JBK:  Well, the biggest pro, obviously, was that I now had complete creative control over each project, and I could do the movies that other studios were hesitant to let me do for them.  The biggest con, of course, was that I was now financially responsible if a film flopped.  It was now MY checkbook that would take the hit if a film tanked.  But the creative control was worth it.  I do my best work, I think, when I'm given free reign over a project. 

JM: We agree--such a varied catalog of work. Your first RD feature The Bombardier was a big turning point since it featured a very complex story with romance, flashbacks, the supernatural, and more. Looking back what are your thoughts on this film?

JBK:  It was nerve-wrecking, because it was the first film where its success or failure would effect me directly (my boyfriend CVK and I were bankrolling it), it was the first film starring our exclusive Jason Ridge, who'd never done a professional porn before, and it was the most expensive production I'd done up to that point.  I was also nervous because I was actively making what was essentially a WWII romance, and most films at that time were the "just come together and fuck" type, which was the cause of another concern:  THE BOMBARDIER was heavy on the story, and only a couple other directors were doing those at the time.  I didn't know how it would be perceived.  Finally, and probably most nail-biting, was that we did not yet have distribution.  I was making this solely on spec, and if I couldn't find anyone to distribute it, I'd be up Shit Creek.  So there were a lot of things riding on that production.  Luckily, it turned out well.  I believe that to date, THE BOMBARDIER is the biggest-selling title I've directed.  Or maybe DARE for Falcon.

JM: Interesting if it was The Bombardier. It proves that story-heavy movies do sell. Speaking of Jason Ridge, you really launched his career in your Red Devil films. Is there anyone else you've worked with over the years that you feel has this star quality?

JBK:  When Jason Ridge first came to my audition, I instantly knew he had to be my exclusive.  The camera just loved him, and he had a natural charisma that just radiated from him.  I think there are some others that have come close, but due to bad managing of their careers or bad decisions, it hasn't happened for them.  Oddly enough, a lot of these guys are gay-for-pay.  I think Mark Dalton could have been a mega-star, but he's too reluctant to put himself out there fully, and now, obviously, he can't.  Kaden Saylor at Active Duty/Dirty Bird is another one who has that potential, and that same company has a model named Thomas who should be a giant star, but isn't.  I actually doubt that these last two would WANT to be superstars.  (laughs).

JM: We agree on Kaden, for sure. But, sometimes "superstardom" just happens. But getting back to Red Devil, Nasty Nasty was obviously a tricky one to make what with split screens, Jason Ridge playing twins, etc. Was this as hard as it looked?

JBK:  It actually wasn't that difficult, it was just a bit tricky.  I had just seen a movie called WICKED, WICKED, in which 95% of the movie was shown in split-screen, and I thought, "Why can't I do that?  I'll show two angles in each sex scene.  It'll be like getting two films for the price of one!  Double your money!"  So I hired Ed Maxxx to do 2nd camera and we used a clapboard to mark every shot so I'd be able to sync them up in editing.  I called it "Devil-Vision", and I loved the end result.  With the exception of the opening dialogue scene and the final dialogue scene, the rest of the film was letterboxed at a 2:35 widescreen aspect ratio and shown in split-screen.  I was so proud of myself.  Then, I took it to my distributor, Arena Entertainment, and they told me that they didn't like the split-screen.  I felt like someone had just taken a dump on my chest.  They said they wanted me to cut all the split-screen out, but I refused.  I sent a few copies of the movie out to some reviewers that I really respected, sure that they would side with me, but they told me the split-screen effect was distracting.  So, I compromised with Arena and re-cut the film so that only the dialogue scenes where split-screen.  I still have a copy of the "Devil-Vision" version, and someday I'd like to see it get a release. (Maybe a director's cut edition two-disc set would work--JM)

JBK: As for Jason Ridge playing twins, that was very easy.  He loved the idea of playing two different characters and did an awesome job.  I decided not to go for camera tricks but to instead just shoot the movie as though the two characters were played by two different actors.  They only share the screen in two shots in the final sex scene, and that was an editing trick.  Jason has sex with himself, and I hired a body double to play his brother whenever we see them together.  It was kind of a "Patty Duke Show"-type thing:  When "Good" Jason sucked "Bad" Jason's dick, it was Jason Ridge sucking the body double.  Whenever we saw Jason getting sucked in a long shot, it was the body double blowing him with the camera behind his head so you couldn't see his face.  For the shots where you saw Jason sucking a dick and the camera panning up to Jason's face as he receives the blowjob, I had Jason sucking the body double, then the camera panned up into the double's shirt, then we stopped, Jason put on the shirt, and I continued the pan from the shirt to Jason's face and dissolved in between them, making it look like one unbroken shot.  That movie was fun to do!

JM: It reminded us of that classic Dead Ringer so kudos on the "in-joke". Red Devil has a very impressive library. Do you have your personal favorites? Movies you enjoyed making more than others?

JBK:  I like all of my Red Devil films, but I guess my favorite has to be DIRTY LITTLE SINS, which I won a Grabby for Best Screenplay.  It dealt with a lot of themes that I was interested in, like being in the closet, finding love, dealing with homophobes, attitude change and finding alternate families.  I also got Jacob Slader to bottom in it, which was hot to see.

JM:  Getting established tops to bottom is something we see a lot of in your movies.  Who all have you got to bottom?  Why the interest?

JBK:  I think it's exciting to see people who are known for doing something specific do something else.  That's why a lot of actors like to do roles that cast them against type.  In porn, I think it's about attaining the unattainable.  When someone tells me he's a top, I instantly want to see him throw his legs up.  I know a lot of people feel the same way.

To date, I've gotten the following top men to throw their moons over my-hammy:  Chris Dano in THE DRIFTER and DRIFTER 2: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON, Doug Jeffries in NASTY NASTY, Ben Campezi in DON JUAN: SINS OF THE FLESH, Jacob Slader in DIRTY LITTLE SINS, Jason Crew, Jack Sanders and Sean Steele in SQUIRT, Brett Collins in THE BOMBARDIER, Rod Rockhard in a scene for my upcoming website, REDDEVILMEN.COM, Riley Burke in DARE and most notably, Nick Capra in FRENCH KISS and NICK CAPRA DIRTY TALK.  Then, of course, the newest and probably the biggest feather in my cap...Chad Hunt in ENDGAME.  That was the finale of an 8-year quest!

Some of the ones that I couldn't get, haven't gotten or who got away:  Mark Slade, Trevor Knight, Zackary Pierce, Nash Lawler, Phenix Saint, Cort Donovan, Jordan Vaughn, Andy Hunter, RC Ryan and Evan Gray/Sean Sweet/Hayden Stephens or whatever name he's going by now.

JM: We wouldn't count any of those guys out just yet. Getting guys to bottom is a good marketing ploy but we also like your incorprating it as a twist in the film. Then again, you like throwing all kinds of plot twists in, especially at the end of your films. Any favorites?

JBK:  Probably SEXUAL URBAN LEGENDS for All Worlds because that was an anthology film and all four stories had twist or surprise endings.  I'm a big fan of "The Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", so I love twist endings and "d'oh!" moments.  I like to throw plot twists into my films because you always hear people saying that they fast-forward through the dialogue scenes to get to the sex.  I want to make films where people put their remotes down because they know something interesting is going to happen in the story, and they don't want to miss it.
  In ENDGAME, Chad Hunt gives three different explanations to Trevor Knight about who he is, and each one gets nuttier than the last.  You sit there and wonder which one is the real one and how much longer is Trevor going to believe what Chad is telling him.  The whole movie revolves around these explanations.

JM: Sounds great. Endgame probably has some great "behind the scenes" stories too. Are there any interesting stories (good, bad, or amusing) about the making of any of your past films that you'd like tell us?

JBK:  There are too many.  Way too many.  Someday I'll collect them all and try to publish it, but in the meantime, here's one good, one bad and one amusing:

Good:  When I was getting ready to do DIRTY LITTLE SINS, I wrote the part of the wicked college dean specifically for Doug Jeffries, who asked me to cast him in the film but in a role that was against type.  Then, it was time to shoot, and when I called Doug, he told me he was busy and couldn't do the film!  So I talked to an agent, Dak King, who suggested Dillon Press, and a light went off!  Dillon had been begging me to put him in a Red Devil movie for a long time, and I thought he'd be  perfect!  So when I talked to him about it, he was ecstatic and jumped at the role.  He studied his lines and was really proud to be part of the cast.  I read his blog soon after, and he went on and on about how happy he was!  When we shot his sex scene with Nick Capra and Chet White, the dean suddenly feels bad about what he's done and whips his own back with his belt as atonement.  I told Dillon to do it hard enough to get a good sound effect, but not so hard that it hurt him.  When the camera rolled, Dillon went all method actor on me and lashed his back like a madman!  It gave me chills, but he was so intent on doing a good job that he didn't care, and he got a Best Supporting Actor nomination for it.

Bad (Readers beware, it's graphic--JM):  This was on a shoot where I was only the cameraman and the editor, but it was a prison movie, and there was a scene where a guard was fucking a prisoner over a desk (I won't reveal the models).  The guard was a big-dicked fellow who was plowing the prisoner bottom very, very deeply.  Suddenly, the director told the top to pull his dick out and plunge it back in a few times.  Well, the top didn't just pull his dick out, he YANKED it out, causing suction on the bottom, who apparently had over-douched and wasn't aware that he was full of liquid and still not clean, to emit a fountain-like stream of s$%!-water out of his ass and all over the guard.  We had to stop while the guard's costume was washed and dried.  The director ran over to me and said, "I don't want to see one frame of that in the finished movie!" to which I replied, "Geez, do you think I'd put any of it IN?"

Amusing:  When I shot RINGLEADER for Dirty Bird Pictures, the final scene was of Kaden Saylor and Kasey.  Almost every sex scene had the doggy position in it (apparently straight boys LOVE that position), so I was trying to think of something else to give it a little variety.  I told Kasey to lie on his back and Kaden to sit on his cock.  Kaden hesitated, hemming and hawing, and I finally asked him what the problem was.  He looked at me shyly and said, "I've never done that before."  I just thought it was the cutest thing I'd seen all year.

JM: You're right--we'd love too some of the stories see print or on a DVD commentary. We know you have an interest in horror but your library of movies includes crime noir, comedy, melodrama, etc. Is there any one genre that you feel is your strongest suit. A genre you think you do better than anyone else?

JBK:  Well, I think I do drama very well, if DIRTY LITTLE SINS is any evidence of that.  I think ENDGAME will prove me in that respect, too.  But I am a fan of horror first and foremost, and I've only ever gotten to do one scary movie, and that was BONESAW for Adonis Pictures.  We shot Joey Milano's death scene two ways:  bloody and dry.  When I showed the bloody version to the producer, Jeremy Spencer, he turned white but said, "Use that take!"  (laughs).  We had a public screening of the film, and the audience was screaming.  I loved it.  I'd like to do more, but a horror-porn combo is a hard sell.

JM: Yeah, horror & hardons don't mix. Then again, heavy drama can be a buzzkill too unless it's done right. By theway, you've done dramatic porn films with some controversial themes and plots. Any you regret? Any you feel got more flack than they deserved?

JBK:  I don't think I've regretted anything I've done.  The brother-brother incest scene in NASTY NASTY cost me some foreign sales, but I don't regret it and would do it again.  I like controversial themes and plots.  How many times can you have construction workers fuck on their break?  How many times can a police detective fuck his suspect in the interrogation room?  I think the porn audience wants different scenarios, and for me, that's what makes filming these movies more interesting.  What story can I tell that hasn't been told before?  Can I get the viewer to react with his big head as well as his little one?  Can I touch his heart as well as his dick?  Why can't I use my movies as a message board for issues other than "sex is good"?  As long as the sex is hot, the audience will be satisfied.  And those who don't fast-forward through the dialogue might be entertained by that, too.   Jason Sechrest said DIRTY LITTLE SINS was a public service announcement for a young gay man's spiritual health instead of his physical health.  I loved hearing that.

I feel that UNSPEAKABLE, which I made for Oh Man! Studios got a lot of undeserved flack, but I can't say I didn't see it coming.  Nazis, gay porn...it's a volatile combo.  But I also knew that if people could just look past the surface of it, they'd get a sweet emotional love story, some suspenseful moments and some really hot sex.  That's why I sent an early screener to Jack Shamama of GayPornBlog.com.  He is Jewish, and if anyone would find anything offensive in it, he would.  I told him to be brutally honest and frank.  He told me he'd had reservations about the movie until he watched it, and he thought it was my best work.  The flack was good publicity, but too many people savagely attacked it without seeing it, which I thought was unfair.  Producer Bruno Ricelli had balls, man.  He told me to make it and damn the consequences.  He really believed in me and the project and told me he is very proud of it.  He got threats from Germany that if he brought the film to the Berlin Expo, he'd be arrested.  He did anyway and pre-sold a huge quantity of them there!

JM: Which brings us to the present where you're now making films for Dirty Bird Pictures. What's this new venture like? Do you pretty much have creative control. Any performers here that you think have potential as a star?

JBK:  Red Devil is turning its sights more toward the internet, so while we're pursuing that, I've begun working for Dink Flamingo's Dirty Bird Pictures.  It's been really great.  Dink is very encouraging and supportive.  I don't have complete creative control, as Dink likes to give me one or two names to cast, but he pretty much leaves me alone after that because he knows he'll get a better product out of it.  He understands how I work and encourages me to grab the pearls and run.  The only thing he won't let me do is a horror film, because they scare him.  (laughs). 

JM: Your upcoming film Endgame has gotten lots of publicity because of Chad Hunt bottoming as you mentioned, but obviously there's much more to it that this "milestone". What can you tell us about this movie? Plot?

JBK: Trevor Knight plays Tyler, a tech support guy who is bored with his life.  He gets fired, and while he's sitting at home wondering what he's going to do, he gets a visit from Garvy (Chad Hunt) who tells Tyler that he is his long-lost big brother who was separated from him after a car accident in which their parents were killed and the boys were put into different adoptive homes.  Tyler doesn't remember any of this, but Garvy says that Tyler had amnesia from being in a coma after the accident.  Garvy suggests that they re-visit the places that their family traveled to before the accident to see if it jogs Tyler's memory.  The younger man reluctantly agrees, but as they head for King's Beach, it becomes apparent that Garvy isn't all he claims to be and that he has another purpose in store for Tyler.  It's a very bittersweet story about friendship, adventure and having the courage to change your life for the better. 

JM: Sounds like another JB classic. And what do you have planned next? And is there a project that you would like to do that you haven't had the time?

JBK:  Right now, I don't have anything planned for my next film.  We have a great location that I'm trying to create a story around for a January shooting date.  As for projects that I haven't done, there are tons!  TONS!  I have a few dream projects that Falcon was excited about but fell through with the departure of Todd Montgomery.  And then, there's that musical.  (laughs).  A western is also on the drawing board.

In the meantime, I am preparing to launch two web pay sites, NICKCAPRA.COM and REDDEVILMEN.COM.  Both sites will have original content.  Nick's site will star him in every scene, some amateur and some professional, using new faces and some porn favorites and will be the only source of new material where Nick bottoms.  That will launch by the end of the year.  REDDEVILMEN.COM will also feature pro-am scenes with hot faves and new guys, but we are going for a wide range of looks in the men who perform.  Everything from the hot, buffed guy to someone covered in tattoos and piercings.  There will be blacks, asians...just a wider range of guys. 

JM: Sounds like it's just made for our audience!

JM: Is seems that you like doing sequels. Any old movies you'd like to revisit and do a follow-up?

JBK:  I've only done one sequel, DRIFTER 2 (unless you count my screenplays for FATHER FIGURE 1 & 2 for All Worlds), but I'd actually like to go back and do a part 3 and 4 while Chris Dano is still looking good.  And yes, he'd bottom in both of them.  That is a recurring theme in the Drifter films.  (laughs).  There were plans for a while to do a sequel to NASTY NASTY, which I'd still like to do.  Someone expressed interest to me about turning THE BOMBARDIER into a stage musical, if you can believe that, but I don't own the rights anymore.  Ty Hudson would like to do DANTE II, but I doubt that will happen.  I really wanted to do BONESAW 2 for Adonis.  I even had it plotted out.  But they went out of business before we could talk about it in any depth.  I think it could be fun to do another LEATHER INTRUSION movie and bring back Drew Andrews and Tanner Reeves, but I shudder to think what shape they might be in.  (laughs). 

JM: Well maybe it turns out that they both had sons prior to the series and the sons are following in their footsteps. 

JBK: Dink Flamingo has said that if RINGLEADER sells well, he might want a sequel, and I have the concept figured out.  Right now, the only film I think I would do another installment of is HOW TO SEDUCE A STRAIGHT MAN, which was a big seller for us.  It's an anthology film with four non-connecting stories, but I have lots of other tricks for getting straight guys into bed that I'd like to share! 

JM: Speaking of your older stuff , have you given thought to repackaging of your older stuff? A Leather Intrusion box set, perhaps?

JBK:  I would love that!  Unfortunately, I don't own the rights to any of the Leather Entertainment films.  Only 2 or 3 of the Leather Intrusion flicks have been put out on dvd.  I'd love a nice leatherbound boxed set with the films digitally re-mastered and audio commentary by myself, Drew and Tanner.  I'd even go back through the original tapes and see if there's anything that could be used for bonus footage. 

JM: We asked you about your influences. Do you think YOU have had any influences on others? Specifically it looks like Jason Ridge's Ridgeline Films feature plot-driven films.  Did he consult with you at all on his movies?

JBK:  I think I have had an influence on others and the industry in general.  I'm not going to fool myself and say that it's a huge influence but I do think it's there.  Jerry Douglas and Wash West have always worked in the area of story porn, so it never went away, but I think my work with Red Devil and others re-sparked an interest in it.  Doug Jeffries directs a lot of story porn, and writers Jack Shamama and Mike Stabile's WET PALMS series for Jet Set Men was critically acclaimed.  Jason Ridge has not told me if he's modeled Ridgeline on Red Devil, so I don't know.  We have talked about my directing a film for him so maybe that would be a matter of coming full circle!  It would be an awesome movie, an adaptation of a classic novel that we all probably had to read in high school english class.  That's all I can say right now. 

JM: What other company or director of gay porn do you follow? Guilty pleasures?

JBK:  You know, they say that when you get into porn, the first thing you do is stop watching it, and that's true, to an extent.  I'm so busy doing my own stuff that I don't have time to see what everyone else is doing.  When I'm in the mood to watch porn, I usually rummage through my collection of older titles, since I don't know most of the guys in them.  (laughs).  I like the films of Joe Gage (his trucker trilogy is still classic!), Jack Deveau, Arch Brown, Jean-Daniel Cadinot, Tom DeSimone, Michael Zen, and the like.

My guiltiest pleasure is XTube.  I love people putting their own fuck videos up for everyone to see! 

JM: Well are there any guys that you'd like to work with that you haven't yet?

JBK:  Oh, sure.  I'd love to work with Leo Giamani, Ricky Sinz, Robert Van Damme, Dustin Alexander, R.J. Danvers, Derrick Hanson, Diesel Washington, Barrett Long and Dean Flynn, among others.  The list of guys I'd like to work with again is even longer.

JM: For the most part you're talking guys who are good actors as well as sex performers. So, if you had the budget and could make your dream porn movie what would it be like and who would be in it? The same question for a mainstream movie.

Porn:  I'm not going to tell you that, but I will tell you my #2 choice.  I would love to make a big-budget gay porn version of "The Phantom of the Opera".  I know it would be hot.  I have no idea who I'd cast in it, though.  I'd need one great guy who could sing opera. Maybe Gus Mattox could use it to stage his return to porn!  (laughs).  It would be wildly romantic and visually very lavish.

Mainstream:  I'd love to do a movie about Shazam! Captain Marvel.  Or a remake of KING KONG VS. GODZILLA.  Or a sequel to the 1977 film THE CAR.  (laughs).

JM: As comic fans we'd love to see a Shazam! movie. Phantom ? Perfect for you.

JM: Since you mentioned your upcoming websites, what are your thoughts on the ever-growing online market? Things you'd like to see being done like serialized videos?

JBK:  When internet porn began, no one thought it would succeed.  Everyone I talked to (and I felt the same way) said, "Who wants to sit in front of their computer to jack off?  I want to be on my couch in front of my TV set and be comfortable."  But slowly we've been conditioned to be computer wankers and now I'd bet more of us jackhammer in front of our computers than not.  It's here to stay, like it or not.  Adapt or die.

As for serialized internet videos, if NickCapra.com and RedDevilMen.com do well, we have plans for a third site which will be serialized videos, each one continuing an overall larger story arc. 

JM: We'd love that. Then, what do you see as the future of gay adult media? Will you be a part of that?

JBK:  Everything is heading toward the internet and the newest technology.  You can watch porn not only on your computer, but on your iPod and your cell phone.  We are already doing things in those areas.  But the line between mainstream and porn continues to thin and blur.  You have gay porn stars appearing on game shows and reality TV now, and Hollywood film and TV stars doing cameos in porn films.  I think we're going to see a lot more of that. 

JM: Finally, we like to ask in all our interviews. Is there anything about you or your films that no one really asks but that you'd like to tell people?

JBK:  Well...okay...here goes...(deep breath)...I AM ANN IGMA!

JM: Well we kinda knew that already but that's one reason why we like your stuff. Andwe do appreciate your taking the time to chat. And good luck with Endgame and all your future endeavors.

JBK:  Muchas smoochas.