The Production of Misty Mundae

by Bruce G. Hallenbeck

It's been quite a year for Seduction Cinema's favorite girl next door, Misty Mundae. First, she starred as the butt-kicking action heroine of MISTY MUNDAE MUMMY RAIDER. Then she took over the old Charlton Heston role in PLAY MATE OF THE APES. She "came of age" in THE SEDUCTION OF MISTY MUNDAE, and now, she's writing and directing her own feature for Seduction Cinema, CONFESSIONS OF A NATURAL GIRL.

This is all heady stuff for a 22-year-old. But then, Misty's a 22-year-old who is already a veteran of 35 movies. Still, making the next step to being the auteur of her own project is quite a responsibility. How did this all come about?

"You know what, I don't know," Misty said with a laugh. "I'm not sure how I got pegged with this responsibility. A friend of mine from London who was making a documentary on myself and all the Factory 2000 people has got a five-year working visa in America now, and he's working on the Seduction Cinema team. He and I had already talked about co-writing something, so we were collaborating on all these ideas that we wanted to write and direct together. And then (Seduction Cinema producer) Michael Beck said, I'll give you this budget for a quick shoot. You write it, and if we like it, you direct it. So we said, 'Okay. Fair enough.' Mike actually came up with the synopsis and I expanded upon it from there. And we're shooting Day One tomorrow."

Ultimately, Misty's script differed a great deal from Beck's original idea. "Actually," Misty said, "I had to completely alter it. I think the whole intention was, let's get a female perspective, or at least a new perspective on the same old material. The idea itself is not entirely original, not like I'm knocking it or anything. The concept is used a lot because it's something that works, it's something that sells. So in that sense it's pretty typical of what a normal Seduction Cinema feature would be. I'm just trying to put a little spin on it. I think a lot of the time screenwiters' dialogue is--I wouldn't say unrealistic, because it's all fantasy and I recognize that--but I wanted to portray the normal ways that Darian (Caine) and Ruby (LaRocca) and I would speak to each other, interact with each other. I wanted to emphasize that. Like how girlfriends interact with each other; the things we say to each other, the things we do to each other when we're hanging out, although it may not turn out to be that quintessential male fantasy. But in another sense, I think it could be, because it is so realistic. It's the way things like this really do transpire."

According to Misty, CONFESSIONS is only a tentative title: "Since I've pretty much changed around the script, we're thinking about giving it a different title. I'm not sure what yet. But the whole philosophy behind it was that we felt that despite the fact that we're not like the generic blonde-haired, breast-augmented actresses that you might see in adult cinema--and a lot of times we feel that we lose work because of that--that it works both ways, because a lot of people respect the fact that we are exactly what we are. We don't need excessive makeup or plastic surgery. We can more than make up for that with our natural beauty and our talent. So our movie emphasizes that, despite the fact that we might not be most people's idea of what an adult entertainer would be. I'm not saying I'm above it. I'm just saying that we're different and a lot of people respect us for it. "

The movie started out as a series of interviews with the three stars: Misty, Darian and Ruby. "Originally, it was an interview movie," Misty continued, "but then I decided that it could begin that way and then go into a little fictional piece. Mike wanted to see an interview piece, which I think is cool, because a lot of the time...well, it was just good to write my own interview, you know what I mean? It's not that I know exactly what I'm going to say, but I get to talk about things that a lot of interviewers don't bring up. Originally, since this project is stressing "natural girls", the idea was for us to talk about our bodies and our breasts and our pubic hair. And I was like, no, no, no, no. If you ask me these questions about my attributes, then I want to initially talk about my passion for making films. Despite the fact that I have natural breasts or a natural body, my most inspiring attribute would be that I like acting. I like becoming different characters. I like being challenged. So it's great that in this movie, I get to plot out my interview and pick my own brain and answer the questions accordingly."

And what is a first-time director doing to prepare for the shoot? "Staying up all night," Misty replied, "chain-smoking and making my shot list. I feel like I've been on the sets of enough movies that I generally know how it needs to go. I'm pretty unfamiliar with the technical jargon, like what's going to make a film cut and things like that, so I'm not necessarily into directing the photography. I just want to direct the actors. And because I know them on a personal level, I think in that sense it's easier for me. I know what they're good at and I know what they can pull off. I think I know how to make their real personalities come through more than an experienced director might. We're more or less playing ourselves."

Misty isn't sure if she wants to direct on a regular basis, at least not yet: "I don't know. At this point, it's a lot of preparation so far and I haven't even started my first day of shooting, so it's only going to get harder from now on. When I'm on the set as an actress, I'm normally pretty grateful that when they call cut, I get to go sit on my ass and smoke a cigarette or go for a walk for like an hour while they discuss what they're going to shoot next. At that point, I'm really grateful that I'm not directing or part of the crew. That's like constant work. Acting is draining enough as it is...it always seems from my perspective that the crew constantly works. Now that I'm on that end of it, I think that the fun you have writing it and being on the creative end more than makes up for the fact that it's more work. I'm definitely having a good time so far just in writing it and working with people that I like."

Misty wants to add a number of her own creative touches to this project as well. "I have little pipedreams," she noted, "that aren't entirely significant to the plot, but little things that would add so much. But they may be slightly over-ambitious. The film itself is a little straightforward scenario about three girlfriends. But I have ideas for fantasy scenarios that they have in their heads from time to time. Some of these would be an entire extra day of shooting, although in the end it would probably only add up to about 60 seconds of the film. The main thing would be the set dressing and preparation of props and setting up for like, literally, five seconds of footage. It's not that it's going to make or break the film. But because it is my first chance to direct...I probably really have to bite the bullet and just shoot the scenes I have to shoot first. And then, there's no reason why I couldn't shoot an extra day, even if it doesn't turn up in the film. At least I tried to shoot what was in my head. I have some good ideas in my head, and whether or not I can execute them I don't know, but I want to at least try."

And having been around so many film sets, Misty related one dark, secret fantasy she's always harbored: "Now I get to tell everybody to shut up!"

Misty Mundae
Alternative Cinema
Seduction Cinema
Factory 2000

From The Set