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Porn Valley- Adam Wilcox posts at www.xxxwasteland.wordpress.com – Bluebird Films director and producer Martha Washington has become a highly regarded name in adult entertainment during her relatively short time behind the camera. Martha’s first DVD, Tits, Tats and Ass streeted earlier this year and Bluebird is currently anticipating the release of her newly helmed Suck It! feature film this week.

Martha kindly spoke with XXX Wasteland to discuss her time at Bluebird Films, an exciting comic world-related project she has in the works, her ongoing “Twitter war” with Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am and more.

You can follow Martha on Twitter under the handle @M_WashingtonX.

(Special thanks to Lisa Massaro of Rising Star PR for arranging the interview. All photos courtesy of Rising Star and Bluebird Films)

Adam Wilcox: Can you us some background on yourself and how you entered the adult industry?

Martha Washington: Absolutely. I went to film school at NYU and studied filmmaking there. Afterwards, I initially was like, “I’m going to direct movies,” and that’s kind of where I wanted to go. And through some strange series of events, I decided to move to L.A., which was pretty funny because my whole life I had always been like, “Fuck L.A.! That place is terrible. I’m never going to live there.” And then all of a sudden … I did, and I still hated it, but eventually that evened out.

I got into adult in a weird way. I had been interested in porn for a long time as a fan and connoisseur. And when I moved out here I was like, “I don’t want to work in Hollywood. That sounds lame. But, look at this: There’s this huge porn industry. Maybe I should try that.” And I was like, “Maybe I SHOULD try that. That’s a great idea!” And it kind of went from there. But, the funny thing is when I moved out here, I was super gung-ho about it and I was applying at all these different companies for weird little odds and ends jobs – I applied for a couple of production manager jobs, marketing, stuff like that – and nobody would hire me.

(Laughs) I think a lot of people met me at first and thought … you know, there is a lot of stigma toward people coming from mainstream – and now that I’ve been in the industry a couple of years I kind of get it – but at the time, I was a little insulted. A lot of adult companies are scared that if they hire mainstream people they will leave or think they are too good for it.

So, I actually had a really hard time getting a job. And then one day I was hanging out at my house – my friends were brewing beer and doing other kind of semi-productive things – and I was like, “I should get on old Craigslist and see if there’s anything out there.” And that’s how I got hired at Bluebird (Films). I started like a day later. I’ve been there two years and it’s been great.

AW: Nice. So, you have worked for Bluebird your entire time in the industry?

MW: I have, yes, which has been a blessing, because not a lot of companies would hire someone as an assistant and then have them directing and producing just a year or so later.

AW: Bluebird recently released a film called Tits, Tats and Ass. Was that the first movie you directed?

MW: It wasn’t the first film I directed, but it was the first film that got released on DVD. So, that’s exciting. The first film I ever directed was called Geekettes and it’s coming out later in the year, actually. It’s another gonzo movie and it’s sort of themed – it’s geeky girls and I love it. It has a gamer girl in it, a nerdy study girl and an anime fan. Do you know live action role playing?

AW: I’ve heard a little bit about it.

MW: (Laughs) There’s that in it too. So, that was my first actual movie and I put a lot of love into that one.

Tits, Tats and Ass, I made that one last year and we released it a couple months ago.

AW: And you also have a newly released movie, is that right?

MW: Yeah – Suck It! I filmed that one a few months ago. We’re just putting it out now. When people say the name of it I like them to yell it. That’s why it has an exclamation point at the end of it always – “Suck It!” (Laughs)

AW: (Laughs) Kind of like the wrestlers, D-Generation X. They used to say it that way.

MW: (Laughs) They used to say, “Suck it?” I want to see that!

AW: Yeah, that was their catchphrase and they would do a crotch chop along with it. (Laughs)

MW: That’s cool. (Laughs) You probably know this already, but it’s a blowjob movie. It’s not just blowjobs – it’s blowjobs and sex – but the feature elements are the oral and the blowjobs. Which you’ll love if you love blowjob movies!

AW: Who are some of your favorite performers to work with?

MW: Incidentally, pretty much all of my favorite girls are in these two movies. There are certainly some I would still love to work with, but I’ve been really lucky. Juelz Ventura, Andy San Dimas … in Suck It!, there’s Kaci Starr and Bobbi Starr. The four of them are honestly the four names that come to mind on people that I really, really enjoy working with and inspire me.

AW: Seeing as you were around the business before directing and producing, do you spot any major differences between being a female director as opposed to a male?

MW: Yeah, absolutely. There are so many. For one thing, I’ve been really lucky in that I feel that as a woman I have a much different relationship with talent – both male and female – than a lot of the guys do. For one thing, I’ll have the male talent (perhaps enjoy) having a woman watching them work behind the monitor. (Laughs) There are a couple of performers who, when doing their scene, look up from the scene and wink at me behind the monitor while they’re doing it. I think it sort of turns them on, so that’s kind of a fun little thing.

And then with women, it gives me a little more room to work, because I think when a woman is asking you to do something or asking you to sort of open up your boundaries and push maybe where you are comfortable going to see if you can find a more extreme comfort zone and find new things that get you off, it’s a lot easier to explore those things sometimes if you’re with a woman – especially if it’s one you know and get along with. I try to put a lot of energy into developing relationships with talent that I really like, because I think it’s important that everyone feels involved in the process and I think that’s missing a lot of the time, so that is one of the things I try to bring with me to the movies that I make – especially if I’m directing.

Also when I’m producing, but particularly when I’m directing. I don’t like the idea of talent walking in and being told, “Mish, doggie, cowgirl … get out. Thanks. Bye.” I’d rather it be like, “Here, come in. Who do you like to work with? Hopefully we can find someone that you enjoy working with.” I don’t know, I’m sure men think of these things too. But, as a woman, I think it comes a little bit more naturally, because I think about what I would want from this experience if I were doing it.

AW: Do you write scripts as well?

MW: I do. The first feature I wrote was called Nerdsworld and that came out last year. For a little while, I was sort of doing a lot of nerdy-themed things. (Laughs) Which is fun and I really enjoyed, and I’ll probably be doing more. I’m actually working on a new project: We’re adapting a graphic novel into an adult film. I’m really excited about it. It’s kind of confidential right now, but it’s really exciting. I don’t think that kind of property gets adapted very often and it’s a beautiful, cute, really well-told lovely story. So, I’ll be directing that this year and taking that out to Comic-Con and a lot of the other different comic conventions. Kind of my next big step.

AW: That would be a nice tie-in to incorporate a graphic novel with the comic conventions.

MW: Absolutely. And I love that world. I went down to Wizard-Con in Anaheim the other day and I had a great time. Oh, my gosh, it was so much fun. (Laughs)

AW: I’ve never been to one, but they have always looked fun.

MW: And the one I went to, it wasn’t even that big. It was really small. There were probably just a few hundred people there. I went on a Sunday, so it was kind of ending. A lot of the booths had left early. But, it was my first one and I got to meet some people that I had been really into for a while. It was awesome. I would highly recommend it if you’re into that stuff at all.

AW: Very cool. Do you have any specific aspirations you wish to achieve in the adult industry?

MW: Total porn world domination – is that specific enough? (Laughs) I would love to eventually have my own company that I would produce all the content for and direct, but I would love to have something along the lines of Evil Angel and develop sort of a group of pornographers with like-minded goals and develop that into a business with integrity and profitability. So far, though, all the goals that I had I’ve been reaching. So, I think it is likely that will happen.

I forgot to mention earlier – because everybody always asks and I think it’s important to give credit where credit is due – did you see Caligula?

AW: No, I didn’t.

MW: Oh, you HAVE to see Caligula. It’s a really interesting story: In the seventies, Tinto Brass got together with Bob Guccione and made this huge, epic movie about the Roman Emperor Caligula. He got all these amazing top British actors – Helen Mirren is in it, John Gielgud is in it – all these incredible actors. Then, it is also a hardcore porn movie. There will be all these scenes of incredible dialogue between renowned U.K. actors and then a huge, amazing, Penthouse-style Roman orgy. So, please, definitely see it. It is, by far, absolutely … had I not seen that movie, there is a good chance I would not be in the industry today. I had watched porn and then I saw that and realized what it could be, how big you could actually make it and how exciting it could feel – AND how successfully you could blend mainstream dramatic filmmaking with over-the-top awesome porn.

AW: Do you have any current or upcoming projects in the works that you would like to mention?

MW: Suck It! is coming out next week, so that is kind of where my focus is. I’m thrilled about that. That was my first movie with Bobbi Starr and she is, in my opinion, probably the best performer out there right now. So, that’s exciting.

And this Summer, I’m probably going to shoot some more gonzo stuff. In the late Summer/Fall, I’m going to be doing this comic/graphic novel adaptation, which we are still working on the deal, because it’s coming from a mainstream property. I can’t talk a lot about it, but it’s a really cool love story involving the love between a girl and a guy – and maybe the girl isn’t entirely human, I can say that. (Laughs) And it’s going to be a really special movie that’s kind of my passion project. So, look for that. As soon as I’m able to say more about it and have a working title, I will absolutely be talking about that one a lot more.

AW: Sounds very exciting.

MW: Thank you.

AW: To finish up, is there anything you wish to say to readers?

MW: Two things: One – this is a little petty – but I’m in a little bit of a Twitter war with will.i.am and it has me thinking about some things. He made a statement a few weeks ago where he basically said he thought it was tacky when women kept condoms in their homes. I just want to say for the record that I think women keeping condoms in their homes shows responsibility for your safety and that it’s a really mature thing to do, and it shows being in touch with your sexuality and being safe about it … and, will.i.am can suck it! (Laughs)

AW: (Laughs)

MW: The other thing I would say is that for everybody who watches my movies – whether you’re in a relationship or not, whether you hang out with girlfriends or not – I would absolutely encourage everyone to try to find one woman in their life who has not watched porn and I would hope that maybe they would somehow give them the opportunity to watch adult. I’m having a fantastic time watching and making porn and think more women should have that opportunity, but maybe aren’t always given the exposure to it that they should so that they can get into it. So, that’s my new thing: Instead of “Save a Tree,” it’s “Give a Girl a Porn.”

AW: (Laughs) A worthy cause for sure.

MW: (Laughs)

AW: Thank you very much. I appreciate your time and wish you continued success. All the best.

MW: Thank you, I had a great time. Have a great day!