An Interview with Stella Smut

Transfixed’ recently announced Stella Smut’s directorial debut with the studio with the episode Morning Pleasures. We taught our members would like to know more about who she is and what she thinks about her career as a director.

Hello! How are you doing? 

I feel like I’ve been shot out of a cannon and I’m about to explode into the atmosphere aka I’m well, just busier than I’ve ever been and I’ve started this year at full speed. 

Can you tell us more about who you are and your career?

I’m just an odd, goofy, Polish-american art-freak with a love of all things cinematic, erotic and feeling. My career kind of fell into my lap as a result of a series of strange events that felt fate-driven. I have always taken photos since I was 14, hiding for hours in my high school dark room, developing film and seeing my images come to life. I wrote a lot of satire and stories growing up, as well as songs I would perform at nights around LA and the world. I’ve always been pushed into a position of leadership throughout my life and somehow this all brought me to this role as photographer, producer, director and sometimes smut writer. It’s been wild; I feel like my career is some sort of “fear and loathing” in the pornoverse-narrative and my character is just beginning to see her potential. Can’t wait to see what happens in this next season of my porn-life!

What are your biggest influences or favorite pieces of art, inside or outside of the adult entertainment industry? 

Ah, never ask the art-nerd what her influences are or else we will be here all day! 

Influences visually would have to be David La Chapelle, his photography as well as his documentary work “Rize.” The abstract, dark world of arthouse horror, as well as grindhouse and 1970s sexploitation films. Diane Arbus for her work showing how things that aren’t generally looked at as interesting or beautiful are in fact dripping with emotion and beauty in the deepest, most poignant ways. I’ve always loved the theme of Death and the Maiden in art, the sculptures of Rodin and Camille Claudel. The sad girl music videos of the 90s. I’m a big fan of Hunter S. Thompson, the badgering letters of Groucho Marx to studio executives when he wouldn’t take no for an answer, the comedic genius of the posthumous John Kennedy Toole for “A Confederacy of Dunces” and so much more. I like to mix dark and light; cinematic grandeur with the campiness of the theater. I’m influenced by so so much that I could write a stream-of-consciousness rant for DAYS. I’m exiting this question before this happens but damn, this kind of question gets me GOING. 

What’s the difference between your work as a photographer and as a producer-director?

As a photographer you’re curating a very specific image and with it being a profession, that certain image is generally under constraint depending on what the client wants. It’s a different beast entirely. 

As a producer, you have to put your adult panties on. It’s a whole lot of administration, coordination, legalities and deadlines.

With directing, you get to put the composition of your photographic mind into motion mixed with the right timing, the right lighting, the right lines. You have the power to tell a story and create a feeling that is carefully curated and crafted by your own mind’s eye. And that is pretty fucking cool. 

Can you tell us what your favorite Adult Time projects are? 

There are so many; how can one even choose? I think the beauty of Adult Time is how eclectic it is; there is something for everyone to delve into no matter what their preferences or sexual inclinations are. There are series, featurettes, full length movies and even cartoons! I love what we recently shot with Ariel Demure and Christy Love for Transfixed. I thought the recent, Casey: A True Story was done so beautifully. 

Who are some of your other favorite directors at Adult Time?

Bree Mills, and Joanna Angel of course! There are many great directors and crews working together to make such interesting porn on Adult Time that once again, it’s hard to just pick a couple. 

Do you have an anecdote you would like to share with us? 

I lived in England for 5 years, and Copenhagen for 2.5 years. I have dual citizenship,  because of my Polish Lineage, English was my second language and I can play the ukulele! 

What are you looking forward to in 2022? Any upcoming projects you would like to share with us?

Bree and I are working on a project where I was able to write and record an original song for a Transfixed episode that is sung by my partner, Brooklyn Gray, so my inner theater geek is super excited about that shoot! I’m also  just looking forward to all the shoots we have planned at Adult Time, and it’s always exciting to have a concept waiting for you in the future, seeing the process all the way up until the shoot day, and then watching it all come to life with the anticipation of the final edits.  I love the process of creating so I’m looking forward to all the work on the horizon and the beautiful bits of erotic, cinematic gold that will be immortalized at the end of it all.