Our Exclusive Interview With ‘I’m A Porn Star’ Director Charlie David

Performer, director, writer, model, producer, boy band member, TV personality... Charlie David has got his fingers in just about every pie imaginable, but he's the type of guy that wouldn't want it any other way. Though he attained a good deal of fame from his days as a model, actor, and host of such shows as Bump!, F.Y.E., and SpyTV, he's now more at home behind the camera, and has settled nicely into his role as a documentary filmmaker. His most recent documentary, I'm A Porn Star, goes behind the scenes to get up close and personal with such stars as Duncan Black, Colby Jansen, Rafael Alencar, and Rocco Reed. I recently chatted via e-mail with Charlie about the film, as well as his production company, Border2Border Entertainment, and how his films have helped people come to terms with things that are troubling them in their own lives.

Vincent Thrice: What was the genesis for I’m A Porn Star? Was this your brainchild or were you approached by someone else to take part?

Charlie David: I was approached by OutTV Canada to create a film that somehow reflected a change in the queer experience over the past few decades.  I decided to look a little beyond the obvious political landscape and explore adult entertainment and how it’s been impacted by technological, social and consumption advances and new norms.  Porn is ubiquitous now, creation and engagement are high across all social classes and so a deeper look at the people who make it their career despite it still being a taboo fascinated me.  

VT: This isn’t your first documentary, but it’s the first with people who are fairly well known, at least in the porn world. Did you have an easier or harder time getting them to open up for the camera?

CD: I’ve been really fortunate with my documentaries that my subjects have been extremely comfortable and forthcoming with me.  I also do pre-interviews and a vetting process so I won’t work with someone if I think they’ll be flat in a show.  For this project, there are many great looking guys who take awesome photos or make great sex videos but in an interview situation or to follow them around in real life with a camera would be a terribly boring experience both for me and for an audience.  Those pre interviews and doing some research before considering production is very important.  It’s casting essentially and a dynamic storyline and compelling characters are tantamount to having any entertainment experience succeed.  

Working as a host on the travel show Bump for 6 years really cut my teeth as an interviewer.  We filmed 120 episodes all around the world and there were some great interviews and some that were painful teeth pulling experiences.  I think that process of learning how to get a person comfortable with me and asking the right questions so they share freely and openly was like boot camp for becoming a film director – especially of documentaries.  

VT: Were there any revelations you had while making this or any moments that really stood out to you as being eye-opening? 

CD: I went to some shoots with various companies prior to filming and seeing the use of injectibles like Caverject to get erections for filming was certainly eye-opening.  There really are a disproportionate number of straight identifying men working in gay pornography.  Some of the feedback on my doc and on blogs I’ve read the commentors seem to obsess with who’s straight, who’s gay, is it subconsciously homophobic that we have so many straight guys doing gay work, etc.  Honestly I don’t understand the obsession with these questions or lines of thinking.  It seems so old-school to me to be labeling sexuality so rigidly.  There’s a continuum of sexuality and these guys along with all humanity fall somewhere on the spectrum.  

VT: Coming from a fairly liberal place like Canada to the US, do you find that there’s a more puritanical view of sex here in the US than there is in Canada or is the opposite true?

CD: While we may vary on other norms in terms of sex within culture my experience living in Canada and the USA has been that we’re fairly similar.  Our countries are geographically immense and there are plenty of pockets of conservatives, progressives and moderates in both. 

VT: You wear a lot of hats, but where are you most at home? Is it performing, producing, writing, directing, or something else?

CD: At this point on my journey I love directing and producing.  The documentaries are really fun but I’m looking forward to directing some scripted films & TV as well.  I’m certainly open to being contacted by studios or independents to direct. 

VT: You said in an interview with Out Visions that your work resides in “a little niche within a niche,” but do you see the audience for what you do expanding more rapidly now than it was even a year ago?

CD: Yes, I think there’s a growing hunger for content and the type of sexy, off-beat, gay-centric shows and films I make.  There are emerging markets and growing populations that want to watch compelling films about the gay experience and that’s what I do.  We’ve just launched our new website so your curious readers can get familiar with some of our recent work.  

VT: You also mentioned in that interview that you have received communications from people whose lives were impacted by your work. Would you care to share any one of those with us?

CD: Most of the emails and letters I receive come from either a Dante’s Cove fan or from someone who has just watched my film Mulligans.  I think with Mulligans the intergenerational relationship between the father and his son’s best friend is compelling, arousing or relatable in some way to a lot of people.  It’s also a story about a family man who comes out in his forties and for a lot of men living in those more conservative pockets of the country I think this also strikes a chord.  

VT: Is there anyone you haven’t worked with yet that you’re dying to work with?

CD: Of course, there’s a huge list here!  We’re actually preparing I’m a Porn Star Too!, which will dive deeper into the lives of the straight dudes who work in gay porn since that seems to be such a fractious topic.  So in the adult world we’re starting to compile a wish list and are certainly open to your readers input.  

In the mainstream I’m a huge fan of Xavier Dolan’s work as director, writer and actor.  He’s brilliant and he also lives in Montréal so I’m hopeful to corner him with a bottle of wine and a night of film talk!  

VT: Anything else you’d like your fans to know or perhaps anyone that’s discovering you for the first time?

CD: I love when an audience interacts with a film.  So I invite your readers to watch our work and rate it, review it, share it, comment on it and discuss it.  My documentaries are meant to be kindling and I hope they start a conversation. http://www.border2border.ca