Porn Valley – Michael Raven – www.michaelraven.com – was a guest of Sports Swami this past Friday. Swami, who describes Raven as the Steven Spielberg of the adult industry, had his chat with Raven during the January AEE show. Describing his relationship with Wicked Pictures, Raven said Wicked’s been good to him since he climbed aboard.
“We put a deal together last April that allows me to shoot 8 pictures a year. We’ve just renewed the deal for next year. So I’m not among the ranks of the unemployed at least for another 12 months,” Raven quipped.
It was noted that Raven was responsible for getting such performers as Jessica Drake, Julia Ann, Sydney Steele and Nakita Kash into the business. Asked how he can balance friendship with professionalism, Raven said it was simple. “Friends are friends. I met Jessica Drake in a strip club in El Paso, Texas about 3 1/2-4 years ago. She gave some pictures to me. She came to Los Angeles a week later and the rest is history. She’s Jessica Drake. Of course, Sydney, I was married to her at the time. That made it a little easier to maintain professionalism. But they’re both differentthings. Models are models. Girlfriends are girlfriends.”
Raven was asked what it takes to make a great movie. “I think it takes stunning visuals and hot sex,” he replied. “As far as the sex is concerned, I think from the time you shoot it you know it’s going to be hot because you can feel the energy. If you feel it, it’s going to be good. If you keep looking at your watch wondering if it’s over then it’s not going to be good. That’s probably the biggest way to tell.”
With the accolades he’s received via awards and in the press, Raven was asked how he keeps from becoming “a bloated, egotistical maniac.” Raven said some people might call him that. “I am who I am. I don’t strive to be anything else. I like to make movies. I have fun. I don’t think I’m necessarily better than anybody else.” Raven, who’s also been described as one of the most intriguing minds in the adult industry, said there’s far more people in the industry that can lay similar claim. “I find myself pretty much of a homebody,” he adds. “I don’t do a whole lot but write, edit stay home and watch TV- that’s pretty much my life.”
Raven was asked how he and Julia Ann hooked up romantically. “She claims that I got her when she saw my trailer reel which is kind of funny,” says Raven. “I don’t know what that means. She walked into my office about two years ago to audition for a part in a film I was shooting for Sin City at the time, Paradise Lost. She walked into the office. I was on the telephone at the time. I remember watching her glide across the floor and sit down on the chair, just the grace, the presence and the way she carries herself. I was just kind of like mesmerized by her. I have no idea who I was talking to on the phone. All I could focus on was that beautiful, blue-eyed blond haired girl that was walking in front of me. That was kind of like the beginning of the end for me.”
Raven was asked how, with being in demand, he finds time to have a normal life with his wife. “Between the hours of 10 at night and 8 in the morning,” he answered. Raven surmises that he’ll continue at his pace until no one wants him to shoot movies. “Then I’ll find something else to day. That’s when it will be time to leave.”
Asked if winning AVN awards had positive financial repercussions in his career, Raven said the first time around made a little difference financially. “It was nice. Now they’re just a nice addition. It’s nice to be recognized by critics that you admire,” he said. “Whether they like your work or not if you admire their opinions or respect their opinions, it’s nice to be recognized by them.”
Swami, who seems to have this ongoing question about female exploitation, asked Raven if he saw instances of it. “You can’t exploit someone voluntarily,” Raven said. “Exploitation involves coercion and something against somebody’s will.” Raven said the vast majority of the women in the industry are not being exploited. “They may be exploiting themselves but that’s their right to do so.”
Raven said he’d like to be remembered by the fact that he made some interesting movies. “Nothing more, nothing less.” As far as leaving legacies, Raven said directors like Andrew Blake and Michael Ninn are doing that. “I have no aspirations of that nature,” he said. “Those are the guys that inspired me to get into the business.”
Raven said he’s started to make horror movies as a slow move to get away from adult. “But I don’ know if that’s going to be permanent any time soon.” Raven said his first film is in the can. “We wrapped it November 7th. It’s still in editing. It releases I believe May or June of this year.”