By Peter Berton

MONTREAL – Filmmaker Nica Noelle knows how to create porn, be it straight, lesbian, gay, trans or whatever other niche strikes her fancy. Right now, she is generating media buzz with Mile High Media, jointly launching a new gay studio called Icon Male.

Noelle’s work dispels the myth that directors must share performers’ gender and/or sexual orientation to make good content for a market. YNOT.com caught up with her recently, to gain insight into what makes her tick.

YNOT: You’ve had a fairly diverse career.

Nica Noelle: My career in adult video began when Girlfriends Films hired me to take what was then a very niche lesbian studio and bring it to the forefront of mainstream porn.

After I accomplished that goal, I moved on to create my own studio lines with Jon Blitt of Mile High Media. Together we created all-girl Sweetheart Video, couples- and straight-oriented Sweet Sinner and Sweet Sinema, which produces classic film remakes. Those studios set off the “couples porn” trend in adult film.

I wanted to expand my horizons a bit, so I created a transsexual studio and a gay studio with AEBN, and both of them were successful. But recently, Mile High and I decided to join forces again so I can pursue my new artistic direction. We’ve always been a great team, and I’m happiest when I’m working with Jon Blitt and the Mile High Media family.

You’re working with Mile High to launch the Icon Male gay video line. What is it all about?

Icon Male follows the Mile High formula of putting ordinary people in extraordinary situations and watching them struggle with some kind of forbidden sexual desire or conflict. I guess you could say it’s realistic romance porn for the gay audience — and for those who appreciate gay erotica, because many women love gay porn, too.

It seems counter-intuitive for a woman to be spearheading a gay video line. What’s the attraction for you in producing this content? What do you bring to it?

I’ve always wanted to tell men’s stories. For me, male erotica is the most interesting because the characters don’t have to fall into these pre-determined, precise gender roles with each other. In straight porn, everyone defaults to an archetype, or even a stereotype. But with gay porn, I can make the characters and storylines far more nuanced.

Also, my personal fetish is men’s fashion. I love men’s clothes and I love to dress guys, especially in classic or period costumes. I have very little interest in women’s fashion, so that adds another layer or texture to it for me. Not to mention I find watching two men together incredibly hot. Aesthetically, it’s just so beautiful to me.

What niche will Icon Male fill in the market? What will make the brand special?

I wanted to do gay porn mostly for my own artistic pleasure, but I also saw a niche in the market that needed to be filled. The conventional wisdom was that men who watch gay porn prefer to see very “wham-bam” sex, very impersonal and “cut to the chase,” with no emotional content.

That never sounded right to me, and it’s turned out not to be true at all. Gay porn fans appreciate emotion and seduction and storyline every bit as much as straight fans do. Secondly, there are a lot of women, including lesbians, who prefer to watch gay porn, and there wasn’t much out there for them.

I feel like this is a very exciting time in gay porn, because the genre is really exploding and so many fans are coming out of the closet, if you’ll pardon the expression.

Your first release is due this month. What is it about?

One of our first releases is Forgive Me Father, which is technically a vignette series but also works as a feature. We follow four men as they each go to church and confess their sexual transgressions to a priest. As they confess, we revisit their sinful acts with them.

I really like putting religious themes in porn because I grew up very Catholic. According to neurologists, sex and religion are very closely related in the brain.

What are your plans beyond the first release?

We’ve already shot eight movies, and the fans and performers are all so excited. Morale is very high, so hopefully we’re just going to keep growing as a studio.

I want to do some period pieces, and now that I’m filming on the east coast I can utilize the beautiful New England landscape and hopefully shoot some amazing outdoor scenes. I also want to do a couples series, where I film real-life couples having sex.

Gay porn is where I feel most inspired right now, so my ideas are endless.

How will you make sure Icon Male gets noticed in the adult video market?

I think consumers always respond to quality work and sincere passion on the part of the filmmaker. If the director has an appreciation for the sex they are shooting and gives their all to every title, even if they don’t have a big budget to work with or as much time as they might like, their passion shows in the final product.

Fans notice and appreciate the little details, and they tend to be very loyal, so I would say earning the viewer’s trust is essential to keeping a loyal fan base. Fans should feel confident that if they pay their hard-earned cash for one of our films, it’s going to be a quality effort every time.

Icon Male will have a membership site launching in conjunction with the studio’s releases. We are working with Gamma Entertainment for the site launch, and I know they are working on it as we speak. Gamma is such an established and reputable company, I know Icon Male’s website is in good hands. Affiliates will be well taken care of.