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Answer: Thank you so much for asking to interview me. Looking at your previous interviewees I’m honoured to be included in such distinguished company. I was and remain a huge fan of Sting pictures. I should thank the Royal Mail for giving me the opportunity to meet Rich and Rob about eight years ago. Twice I had ordered large consignments of DVDs from Sting and twice the Royal Mail failed to deliver them. Rich offered to hand over the DVDs in person. We met, had coffee, got talking, discovered our mutual passion for film and soon Rich and I became firm friends. Some time afterwards Rich and Rob needed an extra pair of hands on the set for a shoot featuring Vex and David and asked me to help. I brought along my camera and took some stills. Next Rich and Rob asked me to join them on a Royale Tribute photoshoot. Gradually, I became the regular set photographer at Sting shoots.
What always struck me on the Sting set, in addition to Rich and Rob’s total professionalism and commitment to the highest quality film making, was the sense of fun. With the likes of Tigger, David, Matt Mills and Barry bouncing around the studio, the laughter was continuous. I decided to set up an independent fansite. Rather than a site about the studio, I thought it would be more fun to run a site dedicated to the lads. Rich and Rob generously opened their treasure trove of old stills for the site and have been tremendously supportive from day one. Five and a half years and close to ten thousand pictures posted, Stinglads is still going strong.
Answer: As a life-long film buff I had always dreamt of making my own films. I learned a huge amount about filmmaking on the Sting set. Rich always encouraged me as a photographer. On one of my many visits to Prague, Rich handed me one of his old video cameras and suggested I should think about doing some filming when I got back to London. On my return, Barry and I met to talk about doing some filming ourselves.
45 minutes later we had shot the first two scenes of Bad Week for Barry.
Answer: A bit of both, to be honest. I’ve always loved low budget independent film such as John Waters’ early work. Sting’s films are in the classic Hollywood tradition. Lighting, sound, camerawork, sets, costumes, editing and post production are all done to the highest professional standards. There is simply no way that I could make films to their high technical standards. What we do have here in London are cheeky streetwise lads and some great locations. I try to make films that are of the time and place. We have shot in the street, in offices at lunchtime or at the weekend, in flats when the missus is out, on an empty building site, anywhere we can find. We need to get in and out as fast as we can which, I hope, adds to the energy in the scene. This can lead to hilarious results like during the filming of Tea Leaves Scene One when the plumbers turned up in the middle of the shoot. Everyone just carried on with the job in hand! There is always a trade off between having enough kit to control lighting etc and having enough hands to set everything up (and make a hasty exit if needed!).
Answer:All of the actors in my films have been brought along by their mates, brothers or boyfriends who had worked with me before. The shoots are fun, the lads have real input into the storylines, they make a few bob as an appearance fee and we have a pint afterwards. Still, we all greatly miss Clublads who unearthed one superstar after another.
Answer:It’s all been a bit tumultuous since setting the studio up last week. The ten clips make up the whole top ten in the Spanking m/m chart at clips4sale, but even more extraordinary is that In Their Own Words Part 3 is at number 16 in the overall clips4sale top 50 and In Their Own Words Part 2 is at number 25. I’m really pleased that so many aficionados seem to enjoy the work. I hope to update the site with new material on a regular basis but, to be honest, all my energy has been focused on getting it set up so I haven’t thought much about the future.
Answer:Leaving the nest is always scary! Rich first suggested setting up my own studio before the release of Gotta Get Paid.
Putting together ten individual new clips was a challenge. It meant that some old scenes were dusted off. In the past, Rich had always tidied up my editing while Rob worked magic with the sound and did fantastic credits. They offered to help out again but I decided it was time for me to stand properly on my own two feet. Dealing with clips4sale has been very straightforward although they turned the site on while I was still working on GIFs and trailers completely catching me on the hop! It has been stressful but enjoyable.
Answer:It’s likely that most of my work will continue to be modern and urban as that’s what I enjoy making. The In Their Own Words series is different, with the lads speaking straight to camera, unscripted, describing being on the receiving end.
Answer:I’ve really enjoyed everything so far. Bad Week for Barry will always have a special place, as the first. Community Service with multiple actors and interlocking storylines felt like a great achievement. It Still Happens, especially the scene with Rich O’Shea playing completely against type as an abusive Dad, is when I first felt like a proper filmmaker. In Gotta Get Paid, I started to let the actors go for it – Jay Faith’s scene with Barry stands out for its raw energy. In Tea Leaves I’ve had five actors in a scene at once, night scenes and outdoor scenes so again it feels like I’m developing as a filmmaker. In Their Own Words is a completely new direction for me – I’m pleased to see that it has been well received and gives me confidence to try new ideas in the future.
Answer: We’ve started shooting our most ambitious urban story yet with scenes filmed outdoors in an abandoned housing estate. Clips4sale lends itself to episodic serial type stories so the spanking version of The Wire might be on the cards! I hope to do a series called What If? imagining what might happen if corporal punishment was reintroduced. And there will be more of the In Their Own Words series.
Answer: I’ve had an interest in spanking as long as I can remember. Certainly well before puberty.
Answer : The aesthetics of spanking has always been the most important part for me. I love the sight of a beautiful backside turned rosy red. In terms of the films, it’s important that the scenes are realistic in that they either do happen, as in It Still Happens, or it could just happen, in terms of the urban stories.
Answer: Hmmmm, that’s a really good question. There is little doubt that comics, magazines, films and TV of the Seventies have all made an impact on me. I saw work by the Children’s Film Foundation every week at the ABC Minors. The Seventies was a very interesting time to grow up. We were not brought up to be deferential – quite the reverse, we were encouraged to challenge authority, especially unjust authority. Having said that, corporal punishment was still alive and well not just in the media but in schools and at home so there we all knew that actions had consequences.
Answer:Yes. Lots! As I said above I’d like to do the What If? series, with CP re-introduced to 21st Century London. I’d also love to re-make Francois Truffaut’s brilliant 1959 film Les Quatres Cents Coups except this time Antoine and his friends get their backsides tanned every time they deserve it!
Answer:Absolutely. Humour and terror are very close to one another and I think both have a definite place in spanking films. Some of the most scary experiences at school were also very funny, in retrospect.
Answer: Not in my work. I don’t set out to humiliate my actors or the characters they play. For me, that’s where punishment begins to shade into abuse. I’m not against other people doing it or being into it. It just doesn’t float my boat.
Answer: I think it’s fantastic that there are so many good quality spanking producers out there. Man’s Hand would have been the first I came across back in my youth. It was really exciting to discover that somebody was producing stuff I wanted to see. Seeing Sting for the first time was like seeing the work of Jean-Daniel Cadinot for the first time – adult movies as serious art. I have always enjoyed Get Your Trousers Down and the Magic Spanking Factory – good fun and seriously sexy. I was pleased to see Brett Stevens get into making films. I’d love to see more of the lads get behind the camera. I seriously admire everyone who has the courage and tenacity to make films and put them out there for other people’s viewing pleasure. Frankly, most producers are lucky to cover their own costs never mind get any sort of worthwhile payment for the time and effort they put in so good luck to everyone.
Answer:Perhaps as part of What If? All of my films are sent in the present time so that’s a bit of a barrier. Also, school scenes require costumes and sets to be realistic. Sting does these so well I’m reluctant to even dip my toe in that water. On the other hand, there is always the possibility of a collaboration with Sting in the future so never say never.
Answer: From about eight
Answer: We didn’t call is spanking but every boy I went to school with received corporal punishment at some point
Answer: Not likely, to be honest.
Answer: All of the above!
Answer: David has done a little solo work as have Barry and Damien. I’m not aware that any of the other actors have done porn.
Answer: You know, there are other ways to make money. Having said that, most of the lads seem to enjoy getting to act on camera most, especially when there is an urban storyline they can relate to.
Answer: Yes, although Barry HATES getting spanked. He loves acting, filming and directing. He has written all the music for the films. He wants to stop getting his ass spanked but recognises that he has too big a fanbase out there to retire just yet.
Answer: Yes please. Although I’m not interested in doing period or costume drama, nor have I got big budgets or a studio to build sets in but with those provisos in mind all suggestions are welcome.
Not really. I’d just like to thank all the lads and everyone I’ve had the pleasure to work with either in person or online and I’d especially like to thank Jockspank for your great work on behalf of the community. If there was a spanking New Year’s Honours list you certainly deserve to be recognised. I’d encourage everyone in the community to be positive and supportive of one another; it’s a small community and we should be seeking to encourage one another whenever possible.
Its South side and Street wise with the latest video, directed by Dr. Skelpz- renowned for his close to the edge style productions set in South London ……
There is a link to the Sting Pictures Tittle 2257 proof of age / Record keeping declaration in the right hand column of this blog
