lorelei Lee
Star
912
PD
Peter Ackworth
Cyd Black
Barry Goldman
1201
Princess Donna
101
411
Claire Addams
62 (Maya Matthews)
Sgt. Major Derek Victur
KGB
Genevieve
Barbara Nitke
Matt Williams
Jazz Screenplay
Barbara Bell Cinematography
Anna Lorentzon Producer -Post Production
Alex Norden Motion Graphics and VFX
Lilka Hara Map Animation
Alex Norden 3-D Equipment Animations
M. Yao Sound Mix
Chad Bernhard Bogus Grip
Electric Dave Special thanks to:
PD Thanks to the following:
NASA
Activision
Brett’s Gun Shots
FXHome
912 “American Way – WGSH Mix”
written and performed by
“things outside the skin”
“things outside the skin” appear courtesy of Invisible Records, Chicago, IL
www.outside-the-skin.com “Ach, Ich Fuhl’s” from “The Magic Flute”
written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
performed by Moonshine © 2008 NC-17 Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved. BACKGROUND ON THE MAKING OF GRAPHIC SEXUAL HORROR Having worked together on a previous project, Anna and I decided we wanted to create a project of our own. After a few brainstorming sessions in the spring of 2006, we found that we couldn’t talk about much else but our experiences with Brent Scott, an artist who was at the very forefront of the burgeoning internet porn industry in 1997 when he created his website, Insex.com. The subject was a gold mine, filled with rich and fascinating material– a wildly eccentric artist broadcasting frightening sexual content, workplace dynamics that blew the mind, characters that were better than fiction, and misuse of US Government power. “We have everything,” we said to one another, “Sex, violence, and conspiracy. What more can you want?” Yet at the same time we understood that we were entering territory that was more than taboo. In the political climate of 2006 with the Bush administration catering to the religious right, bondage porn was being shut down through use of the Patriot Act. And because of Brent’s talents as an artist, his imagery was more visually shocking and horrifically sexual than other websites. It looked real. Thus he drew the attention of the FBI from his early days as an artist to the end of Insex. As we tried to contact staff members and women that modeled for Insex, we entered a minefield. Who wanted to admit that they worked at a place where young women were paid to be stripped, tied up, whipped, choked, suffocated, penetrated with “dicks on sticks” as the term goes in the industry, and forced to orgasm? How could this affect their present lives? And these questions came back to haunt us as we were in the final months of production, not wanting to “out” anyone. Yet at the same time, knowing that in order to tell this story that we had to use Insex footage that may prove embarrassing. All of the interviews that we managed to get from individuals that used to be members of Insex were all “voice only,” which speaks volumes about the climate of fear in this portion of the population, many of whom occupy white collar and professional positions. From 1997 to 2005, Brent Scott created a mountain of material. At first, it was a nightmare to locate particular clips of footage, but with help from those who used to be members of Insex, we put together a cataloguing system. We began our editing with the idea of using the “absurd” to move the story forward. Yet as we became fully embroiled in the editing process, we realized we were wrong. That this story was about the “normal” in a situation that the greater culture thinks is abnormal, but in fundamental ways is not. Nearly everyone involved at Insex made decisions influenced by the influx of large amounts of money – something that almost all of us do in every workplace. Brent Scott’s version of bondage porn doesn’t have a monopoly on objectification and the effects created when money drives the business. We were working with a modern day Faust – in multiple. We also discovered that we had become accustomed to viewing the Insex footage. We weren’t always the best judges of how to place Insex footage within the larger piece. Many people that screened our early versions were so horrified by Insex imagery that they checked out in the first five minutes. So we had to parse out the segments of footage, starting with mild, short clips – then move into more difficult material. Our acceptance at Slamdance was a shock and a wonderful surprise, providing us an unexpected opportunity. However, since this is our first festival experience, we were not prepared and have been scrambling to get our act together. Biographies of Principle Charactors and Production Team Production Team Anna Lorentzon Anna Lorentzon is a photographer and videographer that was a producer for Insex for many years, and is currently working on a documentary about building an eco house in Sweden. Barbara Bell Barbara Bell’s acclaimed novel, Stacking in Rivertown, purchased and edited by Michael Korda, editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster, was released in 2000, subsequently released in Australia and Israel. “Brutal yet beautiful. . .this disturbing, impressive novel introduces an urgent and powerful new voice.” Publisher’s Weekly
Barbara is currently working on a screenplay for their next feature film. Principle Characters Brent Scott Born and raised on a farm in Maine, Brent Scott had a fascination for bondage since he was a child. His influences include Japanese bondage art, Michelangelo’s “Bound Slave,” horror films, illustrators like Georges Pichard, Baudrillard’s Simulacra, Marshall McCluhan, the Gran Guignol, and the acts of “signature” serial killers like Glatman and Gien. Brent always incorporated bondage and sado-masochistic themes into his paintings and performance art pieces in New York. When he left Carnegie Mellon in 1997, Insex.com was born. Hugely successful, Insex.com and Brent’s imagery has greatly influenced western bondage from Hollywood portrayals to porn websites. Brent Scott was forced to shut Insex down in 2005 through use of the Patriot Act. Lorelei Lee Lorelei Lee began working at Insex in 2003 and after one initial conflict with Brent, they went on to create some of the most intense shoots and Live Feeds Insex produced. Lorelei Lee is a writer, undergraduate student, and porn performer. She has studied creative writing at California College of the Arts and San Francisco State University. She has been awarded both a National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts youngARTS Scholarship and the Bishop Award for Best Tit-Tortured Model 2005. Nina (1201) Nina learned of Insex through her college roommate, 411, who was Brent’s girl friend at the time. She modeled for Insex many times in 2002, starring in several extraordinary shoots and Live Feeds, such as Bald and Sanctuary. She now works at Kink.com in production. AZ AKA Claire Addams Claire Addams became AZ at Insex in 2001, her first experience as a bondage model. She worked at Insex throughout the years as both model and handler until Insex folded in 2005. Claire has gone on to become an award winning and internationally acclaimed extreme bondage model, director, bondage rigger, BDSM educator, fetish model, and flexi-girl with many other unusual talents as well! cyd Black An insex member since college and from the inception of Insex, cyd convinced Spacegirl, his bride to be, to model on Insex.com in 2001. Soon after, cyd created a bondage website of his own. In 2003, his dream came true when he was accepted as an apprentice to Brent Scott at Insex. After Insex folded, cyd worked with Brent to create Hartied.com and Infernalrestraints.com. In late 2005, he left Insex to become webmaster of Devicebondage.com.