Bree Mills was out running one day when the title of her next movie came to her: "Escape From Camp Conversion."
The chief creative officer of Adult Time had been thinking about how to combine her love for queer cinema and lesbian pulp fiction with the distinct aesthetic of the 1980s.
"I knew I was going to be writing and directing a movie for Girlcore this year, and I knew that we wanted to go big in terms of the scope of the project," says Mills. “I always loved the teen exploitation films of the ’80s, but I also collect lesbian pulp novels, and so many of the tropes that were the subject of those books in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s are still really popular today."
Mills had a lot of ideas for the movie, but the story didn’t crystallize in her mind until she landed on the title, which feels like something Roger Corman or one of his protégés might have directed back in the day.
Once she had nailed the title, Mills built a narrative around it and developed the script from there, telling the story in a pulpy, comic book style with clear heroes and villains.
"Exploitation cinema doesn't take itself too seriously, but we're dealing with very serious subject matter here," notes Mills. "I wasn't necessarily a huge fan of, say, the ‘Sleepaway Camp’ movies, but I knew that would be the right genre to tackle those dark themes."
Set in a sinister 1980s conversion camp, "Escape From Camp Conversion" follows "a defiant young woman who must rally fellow captives and confront buried horrors in a fight for survival, identity and freedom,” the synopsis reveals. “Combining horror, nostalgia and erotic storytelling, the project marks a new chapter in Girlcore’s evolution from standalone anthologies to high-concept narratives."
Campers Roll Call
Octavia Red leads the starry cast, which also includes Lulu Chu, Alex Coal, Leana Lovings, Demi Hawks, Ameena Green, Selena Ivy, Charlie Forde, Codi Vore, Cami Strella, Sophia Locke, and Lexi Luna, and features Lana Smalls, Scarlet Skies, Mandi Slade, Daniel Shar, Beau Donovan, BCine, Mills and her producer, Casey Calvert.
"A key part of this for me was having a big, all-star cast featuring a mix of people who have been with us for a long time," explained Mills. "Fan favorites who have been in a lot of our lesbian content — and some newer faces we’ve developed relationships with in the last couple of years.
"I always write for specific people,” she adds. "So when I was writing the protagonist character, Jenna, I knew I wanted somebody who has a kind of quiet toughness and resilience about them. Octavia Red is someone we’ve worked with quite a bit in the last two years, and from the moment I started to work with her, she embodied those qualities while still having a sense of humility. She’s also very popular and a great performer, especially with lesbian scenes, as she’s bisexual and very genuinely into women."
Red also had a leg up on the competition because Mills was familiar with her real-life story.
"Octavia also comes from a religious background, so she had a personal connection to the material,” says Mills. "We’ve had candid talks about that in the past. I knew she had skin in the game in terms of her personal history and that she would work really hard for this movie."
Mills says that she likes to cast leads who she knows are "thirsty for it" and will put in a 200% percent [effort].
"They’re not just getting a gig to show up and play it cool," she explains. "They have to want to get that nomination and win that award. I have a really good track record as far as awards go, because I pick people who really want it, and I give them roles that are going to help them get it. I knew Octavia had that drive in her, so she was an easy choice for me."
Mills recalls assembling the rest of the ensemble with equal care.
"Lulu Chu plays Octavia’s primary romantic interest, Lily, and they’ve just killed it for us the last few years," she says. "Everything they do is a success with us. They’re great on set and very professional, very popular. We’ve used Lulu in a number of high-profile projects, so keeping that relationship going strong was a no-brainer."
When it came time to cast the other campers and counselors, Mills says she looked for a nice mix of performers who individually brought a lot to the table, but who she also felt would work well together as part of an ensemble.
"When you have a lot of people working together for a lot of days, you need to make sure that there’s good energy and everybody gets along," Mills says.
"Leanna Lovings is a brand ambassador of ours, so she was a given. We also have Alex Coal, who is one of the most requested performers for lesbian content with our audience. I had never worked with her personally, which seemed like a crime, so this movie was a great way to solve that. And she was great. She came in and she was fantastic.
"We had Demi Hawks, another super-cute performer I’ve really been impressed with," Mills continues.
"Ameena Green is someone I’ve heard a lot about this past year. Every director I talk to is like, ‘Have you worked with Ameena Green yet?’ That’s usually a good indication to get somebody on your set, and she was great.
"Selena Ivy is another one who works really hard but is underrated and deserves more of a spotlight."
Mills dressed her campers in red-and-yellow uniforms, which match the title design.
"The reason I picked them, honestly, was because the location itself is meant to be kind of dystopian, so it’s not super bright and colorful, and we needed them to stand out and pop despite the surroundings," Mills reveals. “The colors are a little pulpy, but ketchup and mustard get the most attention. When I saw all of them in those uniforms, I was like, 'That color choice may have been the best decision of the entire movie.'"
Bad Guys Assemble
With the campers represented, Mills turned to the counselors.
"They're kind of like Roald Dahl villains," Mills laughs.
"It was really fun to cast them because I did so very intentionally. We work with Codi Vore a lot, and she’s incredible. She’s super sweet, but she has this sort of evil smile."
Like Red, "Cami Strella had actually endured the kind of experience depicted in "Escape From Camp Conversion."
"We talked about it on my podcast," Mills affirms. "She had to go to a similar kind of religious camp that preached ‘slut conversion.’ So she shared some personal stuff, and she was great. She’s someone who’s coming up and starting to shoot more studio stuff, and I thought this would be a great spotlight for her."
Next on Mills' bucket list was Charlie Forde.
"She is arguably the most underrated performer in this industry right now," declares Mills. "She’s an incredible performer and an incredible actress. I wanted to give her something really juicy because she deserves to get as much exposure as possible. So she came in as our head counselor with that great Australian accent, and her character is very direct and to the point.”
For the "evil villain," Mills chose to cast against type.
"I went to the sweetest, nicest mommy in porn, Lexi Luna — and she killed it!" Mills gushes. "She just came in and nailed it. She's the ultimate villain. Her character has a backstory that kind of mirrors our protagonist’s backstory, so she had to have a conflicted love interest of her own, and I brought in Sophia Locke to play that role. She’s another one whose career is just growing and growing, because she's just incredible."
A Delicate Balance
While "Escape From Camp Conversion" features horror elements, there aren’t any deaths — though unpleasant things do happen, including strange rituals and conversion ceremonies where the campers aren’t treated very well.
"We’re finding the balance between playing into some of those taboos while still maintaining the consent of all participants," Mills says. "We did that in a very creative way that adheres to our compliance guidelines, so all the campers are there voluntarily, but there’s just nowhere to go. They’re just going to stay there and participate in the rituals because it’s the easiest way to complete the program and get out of there."
That being said, Mills promises some definite "shock" scenes.
"It features a pulpy handling of some very serious shit," she offers. "If you look at a lot of the sex exploitation films from the ’70s, like 'Women in Prison' and 'Evil Nuns,' it’s more in that vein."
While Mills was fortunate to have an open-minded family, she says, she has plenty of friends and colleagues who weren’t as lucky, and experienced conversion therapy and conversion camps.
"I didn’t have some of the challenges other people have had growing up queer in religious communities or conservative communities, but I’m certainly aware of other people’s experiences as a member of the queer community," she says.
"And several members of the cast who grew up with religious backgrounds went to abstinence camps."
The movie may be campy — pardon the pun — but the underlying sentiment is very real to Mills.
"You can't beat the gay out of people," she says. "It’s not going to work. And while this story isn’t specific to conversion therapy, my general stance on conservatism and sexuality is that when you take sexuality or gender identity, and you put it in a box and shame it, you cultivate people who don’t know how to communicate about these subjects or how to explore them."
"Growing up without that kind of education is really the root of the problem," she observes. "There’s a spectrum to gender and sexuality. Identity is a very complicated, nuanced thing, and a core part of each human being. But that’s not the problem.
"The problem is when you fuck up gender and sexuality by putting all of these restrictive labels and sources of shame on them — and then you wonder why people are messed up."
Shooting Her 'Shot'
"Escape From Camp Conversion” marks the first production from Mills’ new production banner, Mills Shot Productions, which will have its own channel within Adult Time.
"It’s going to encompass everything that I shoot, regardless of what studio or brand it’s for within Gamma," Mills says. "Because I do work with a bunch of different producers, and I like that."
On this particular production, Mills says she leaned heavily on frequent collaborator Michael Vegas.
"Like a crutch," she laughs.
"I also collaborated closely with producer Casey Calvert, cinematographer Eli Cross and their production company, as we work with them at Adult Time in a broader context. Obviously, Casey is someone I’ve worked with in various capacities for nearly a decade at this point. She had never produced one of my movies, but I have a great amount of respect for her professionalism and knowledge, and the passion behind the work she does as a producer.
"That said, I'm used to doing everything by myself in the planning stages, and then showing up and working with a team to execute that plan," Mills admits. "So it was a challenge to let her handle the huge amount of production coordination, logistics and all this stuff that I otherwise have done pretty single-handedly in the past. However, it was a good challenge, and it was great to work with her and her team on a larger-scale project, as they really helped bring it to life."
Speaking of teamwork, Mills also credits her wife, former performer Sarah Love, for providing backup on numerous levels.
"She supports me and our family in the best way possible, which is taking care of our two daughters when I'm away working," says Mills. "So we divide and conquer that way. She’s also the first person who reads all my scripts. It’s funny, the most diabolical thing you'll see in one of my scripts is usually her suggestion."
As for why "Escape From Camp Conversion" is being released under the Girlcore banner, Mills explains that Adult Time typically produces a major lesbian feature each year, rotating among its various lesbian-focused lines.
"Girlsway is our flagship lesbian studio, so the majority of our films fall under that umbrella," Mills notes. "But there was a series we produced back in 2019 and 2020 called 'Girlcore,' which is one of the most ambitious shows we’ve ever done at Adult Time. It was really my love letter to lesbian porn. I wanted each episode of Season 1 to be loosely inspired by and named after a lesbian pulp novel, but reimagined in the ’80s, whereas each episode of Season 2 was inspired by a song.
"The series was popular and won some awards for us," she recalls. "But it definitely wasn’t the kind of thing we could release every week. It was complicated and required a high budget because it took months to produce."
More recently, Mills found herself thinking about how to revive the Girlcore brand.
"Over the years, we’ve created these great IPs, and it’s like, 'Let’s not leave them in the archive, let’s bring them back out of the vaults every so often.’
"So I said, 'Girlcore has got to be where we put our movie this year.' I knew I wanted it to be a movie rather than an episodic series, even if we were going to release it in three parts before releasing the full feature."
The first installment of “Escape From Camp Conversion” is expected to drop on May 29, with the two subsequent installments slated for the end of June and the end of July.
Adult Time will then release the full feature in September in both an X-rated version offered behind a paywall to subscribers, and an R-rated version on the company’s public platforms.
In other words, with a big push from Adult Time, there will be no escaping "Camp Conversion" this summer.
