The nascent all-male label Disruptive Films launched last fall amid celebratory fanfare, with a splashy debut feature film and a notable array of behind-the-scenes talent, including label co-founder Bree Mills and the creative team from Next Door Studios, among them Walden Woods, Conrad Parker and Big Mike.
That debut feature, an erotic mystery packed with A-listers, went on to win Gay Movie of the Year at the 2022 XBIZ Awards, while scene-stealing cast member Michael Boston snagged Gay Performer of the Year.
One thing I love about Disruptive is we’re able to ask our casts, ‘What do you think your character would do in this situation? What do you think this other character would do with you?’ We try to cast performers who want to be included in those conversations.
Since then, Disruptive has lived up to its name with a handful of imprints — Taboo Men, True Male, Deep Inside and its line of original features — that explore a variety of kinks and fetishes, as well as emotionally driven storylines in the mystery and romance genres, all with a distinctly cinematic flair.
Disruptive’s notable attention to detail carries straight through from preproduction all the way to the specific fonts used to promote the content on the front page of the label’s website. Jessica Jasmin, who is set to take over the day-to-day operations of Disruptive from Mills, spoke exclusively to XBIZ ahead of the studio’s one-year anniversary.
ADAMS: Your first year passed in the blink of an eye.
JASMIN: It’s been really amazing to see it grow so quickly. We had big expectations. We put our passion and creativity together and to see it work out, and to have fans commenting on the scenes and becoming invested in the characters is just so amazing to see.
ADAMS: There aren’t many new gay studios coming along these days, particularly those that are storyline-driven.
JASMIN: That’s something we specifically wanted to do. It all starts with Bree and our partners at Alpha Studio Group, which is the team behind Next Door Studios, Pride Studios and Active Duty. Bree wanted to tell stories from a gay perspective, with authenticity. In our writers room, we take inspiration from a news story, for example, and try to build characters that are relatable. You may not agree with some of their decisions, but hopefully it feels like it’s coming from an authentic place.
ADAMS: I notice you’ve put more than a few social media influencers through their paces, like Dakota Payne’s character in “Take Him, Not Me.”
JASMIN: That’s our reality right now, isn’t it? I see that feature as a cautionary tale. You’re putting your life out there on social media so much, exposing everything, and sooner or later, somebody’s going to want more. They’re going to have all the information they need to break in and threaten you. This really happens! Hopefully, our fans feel more invested in the characters when anything bad happens.
ADAMS: I admire that the ending is a bit dark.
JASMIN: It has a little bit more of a punch, I think.
ADAMS: How closely do you work with your performers on these storylines?
JASMIN: We have such great actors. We involve them as much as they want.
ADAMS: When I spoke to Bree last year about “The Last Course,” she said she really wanted to give some of these guys a chance to show what else they can do, like the lead in that film, Johnny Ford.
JASMIN: Yes. With our casting, we tell these guys, “You’re not a porn star here. You are this character. What would he do in this situation?”
ADAMS: “The House Sitter” is another good example, I think. Kyle Connors got to create a memorably creepy character in that one. And he still has real chemistry with Dillon Diaz in the scene, or at least it feels that way.
JASMIN: He is one of my favorite discoveries. I saw him in the first episode of “Organ Donor” and immediately called the casting team and said, “You have to bring him back for something.” And so we cast him in “House Sitter.” Michael Vegas directed that. Michael called us afterwards and said, “He creeped us out, but in a really good way.” Jayden Marcos is another one. He’s only done a couple of things for us, so far. But he stays in character straight through the filming. It’s pretty great to watch. He’s a beautiful guy of course, and also a really good actor.
ADAMS: So often the acting stops when the sex starts.
JASMIN: One thing I love about Disruptive is we're able to ask our casts, “What do you think your character would do in this situation? What do you think this other character would do with you?” We try to cast performers who want to be included in those conversations.
ADAMS: That’s important because your Taboo Men line explores fetishes like coercion and humiliation. The “Virgin No More” stories, for example. Those have extra punch because the sex is so hot, but Dale Savage is still playing an older man who manipulates younger men into giving up their virginity.
JASMIN: I’m really proud of everyone’s work on “Virgin No More.” Again, that came from our writers room. I think we’ve all had that situation of trusting the wrong person. Dale is so good. He couldn’t be nicer in real life.
ADAMS: We should tell people at this point that Disruptive doesn’t just deal in dark storylines.
JASMIN: No, no, we also look for uplifting storylines with a gay perspective, too. There’s one coming up, directed by Bree, about a gay man who is married to a woman. She finds out about it and helps him with his first gay relationship. It’s very sweet. We care a lot about the sex, of course, but these are also good acting roles. And then there’s the weirder stuff.
ADAMS: Right, you have sci-fi storylines.
JASMIN: Yes, those are typically for Deep Inside, like “The Creepery” with Roman Todd and Scott Finn, which is science fiction. And others take place inside more of a superhero universe where things that are out of this world happen.
ADAMS: Switching gears, how did you become involved with Disruptive?
JASMIN: I have been in the background of Gamma Entertainment for about eight years. I was a designer on Girlsway; I helped launch Pure Taboo. I’ve always liked working with Bree and was just a big fan of hers. And somehow she came up with this idea and said, “I’m going to launch this studio and I’d like to run it with you. Let’s do this!” And I accepted the challenge!
ADAMS: You sure did.
JASMIN: And now I find myself with a design team, as well as a marketing team. It’s really about the team from Alpha Studios Group. They are the filmmaking side of Disruptive. I am involved in everything you’re asking me about, but it’s Conrad Parker and Walden Woods and Big Mike who do the heavy work. We produce Disruptive together. We also have some independent producers, like Michael Vegas and mr. Pam.
ADAMS: One of the things I’ve noticed about Disruptive is a fairly cohesive artistic vision. The footage is very cinematic, for example.
JASMIN: That’s one thing we ask ourselves: Would this work as a submission in a short film festival, for example, if we removed the sex?
ADAMS: Maybe it’s because I’m a design geek, but I like how the fonts on your title cards, for example, each have their own flair and their own color scheme.
JASMIN: I’m so glad you saw that. One thing I do is have the writer, often it’s Taylor Saracen, give our design team key ideas about the scene. She tells them and then off they go. It’s all very streamlined and funnels back to the content itself. We want to have great storylines and actors, we want to have high-quality production. I think it’s even exciting for our production team. They’ve spent, you know, 10 years filming two guys going into a hotel room and having sex, and that’s it. But now they can be more creative and be proud of their work. It’s a lot of effort. Sometimes it takes much, much longer to edit and put everything together properly. But hopefully everyone involved feels like they produced something they can feel good about. It really is a group effort to make Disruptive look like it does.
ADAMS: Okay, I have to ask: Will there be a sequel to “The Last Course” or no?
JASMIN: Nope, I don’t think so.
ADAMS: But you leave it open-ended! It’s a cliffhanger.
JASMIN: Exactly. We leave you wanting more. That’s what we wanted to do. We want you to ask, “Well, what happened to this character? Did he escape? Did he fall in love?” It’s definitely open-ended. Maybe someday.
ADAMS: Do you mean that?
JASMIN: Not really [laughs]. We want to move forward. We are really excited about year two and year three. Michael Vegas is directing a new full-length feature in Los Angeles soon; I will be there for it, so that’s pretty exciting. We’re all very proud of what we’ve created together.
Image: DisruptiveFilms.com
