I felt something brush against my legs. I glanced down. Sh*t! You’re not supposed to look, I reminded myself. Clearly, this was more difficult than I expected. There was quite a lot to think about.

What's it like to film a porn

What had brushed against me was a cameraman pushing his camera between my legs and I was filming a porn movie. How did I get here? Well, it all started with an email from Mike*, the managing director of Pantheon Productions, a porn company based in San Francisco.

Hi Greg,
We were wondering if you would like to be a model for one of our movies. We don’t usually fly people over from Europe, but in your case we’d be willing to make an exception. Please get back to us if you’d be interested.

Apparently one of my clients had written to them, saying they should check me out. I didn’t know whether to be flattered or insulted, but I opted for the former.

I can safely say that up until then I’d never really considered doing porn. Back in the first few years of this century, it was much more taboo than it is now when seemingly every top, dick and bumhole is clamouring to get in on the act. True, I was an escort, which was already pretty taboo, but it was possible to keep that secret. Once you did porn it was out there for all to see. Nowhere to hide. Some of my friends were dead against it. I wasn’t even sure myself, but Mike was persistent, both via email and phone calls, and eventually wore me down with his reassurances and offering me three scenes (which in effect tripled my fee) as well as my flights and accommodation. Admittedly, the money wasn’t that great, but it was a darn sight more than what porn companies pay these days. Also, I’d never been to San Francisco. It seemed too good a chance to miss. Still, I had no idea if I’d be able to do it, so it was with some trepidation that I boarded my plane to San Francisco a few weeks later.

The morning after my arrival, I went down to the lobby from my hotel room to find Mike, a handsome young guy (much younger than I expected) waiting in the lobby. He had suggested that he ease me in with a solo scene. That meant there would be no crew. Just him and me and a camera. It wouldn’t be much different from any of the stills shoots I’d done; only this time he’d be using a video camera. Solo shoots are different. You are allowed to look at the camera, make the person watching feel that you are getting off just for them. Mike had, shall we say, a hands-on approach to his work, which was very helpful, and at one point I suggested that he also remove his clothes as I would find that quite horny. He obligingly did as I asked. It didn’t take too long and that first scene was wrapped in a couple of hours, after which Mike dropped me back at my hotel. The next day was to be my first real time having sex on camera.

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day I remember. I was collected by another employee of the company who drove me to the studio. When I got there, there were half a dozen guys, preparing the set and rigging up cameras and lighting. My co-star, Josh Edwards was there too. I’d seen pics of him of course, but he was more attractive in real life and I liked his tattoos and, especially, his pierced dick. (This was before I had my own Prince Albert.) One of the crew gave me a cup of coffee and Josh and I went out onto the fire escape to get better acquainted. So far it was just like any other film set I’d been on. Josh and I chatted away until I was pulled away from Josh to go and film a short interview that was to be included as an extra at the end of the DVD (well these Americans are a sucker for an English accent, after all). After that filming was to start in earnest.

This scene was to be part of the studio’s Daddy Hunt series. The set-up was for me, the rich older daddy, to be driving round San Francisco in my 4×4 and pick up young Josh as he was walking around. My nerves got the better of me at the beginning resulting in me almost crashing the car when I went round a corner and ended up on the wrong side of the road (well I had just arrived from the UK). Miraculously we got back to the studio unscathed and now it was time for action.

We were filming in the company’s studio, which was made to look like my expensive pad. Mike took a few stills of us both before we started to film the scene. Basically, we were asked to make out, remove each other’s clothes and get down to business. The cameras would follow us. The main direction was to avoid looking directly at the camera, not, as I’ve already indicated, as easy as it might seem, especially when you have a cameraman between your legs while you’re f**king your partner, another one standing astride him and pointing the camera directly on your face; or when the camera pushes in between you to get the best shot possible of your c**k penetrating his butt. That’s when you have to lean back a bit to give him better access. I admit that I was actually getting off on it all. Well, why would you do it if you didn’t? Even so, focus could be a problem. Once things really heated up, our director preferred to just go with the flow and keep the cameras rolling, rather than stop and start too many times. (I’ve worked with directors who do that, and, believe me, it’s a nightmare. All a bit too much up and down, if you get my drift.) But there were other directions too, like being asked to move a leg slightly to one side so that it didn’t block the camera, or change your arm position. Considering a lapse in focus and concentration can result in a loss of momentum, for which read blood flow, then it’s a lot more difficult than you might expect.

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We stopped for a break before going for the climax, which had to be filmed in two stages (mine and his), and then that was a wrap. We had several hours of film that would eventually be edited down to about 20 minutes, and that was my first proper porn movie. What struck me more than anything was the extreme professionalism of all on the set. There had in fact been no difference between filming this and any other film. Everything had been thought out in advance. They even had a storyboard. I’d love to be able to tell you how horny it is, how the crew get involved, how people stand around with their cocks out, getting turned on and carried away with the action, but it simply isn’t true. Just as on any other film, the crew are concentrating on sound and lighting and getting the best shot.

Filming over, I was returned to my hotel. I had a couple of days off before my next scene, which would be a leather scene with Marco Van for their Real Men series. This was filmed at a different location, a flat, which had a four-poster bed which they had rented for the session. There was no pre-scene set up. This was just two leather guys getting it on. Other than that, things went much as before.

All told my first experience of doing porn was a very positive one. Everything had been done to make it as easy as possible for me. The people I worked with were all great, all very relaxed and all very professional. I did a few more movies after that, most of them over here, but nothing was as good as that first experience, except perhaps when I returned to the US to do a stills shoot with Tom Bianchi and another shoot with the guys at Pantheon, which also turned out to be my last. I enjoyed working with them so much that I decided to end on a high. That and the fact that fees for doing porn were dropping dramatically. It just didn’t seem worth it anymore somehow, but I’m certainly glad I did it. One more thing to add to the bucket list.

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* Name changed

About the author: Greg Mitchell

"Greg Mitchell has lived in central London for over 20 years and has somehow managed to avoid the rat race by adapting himself to a variety of different jobs. Actor, singer, dancer - chauffeur, delivery driver, sales assistant - pornstar, escort, gogo daddy - and now tantric masseur and writer. You name it, he's done it."

You can read more of Greg at: www.thegregmitchell.blogspot.com