Picking Yer' Brain #2: Carter Stevens

Well it sure has been a long time since the first Picking Yer' Brain back in March! Big thanks to the kind words I received from my readers and new faces. This installment we are talking to another hero of mine from the world of cinema. I first met today's guest a year or so a go through a Youtube I made about one of his films. That film was Punk Rock, which is one of my (if not my) all time favourite classic adult films. I was showing off the r rated version of the film I had just received (which by the way, is a great version of the film too) and he was kind enough to message me asking if I would be interested in having a full uncut copy, a week or so later I receive a 3 disc set of some of his films. It's one of the nicest things to happen to me and I am really happy to welcome Carter Stevens who is about to have his brain picked about fond memories, library music, Wade Nichols and social networking amongst other things!

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You have a great filmography. Are there any films that stand out as personal favourites?

That is like asking which of your children do you love the most. Each of my films has something about it that rings a bell with me every time I think about it. Pleasure Palace for instance has a dolly shot in it that was the first time we ever had the budget to rent a real dolly. Up until then we used to use a wheelchair and a hand held camera for dolly shots. Punk Rock we did two versions. The second one had all the sex cut out and an hour's worth of extra plot, a gun fight and live Punk Rock music we shot at Max's Kansas City. Teenage twins wasn't a great film but it had a real set of twins for the first time in adult films. (plus it made more money that all my other films which warms my memory of the film.) Lickity Split was the first film I wrote the script for by myself. As I say each film has something that makes it stand out favorably in my memory.

Music is always top notch in your films, especially Punk Rock. How important was the music and process of picking the music for your pictures?

Unlike a lot of other adult filmmakers who were working at the low budget end of the business I bought and paid for all the music in my Carter Stevens films. Of course it was library music so some of the music I chose also wound up in non adult projects as well. The most recognizable was the piece of music that wound up being the theme for "The People's Court" TV show. I was also lucky on a couple of projects like Lickity Split where I managed to buy cheap an original piece of music for the theme. In several projects I was lucky enough to get permission from a talented singer/songwriter named Chinga Chavens who became a friend and not only gave me permission to use all his music in my films for free (his first album was called Country Porn so it fit right into our genre) and he even wrote a tune called Jailbait which was inspired by my film of the same name.

One of my favourite actors / performers is Wade Nichols. What was he like? Any interesting stories?

Wade (whose real name was Dennis Posa and who went on to a legit career on TV and even recorded a disco album under the name Dennis Parker) was a Great guy. He was actually totally gay but would work "Straight for pay". I worked with him many times on my films and on other peoples films that I also worked on. He was NEVER less than a professional no matter what the film. Personally he was a sweet person. When he was playing Derick Mallory on EDGE OF NIGHT my preteen daughter got a crush on him. I told him about it and he wrote her a warm 2 page letter and sent her a half dozen autographed 8x10 which wound up all over her bedroom walls.

Of course you worked with many other greats. Are there any stars or crew members that you never managed to work with but wanted to?

Radley Metzger

Social media such as Facebook and events like Cinema Wasteland have connected fans and personalities from the golden age of adult films. How has it been meeting fans old and new and also getting back in touch with old friends from the business that you may have thought you'd lost touch with?

The internet is such a boon to old friendships. I'm back in touch with friends from so many parts of my life that would have been impossible before Facebook. Jeannie Silver and I hadn't talked in over 20 years and now we are in touch on a regular basis. But it is more than just the adult business this is true about. I have a friend who is a well known Science Fiction author who 30 years ago lived in Binghamton, NY and now lives in Australia and we are more in touch now. Every week that goes by I run across more and more old friends from the early days of porn. Some of them have passed away now but we managed to get back in touch before their passing and it was great to be able to say goodbye before they passed. As to fans it is ALWAYS a thrill to be asked for your autograph. Don't forget when we were making these films we were outlaws, now we are recognized (at least by some) as serious filmmakers.

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A massive thank you to Carter for taking the time to answer some questions. If you are interested in checking out some of his filmography you can buy DVDs from the following stores:

Diabolik DVD
Alternative Cinema

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