Sex Herald: What do you usually tell people you do for a living?

Tristan Taormino: I consider myself a sex educator. And then sort of everything follows from there for me.

SH: What’s the most common question people ask you?

Taormino: Isn’t anal sex going to be messy? [Laughs]

SH:What’s your usual response to that?

Taormino: No, we always imagine our asses to be a lot filthier than they actually are. [Laughs]

SH:What was the concept of the film, House Of Ass? What did you hope to accomplish with this project?

Taormino: The concept is based on reality television. The idea is that I take a bunch of porn stars away for the weekend, away from their natural habitat, Los Angeles, and see what happens when they spend all that time together, and the cameras sort of never stops rolling. I wanted to foster this environment where everyone was having a really good time, having fun so that they can really relax and not feel like they were working, or that they had to perform, but they could actually hang out and be more like themselves.

As far as accomplishing what I set out to do, people told me porn stars want structure, they don’t want to be spontaneous, but at least these porn stars were very happy to sort of do whatever they want to do and act on their desires, sleep with whoever they wanted to sleep with, when they wanted to do it. It was really fun to see how the whole thing would unfold without a whole lot of structure or plan.

SH:You have several notable porn stars in the film, including Mr. Marcus and Joanna Angel, who at the time wasn’t that well-known. Did you have a wish list of performers you wanted to have in this project? What was the casting process like?

Taormino: I did [have a wish list] and some of them flaked. [Laughs] I’m sort of on the fringes of the adult industry because I cover it a lot in my column and I’m sort of familiar just as a viewer of who I like to see on film and who I think is a really good performer. And then I also know a bunch of performers because I’m sort of in but not in the industry. On top of that, I did go to a couple of agencies. Derek [Hay] at LA Direct, who’s really helpful, I said [to him] this is kind of a unique experience. They have to spend 48 hours, they have to sleep over, which quite frankly, some people aren’t interested in doing. So, they had to be willing to have everything filmed so there’s not a lot of down time or off-camera time. And, I want people with really strong personalities who really love their jobs. If they’re sort of a so-so performer, that’s not the person for me. So then when I did cast it, I either met with or talked on the phone with every single performer in advance, just to try to say, “Hi, this is who I am, this is what I’m trying to do,” and get a sense of them, have them get a sense of me and have them get a sense of what to expect.

SH:You also wanted people who would be willing to talk freely about sex.

Taormino: Absolutely. People willing to share details and not just the . . . there’s this thing that goes on in gonzos where they interview the girl beforehand and she basically gives these five or six lines that are essentially the same as everyone else. I wanted to dig, just a little bit deeper than that.

SH:Between each sex scene where you’re with the performers discussing sex, did any of them say things that were so surprising or revealing that it even surprised you?

Taormino: Yes. Actually, a ton. I think the whole exchange about Joanna talking about how she’d never done interracial before; so, when she went to this agency she said, “I guess I don’t do it because I’ve never done it before.” Then she sort of questions herself like, “Why will I let a white, strange guy I don’t know cum on my face, but not a Black one?” It was pretty intense. You don’t hear that in porn everyday. Then there’s a couple in the movie that breaks up. That came out of left, left, left field. I probably spent the most time with them before the shoot, and they’re friends of very good friends of mine. So, I felt 100 percent secure about them. And I had no idea what was going on. All very interesting revelations.

SH:This was the first film you directed in several years. Did it spark interest in you to direct more often, or perform in front of the camera?

Taormino: Yeah. I started my own production company (Smart Ass Productions), and I am sort of in talks with a number of different studios to direct for them, like multi-picture deals. So, you’re going to see four more videos from me in 2006. I’ll make them in 2006, when they come out that’s out of my hands. [Laughs]

SH:In your personal life, do you regularly watch adult films?

Taormino: Oh yeah. I love porn.

SH:What do you feel women want out of their porn?

Taormino: That’s the six million dollar question, isn’t it? What I think is really, really important for people to realize is that women want all sorts of things. This is what I feel people don’t get. For a while, the industry has said, what equals women’s porn or women friendly porn is features. Women want plots, context, costumes and elaborate sets. We want sort of Hollywood but with hardcore sex. I think some women want that, just like some men want that. But, not all women. I think there are women who want wall-to-wall, there are women who love gonzo, women who love amateur, there are women who love MILF, there are women who love big boobs. I think it really spans probably almost every genre. Maybe there are a few genres that aren’t well-represented. For me, I want to make gonzo that takes . . . because I feel like, the feedback that I get is that a lot of women really like gonzo. They like the energy of it, they like the vibe of it. But, it’s sort of hit or miss. They’ll get one gonzo video and be like, “Hey, that was pretty good.” Then they’ll get another and be like, “They were sticking their head in the toilet. What’s up with that?” For me, I want to make gonzo that’s spontaneous, that’s raw, that’s real but doesn’t have degradation or outrageous stunts, or a total inattention to women’s orgasms.

SH:What do you feel is the reason women may be hesitant to try anal sex?

Taormino: There are a couple of things. I feel like women really haven’t been taught that this is an erogenous zone. So immediately, women refer back to this very prevalent myth that anal sex, as a recipient, anal sex is only going to be pleasurable for a guy and not for the woman. That’s considered sort of common wisdom, which isn’t true but people have sort of accepted as the default. So first they think, “Why would I do it, there’s nothing in it for me,” which is totally valid. But what I tell them is, there’s a lot in it for you, and here’s what’s in it for you and I sort of detail all that. Then I think women, just like men, have these different hang ups about, “Is it going to be messy, am I going to hurt myself, is it dangerous, am I going to get an STD.” Our ass has a lot of cultural baggage associated with it, and you got to get over all that. Then I think there’s a third group of women who’ve had their very first anal sex experience to be negative. That’s super common. Usually, the problem is that someone didn’t know what they were doing, didn’t use lube and rushed it and didn’t warm them up. It hurt like hell and they never want to do it again. So, in that case, those women I have to say, there is a way to make it pleasurable, you can be in control, you can call the shots, you can set the terms and it can be an amazing experience. But first you have to let go of that past negative experience.

SH:What’s the best way to get a woman interested in anal sex?

Taormino: I think first you got to bring up the subject outside the sexual arena to even test the waters. There needs to be some sort of discussion just to gauge where she’s at. Then I think there does need to be emphasis on, “I’m going to make this as pleasurable as I can possibly make it. What do we need to do to give you a great orgasm, or what do we need to do to make this feel really good. And of course that has to include lube, lots of foreplay. For some women, clitoral stimulation is a must. Going really, really, really, really, really slow, and I think also, if someone has never had anything in their ass, you’re not getting your dick in their ass tonight. If someone has never had anything in their ass, you are going to work your way up to one finger, you’re going to make her cum, and then you’re going to go, “Wasn’t that great? OK, well we’ll build on that later.” [Laughs]