Despite its underperformance at the box office, Smith's movie has drawn its share of controversy, including some flak for its title. Some TV spots for the movie only refer to it as "Zack and Miri." In additon, a theater chain in Utah has banned the upcoming sex comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" from its screens.
In response to the movie's theme, alt-adult star Belladonna recently revealed her own tips and tricks for how to make a successful adult movie, and she should know, having directed dozens of titles for Evil Angel. Chief among her recommendations was an exhortation to keep it simple, stupid.
"We've shot in every room of our house including the garage," she said in an interview with Asylum.com. "We shoot during the day always because we really like natural lighting. Our house has a lot of windows, which makes the product look good."
When it comes to casting, Belladonna said she prefers to have sit-down meetings with potential performers, but despite the prevalence of STD testing, she stressed the importance of seeing someone naked before they arrive on set.
"I have them take their clothes off to make sure there's nothing bad like rashes or infections," she said. "I've had girls show up with staph infections and it's not good."
She also cautioned new male directors about the potential desire to appear in their own work.
"There's a lot of pressure for a guy," she said. "They have to face a lot of girls not really being into them and vocalizing it. They have a lot of pressure with the camera being there and everybody counting on them and waiting on them to get hard, control the scene and pop at the end. And they're going to have to have sex with people they don't really want to have sex with in the beginning."
