More than a decade ago, Tony Dimarco earned industry buzz with back-to-back XBIZ “Gay Director of the Year” wins for lavishly detailed, star-packed projects like modern erotica classic “To the Last Man.” Those projects cemented his rep as a director who likes to think big — really big. Now, years later, he returns to epic form with “Ride or Die” for Raging Stallion Studios, a sprawling, nine-part crime saga set in a corrupt prison where nobody can be trusted and everyone enjoys very specific punishments and rewards.
Tim Valenti, president of Raging Stallion parent company Falcon/NakedSword, brought Dimarco aboard on the strength of a concept from co-producer Edward James and with Ben Rush attached to co-produce and pen the script.
“Tim knew that the material was tailor-made for the Raging Stallion brand and that my creative input and vision would take it to the next level,” Dimarco recalled. “I was at first reluctant to work with outside creatives; I’d never met them and I typically like to work in my own bubble. But after learning more about the concept, I came around to the idea. I looked at it as a challenge: working with some new voices and storytellers and incorporating their perspectives into what wound up being a uniquely collaborative process.”
Fortuitously, he and Rush hit it off; the latter recently paired with XBIZ Award-winning “Gay Performer of the Year” Pierce Paris to write and direct for Masqulin Studio, including Paris’ directorial debut, “What’s Gotten Into Him?”
“The concept evolved quickly and very early on became what you see onscreen,” Dimarco said. “We began working on ‘Ride or Die’ in April of 2021, so it’s been a very long and involved project from conception to final frame.”
He noted that the project had always been conceived of as a multipart narrative action-drama series.
“The model of releasing films online lends itself so well to episodic storytelling,” he said. “It’s a great way to generate interest in a concept and be able to keep viewers invested and excited to see what happens next. That was the brainchild of Tim and Ben. For me, on a creative level, a feature and an episodic series aren’t terribly dissimilar. Both include an overarching story, which means that meticulously developing characters and tone is very important. In this case, each episode has a major cliffhanger whereas a feature would have fewer throughout.”
The essential thread of “Ride or Die” explores the corruption of a twisted prison, its villainous warden and the mysterious, high-level figures who are attached to the state legal system; no one can be trusted. The episodes touch on prison reform, abuse and the business of justice in contemporary times.
And, naturally, “some of the hottest sex Raging Stallion has shot to date,” the director added.
The starry cast includes studio exclusives Beau Butler, Andre Donovan, Max Konnor, Reign and Drew Valentino along with Bennet Anthony, Travis Connor, Chris Damned, Dillon Diaz, Pheonix Fellington, Grayson Lange, Pierce Paris, Drew Sebastian and Alpha Wolfe.
Exclusive Cole Connor takes the lead role of a sexily charismatic and sinister prison warden.
The director praised his leading man as “a consummate performer” who took a character conceived by Rush and created “a fully fleshed-out, multi-dimensional character.”
“After working with him, and then seeing the finished series, I could not imagine anyone else in the lead role,” Dimarco said. “He’s convincingly mean and intense; in fact, if I didn’t know him better, I’d be certain that he’s a horrible son of a bitch.”
In reality, the actual man is “very present, genuine and grounded. When I first cast Cole in Raging Stallion’s ‘Scrum’ in February 2020, I immediately reached out to Tim to discuss signing him as an exclusive,” Dimarco recalled. “Luckily, we did. He has proved to be a great asset to the Falcon/NakedSword family.”
Connor and Dimarco have since formed something of a mutual admiration society. An initial phone query about joining “Ride or Die” stretched into an hour-long conversation about the project’s overall themes and aesthetic; Connor was hooked.
“You know with Tony and Raging Stallion they’re going to make you look good,” the performer said. “Whatever they release, I always know people are going to eat it up.”
Although he has a background in theater from his younger years, Connor admits to being intimidated by the breadth of his role. “I’m a warden who’s a real piece of shit. I’m in a mountain of debt. I pimp out my prisoners for my own sexual satisfaction,” he said. “My stepson hates me; he has a lot going on. It all builds to the final episode.”
Dimarco and co-writer Rush gave Connor the room to improvise and reshape the dialogue as long as he stayed true to the scene’s original intention and emotional temperature.
That kind of artistic freedom allowed Connor to really relax and dig into creating a sadistic character for the audience to root against and — this shouldn’t be a spoiler to anyone who has watched a porn feature — receive his comeuppance.
“It was really fun working with them like that. I felt confident that I could find the character and do a good job,” Connor added.
“I love working with Tony. His shoots are usually longer than most, but he pays attention to detail,” he said. “He’s getting all the angles, all the coverage. That’s why his movies always look so good. He really makes sure we’re not leaving anything on the table. He gives you a lot of movie. Sometimes a director will get in the editing room and think, ‘Oh, I wish I’d captured that one thing.’ I don’t think that happens with Tony.”
Connor described a hectic two days during production that involved filming a full sex scene, moving right into a day of nonsex acting and then immediately jumping into the car to make a pre-sunset evening call in the desert outside Las Vegas where his character is ravished over the hood of a sports car by multiple men.
“I was really tired,” he recalled with a laugh. “That’s a lot of work. And getting fucked on the hood of a car is not always the most comfortable thing, but we were working really fast to try and capture that light. I just remember seeing the horizon and thinking about how incredible it would look when it all came together. You can see what Tony is doing; it’s really exciting.”
“All the directors at Falcon/NakedSword are stepping it up,” Connor noted. “Have you seen ‘Get.Away.’ by Marc MacNamara? I’m not in that one, but holy shit, it’s so cinematic. And the next thing I’m filming is ‘Scrum 2’ with a big orgy scene, which doesn’t happen a lot anymore because it’s too complicated and expensive. So I’m getting to revisit my first job for Raging Stallion. It’s pretty awesome.”
The production crew for “Ride or Die” included production designer Billy Wilder, cinematographer Sal Genoa, key art and unit photographer Trenton Ducati and composer Jesse Holt from Remixlab, who created an original score.
Dimarco also praised the “unparalleled editing team” at Falcon/NakedSword.
“We were very lucky to have Billy as our lead grip and production designer,” he said. “Billy has been with the company for many years and has excelled at creating very specific, standout sets for my films. I brought my ideas to Billy, essentially asking him to create an entire prison on a soundstage and he made it happen. It’s a beautiful set that really captures the tone and color palette of the whole series.”
“Trenton and I worked closely together to come up with the looks for the photos. He has become an exceptional photographer, and we have a special working relationship. We vibe off each other very well,” Dimarco added. “We’d talk about concepts, explore examples and then come up with an efficient plan of attack. Trenton’s photography is spot-on for this film; I couldn’t be happier with his work.”
Dimarco hadn’t worked with veteran cameraman Genoa before “Ride or Die.”
“Sal and I discussed the series for several months prior to shooting, so when it came time for the cameras to roll, we were very much in sync. Two Italians from Jersey? By the end of production, we were finishing each other’s sentences. Sal not only helped make this project shine, he brought it to a whole new level,” the director said.
Holt from Remixlab first began scoring for Dimarco nearly a decade ago, starting with Raging Stallion’s “Behind the Big Top” in 2013 and continuing through such recent, aurally distinctive titles as “Route 69,” “Beach Rats” and “Califuckinfornia.”
“Jesse understands such a wide range of musical styles; he can create music for very diverse themes,” Dimarco enthused. “We have a unique creative partnership that includes discussing ideas and direction early on and then he goes off and does his magic.”
He noted that “Ride or Die” was “especially fun” because, in addition to Holt composing the score, the pair created two original tracks for the series. A rap song, “Ride on It,” is performed by Andre Donovan, who also wrote the lyrics.
They also created a “Seattle-style grunge track” titled “This is Justice” to bookend the series.
“From the pre- and post-production crews to the performers and the creative team, many people put their all into ‘Ride or Die’ and it’s evident in every second of every episode,” said Dimarco.
Despite the many moving parts involved throughout a yearlong process — “I’m not going to lie, this was grueling,” the director admitted — Dimarco fully enjoyed immersing himself in the details.
He particularly enjoyed shooting full prison scenes with the cast in wardrobe and mixing with “some very patient extras.”
“It felt like the months of planning were finally coming together. To see it take shape before my eyes was such a creative high,” Dimarco recalled. “Having everyone on the set so fully immersed in their roles also felt special. The guys even broke out into a full-on prison musical number for levity, which I shot as a surprise bonus for fans.”
Dimarco reflected on his decade-plus journey crafting such detailed productions. In the past, someone else was inevitably steering the ship and the effort and responsibilities were spread around, with other people handling budgeting, logistics, casting and troubleshooting.
“Over time, I’ve grown a lot as a director and my instincts are strong. I know what I want and the vision is my own,” he said. “The flip side as the sole director is that I have so many parts of the production under my purview that I have to be simultaneously wearing creative and producing hats.”
Pre-shoot details include securing locations and studio space, talking to models, coordinating schedules and hyping the project to the entire creative team.
“There is so much coordination that happens before I even step onto a set,” he said. “It feels like a lot more work, but when the film is finished and viewers respond favorably to it, there is no greater level of satisfaction. I’ve always loved working on big-budget features; I get to shoot at some stellar locations and film more intricate narratives. I like a meaty story. Sure, it’s great to shoot hot guys fucking, don’t get me wrong! But it’s even more fulfilling to see the result as a finished, story-driven film. Seeing it all come together is pure magic.”
Image: Cole Connor, RagingStallion.com.
