Interview With Transgressive Films Screenwriter Midnight

Following in the footsteps of Transfixed, Transgressive Films will seek to bring new levels of exposure to trans content. It challenges the treatment of trans individuals in society and in the adult industry by tackling the stigmas and prejudices towards trans people in thought-provoking content.

We took the time to chat with our in-house screenwriter Midnight about this exciting new series.

Midnight is an avid storyteller, who has been a part of the Adult Time team for nearly 3 years as of April 2021. He’s worked on steamy stories for Girlsway, Fantasy Massage, Pure Taboo, and various Adult Time Originals. Aside from writing, which is the love of his life, he is also passionate about traveling the world, hunting ghosts, and breeding/raising betta fish.

Hello! How are you doing?

Hello! I’m doing pretty good, thanks, now that I’m out of winter hibernation and spring is well underway. Nothing makes me happier than packing away the winter boots.

Can you tell us more about yourself and your work at Adult Time?

I’ve always been passionate about storytelling and landed on the Adult Time team after working as a self-published author of erotic fiction (a.k.a. good ol’ steamy romance novels) for several years. Although I enjoyed my time as a novelist, it can be a pretty lonely gig, which is why I was thrilled to make the change and instead work with the amazing, passionate group of people here at Adult Time.

At Adult Time, I get to bust my chops on a number of different projects every day, ranging from cute, lighthearted stories to gritty, cinematic dramas. There’s never a dull moment! Although I love writing them all, I tend to gravitate towards tackling thought-provoking stories that challenge social issues (Pure Taboo’s “Three Sides To Every Story” is one that always comes to mind).

What is Transgressive Films? Where did the idea for this project come from?

After the success of the first season of Transfixed, we knew we wanted to follow it up with more projects that explore new genres, new characters, and new pairing dynamics within the space of trans sexuality. Our dramatic storytelling series have received a lot of praise in the past for their hyper-realistic tone and convincing acting, so we knew we wanted a series that delivered on that same promise for trans audiences.

When we looked at what was already in the market, we noticed that trans stories often fell into one of two categories: goofy shock-value content where the reveal of the character’s trans-ness is made into a visual gag or depictions where a character’s trans-ness is never even mentioned in the story.

When we sat down to look at what we could do differently, we quickly realized that nobody in the adult industry was telling realistic stories about real-world conflicts, such as how trans people struggle to come out to loved ones or how cis people battle social stigma towards being attracted to trans bodies. Transphobia and shame towards being attracted to trans people are rooted in ignorance, so we wanted to show characters experiencing and overcoming that ignorance on-screen.

Besides being an emotional catharsis and a release of erotic tension between the characters, Transgressive Films’ stories are also meant to prompt reflection in audiences that we hope will encourage compassion and understanding towards trans people and their admirers/allies in the real world. The truly Transgressive part about the series isn’t the content itself, but the discussions that it hopefully sparks.

Transgressive Films aims to humanize trans sexuality by crafting complex and emotional stories which tackle real-world trans stigmas head-on, rather than shying away from them. How will it be translated onscreen?

Because so many of the stories tackle nuanced themes and raw emotions, we wanted trans creators handling the project every step of the way to help bring authentic experiences to the screen. This includes embracing trans voices behind the camera as well.

The trans experience is so unique, even among individual trans people, so we started Transgressive Films off by introducing common themes that most trans people have experienced on some level. These are also themes that cis people may be more familiar with as well, whether on a personal or storytelling level. For example, many trans people still struggle today with coming out to family or facing people from their past. As the series continues, we hope to be able to branch out and tackle an even wider range of topics.

Trans representation are now taken into accounts by mainstream media, thanks to the dedication of a variety of people and the works of queer studies. How do you see representations in adult entertainment?

Although I am trans, I have historically avoided watching adult entertainment featuring trans people. This is because of a personal experience as a young adult where trying to find porn starring people like me was, quite frankly, disturbing. It literally scarred me for life. I can still remember the first scene I ever watched and how gross it made me feel.

Honestly, it’s only been since I’ve started working with Adult Time that my mindset around trans content has shifted. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the great strides adult entertainment has taken, at least in our own ecosystem, to really elevate trans content and their performers. Of course, there’s still a lot of work to be done within the industry, but the bar had once been set so low that pretty much any little change makes a huge difference.

I would love to see trans content continue to challenge the status quo and empower trans voices. For me, it’s especially important that there’s trans content for trans people by trans people, because I never want anyone to ever hate themselves as much as I did when I first stumbled across that porn video those many years ago.

What’s your favorite fictional series featuring trans characters or performers, whether mainstream or adult oriented? Why?

To be completely honest, although I’ve been very excited to hear that more and more trans actors are getting bigger roles in mainstream media, I haven’t specifically watched any of the notable works.

Now, a big part of this is that I personally don’t tend to watch a lot of mainstream shows and movies. However, I think another part of it is some sort of learned aversion to watching these shows or films because of how I’ve seen trans actors and/or characters portrayed/treated in the past. The portrayals have never been flattering, often written as being very transphobic. Plus, a lot of trans characters were played by cis actors, who were then often given high praise, even awards, for being “brave” taking on the roles. Needless to say, that still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth even today.

However, when it comes to adult content, Transfixed is a series that really stands out for me. It was what helped me change my mindset about how trans content is handled in the adult industry. The very first episode, “Venus at the Party,” was so mesmerizing and elevated the trans performer in a way I had never seen before. I actually felt good watching it, which is definitely a 180 of how I’ve felt watching trans content in the past.

Ultimately, whether it’s adult or mainstream, representation absolutely matters and I am thrilled about the changes! Especially since more roles are actually showing trans people as complex human beings, rather than just focusing on gender dysphoria or transphobia alone. There’s so much more to us than simply being trans and we’re finally getting the chance to show that.

One of the most interesting aspects of the series is that it will be steered by trans collaborators, from the acting to the writing. How much creative input came from your various collaborators on the project?

That was the main thing that got me excited about writing for Transgressive Films, as a trans creator myself. We knew right from the beginning that we wanted as many trans creators as possible working on the series to empower them and let them express themselves in ways that maybe they haven’t been able to before.

When I received the story prompts for the first batch of episodes, I was given a lot of freedom and support to write what rang true to me. Even so, it’s still all too easy to accidentally be ignorant of other trans people’s experiences. Because of this, we strongly encouraged our trans performers to find their own voice within the episodes as well, to truly make the most collaborative, inclusive series possible.

My hope is that Transgressive Films will be a hit so that we can attract even more trans creators to help bring our storytelling to the next level.

What’s the episode you’re most proud of?

“This Doesn’t Change Anything” is hands-down the episode I’m proudest of (so far). I was definitely in the zone when I wrote the script and it really made my day when I was told by other people that it moved them. Casey Kisses and Johnny Hill gave an amazing performance and you can really feel their struggles — and their chemistry. Everyone who worked on this episode, from filming to post-production, took such great care and it really shows.

Launching a series that is topical, controversial, and provokes social discourse is a way to challenge the status quo for trans production in the industry. What do you think our members will get from the series?

I hope that our members will enjoy seeing complex, cinematic, and thought-provoking stories that they likely have never seen before — in the adult or mainstream industry! Whether it’s their first time watching a trans series or they’re die-hard fans, hopefully everyone can walk away satisfied (and maybe even a little enlightened).

What are you looking forward to in 2021? Any upcoming scoop about the future of Adult Time?

Oh, boy, where do I even start? How much time do we have? Okay, I’ll try to keep it brief.

I’m obviously excited about the release of both Transgressive Films and Being Trans 24/7, with the latter also featuring trans men as well as trans women. Then there’s a new episode of the award-winning Transfixed series being shot by Bree Mills, starring Daisy Taylor and Siri Dahl, which promises to be as visually stunning and erotic as always. I even have some ideas of my own for future trans series that I’m eager to pitch!

Speaking of, we have bold plans for creating all kinds of new series and projects in the future that will allow us to be more inclusive than ever, which I am personally stoked about. We don’t want our series and projects to be limited to having “just trans,” “just lesbian,” or “just straight” content… Where’s the fun in that?

For example, although Pure Taboo is typically seen as being a straight, cis product, did you know that there’s a steamy sex scene between Casey Kisses and Sovereign Syre in “Transgressions: A Sovereign Syre Story”? With our nifty sexual preference toggles, we have more chances than ever to expand our catalogue to include a little something for everybody.

But, aside from all that, I’m a big fan of animation as well. Have you checked out Hentai Sex School yet? A second season is in the works as we speak, which will push the characters in ways they’ve never experienced before. We’re also working on an ambitious futanari animated series with Agent Red Girl called F.U.T.A. Sentai Squad, which includes gorgeous girls and giant robots. And if you miss the charm of 2D animation, you can look forward to Midnight Stories!

Thank you for this amazing interview and we look forward to Transgressive Films on April 26th!