Ricky Greenwood on Finding Purpose, Pushing Limits and Making L.A. Home

Ricky Greenwood always knew he wanted to make movies. After graduating from high school, he studied film at a college in Quebec, where he grew up.

“I learned how to write a script, operate a camera and edit,” he recalls. “But I left school after one semester because the program was very academic. For me, art is not something you can learn in books. Just knowing how to make a technically perfect movie doesn’t make that movie good. I’m a firm believer that you learn your craft while working with other people, and watching them work.”

Eager to get hands-on experience and learn his craft on set, Greenwood found a different program, one that offered an internship that segued into a job at the Canadian equivalent of MTV. This was a good fit for Greenwood, a big music fan who relished the chance to meet so many young people and have his finger on the pulse of what was trending.

‘I don’t want to work in porn’

After working there for a few years, he was offered the chance to direct a small TV show with an “Entertainment Tonight”-type format. Around that same time, Greenwood’s employer also applied for a license to run an adult channel. Greenwood’s show was suddenly canceled, but he remained under contract, so he suddenly found himself in the midst of the adult industry.

If that sounds like a “The rest is history!” moment, it wasn’t.

“We were doing exactly what people expect from porn, and it didn’t interest me,” Greenwood remembers. “I was like, ‘You guys do your thing. I’m not judging it, but it’s not for me. I want to make movies and TV shows.”

Greenwood decided not to renew his contract, and moved on to other things. He worked on a few TV shows, served as an assistant director on the 2015 indie film “Turbo Kid” — in which he has a cameo as a character whose jaw is ripped off — and got involved with a group of Montreal filmmakers who made movies together each month and screened them for friends.

This gave him the opportunity to sharpen his skills and experiment with storytelling.

“When it comes to art in general, whether it’s movies or music, you have to try to create,” he affirms. “Sometimes you’ll miss and sometimes you’ll succeed, but each time, you’re honing your craft and sharpening your creativity.”

One day, another filmmaker in the group revealed that he was editing porn to make ends meet, and told Greenwood that he knew someone looking for a production manager. But if the universe was trying to tell him something, Greenwood still wasn’t having it.

“I told him, ‘I don’t want to work in porn, I just did that and it’s not for me,’” Greenwood laughs. “But he said, ‘It’s not what you think it is. Just meet the guy.’”

‘Nothing at all like I thought’

He met with his friend’s contact, who turned out to be with Mile High Media. Greenwood told him that he was under contract through July, working for the Fantasia International Film Festival.

“It was May,” he explains. “I said, ‘If you haven’t found anyone by August, give me a call,’ because I didn’t want to be rude and say ‘No’ outright. Plus, I figured he’d find someone to do the job by July.”

In August, however, Greenwood received a phone call.

“They said, ‘I don’t think this is what you think it is,’” he recalls. “So I agreed to try it for a few months. I flew to LA to meet the crew — and I quickly realized it was nothing at all like I thought.”

This was in 2016. Initially, Greenwood only planned to stay in Los Angeles for three months, but he ended up serving as a production manager for Mile High until 2017.

“Then they asked me to direct a movie,” he says. “To show people in the U.S. what we wanted to do, and the type of movie they could expect from our company. So I made ‘Confessions of a Sinful Nun’ for them, and it became very popular. I think it was one of the company’s bestselling DVDs.”

The movie was nominated in multiple categories at the 2018 XMAs, and the company soon asked Greenwood to make another one. His follow-up, “Becoming Elsa,” was also very successful, as was “Talk Derby to Me.” The company asked him to get a work visa and live full-time in LA, so he moved there in October 2018.

“To be honest, I was a little nervous,” he admits. “I was 35, I didn’t know anyone here, and my English was just okay. But I dropped everything, packed some clothes, put my dog in the back of my car and drove to California, leaving behind my family and friends.”

Lonely City

At first, LA life was stressful for the Canadian transplant.

“It’s a fun city, but it’s a big city, and it’s easy to get lonely because everyone is working so hard to make a career for themselves that they don’t necessarily have time for other people, especially new people,” Greenwood shares. “How do you make friends at 35? You need to figure it out, but it takes time, and that first year was hard. I had a director friend in Canada who made the move before me but had to come back because they couldn’t take it.

“It’s very hard when you spend your first Christmas at home by yourself because you don’t have enough money to fly back home,” he reflects. “And once I did get settled, COVID happened! So I was worried the U.S. government under Trump would revoke my work visa, because there was no work. I didn’t want to risk leaving the country, so I didn’t see my family for close to four years. I could call them on the phone or Skype, but I couldn’t go visit them because I didn’t know if I’d be allowed to come back. I only visited Canada after I got my green card.”

Today, after nearly a decade of spending most of his time in the States, Greenwood finally feels grounded. He’s also become covered in tattoos, like a visual barometer of his gradual assimilation into LA life.

“Now that I have friends here and know my way around, it feels more like home,” he says. “But it took time.”

One big plus for Greenwood the cinephile: Los Angeles is still the center of the movie and music universe. When we connect for our interview, he is scrambling to get tickets to a screening of John Woo’s 1986 action film “A Better Tomorrow” at Beyond Fest. He’s also looking forward to seeing Oasis at the Rose Bowl in September.

“There are so many concerts here, and all of these small theaters that have fun retrospectives,” marvels Greenwood.

The Next Level

Greenwood spent his first few years in adult doing trans and lesbian movies for Transfixed and Transsensual, before being offered boy/girl work.

“I was supposed to do a big feature for Digital Playground,” he explains. “But then COVID happened and the movie was pushed, so I ended up signing with Missa X, which was my entrance to the boy/girl world.”

This was a lucky break, as Greenwood was eager to push boundaries. In 2021, he got the chance to do just that.

“We made a lot of very unconventional movies together,” he says. “They were not afraid to go to a dark place. One of the first films I did for them was ‘Killer on the Loose,’ which won Seth Gamble a big award. After that, we did a werewolf movie called ‘Blue Moon Rising’ — and then we did this nun movie called ‘Under the Veil,’ which won a lot of awards and took my career to the next level.”

Not long after, Gamma Entertainment came knocking. Greenwood pitched the company on a passion project he’d tried and failed to make with both Mile High and Missa X: a skateboard movie titled “Grinders,” which unfolds over one hot summer night. He got the green light and directed the 2022 movie, which garnered even more accolades.

Following the success of “Grinders,” Digital Playground reached out to Greenwood asking for his help in taking the company in a bold new direction. Since Greenwood’s friend and mentor, Robby D, had passed away the previous year, he was eager to pay homage to the much-admired director.

The resulting effort, “Machine Gunner,” proved to be very popular, as did Gamma’s “Feed Me,” Dorcel’s “Alive” and a pair of Digital Playground releases: “Gold Digger” and “Project X,” the latter of which made waves last year.

“We did a lot of projects I’m very proud of,” Greenwood affirms.

The Gang’s All Here

Over time, Greenwood says, he has developed a shorthand with his crew, which saves them valuable time on set. Among his frequent collaborators are his longtime cameraman Matt Holder, his go-to lighting designer Shaun Rivera and writer Shawn Alff.

“I’ve been working with those guys for years, so we understand each other very well and don’t have to talk about stuff for too long,” Greenwood says.

When it comes to talent, Greenwood often works with Anna Claire Clouds, Gal Ritchie, Casey Calvert and Blake Blossom, as well as Tommy Pistol, Scott Nails and Isiah Maxwell.

Blossom and Maxwell played two of the leads in Greenwood’s recent Digital Playground feature, “Wanted.”

“It’s an ambitious movie, so you never really know how it’ll turn out because sometimes we’re limited in terms of time and budget,” he says. “But it turned out very well, and the response has been very good. Kylie Rockets kills it in that movie, and Blake Blossom too. Everybody did a good job, from the performers to the set designers.

“I just wish I’d had more time for the action-packed final scene, which is full of gunshots and explosions,” he adds. “But we were racing the sun, and limited by permits and things like that. Now I understand why it takes so long for Hollywood to make a big action movie. They’re complicated and expensive.”

Greenwood brought his dog, Ripley, to the set of “Wanted,” where she typically lounged in the shade.

“She’s mad at me right now because she was not on set for the last movie,” he laughs. “It was too hot to bring her.”

Connecting Past and Future

The last movie, which Greenwood has just wrapped as he chats with XBIZ, is the martial arts flick “Deadly Vows” for Digital Playground.

“That one was a lot of work,” he admits. “There’s a lot of action, a lot of fights and a lot of stunts, so it was a lot of coordination.”

Greenwood also wrote “Deadly Vows,” his first script in several years.

“In a way, that makes it more challenging because I’m even more invested in the project,” he muses. “I designed the clothes a specific way, and we built sets the way I wanted them built, so I was just more hands-on than I normally am. It was a lot of work, but everything’s falling into place now.”

Greenwood excitedly shares that prolific Golden Age performer Mike Horner plays a kung fu master in the feature.

“He was living in Portland when I managed to find his phone number via a friend of a friend,” Greenwood enthuses. “So he came and did a scene, and Jenna Haze did a scene too.

“For me, it’s very important to pay homage to the people who came before me,” Greenwood explains. “I had Ginger Lynn in ‘Feed Me,’ Christy Canyon in ‘Holdup’ and Herschel Savage in ‘Machine Gunner.’ I also worked with Nina Hartley when I first started, so it’s always been important to me to work with the people who were there during the Golden Age of porn. They’re fun.”

There are also his personal heroes: the pros who helped him acclimate to the adult industry and have been generous in dispensing their sage wisdom.

“Robby D was a huge person in my life and career,” he says. “James Avalon was my camera guy for a long time, so he helped me a lot. If I had an issue or a question, I could always ask Jacky St. James, who would drop everything to help me. The same goes for David Lord, Mike Quasar and Brad Armstrong, who would always cheer me up if I got down about myself or the business.”

Now that he’s found success, Greenwood hopes to pay it forward in the same way.

“I try to help new people if they have a question, because people helped me when I was young and just starting out,” he says. “I think that’s important. I help young directors because I don’t see us as being in competition with each other.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he adds. “I understand the business and how everybody’s fighting for the same big movies and big budgets. Everyone is trying to get their piece of the cake. But I want other people to make great movies, because that’s good for the industry as a whole.”

The Big Picture

Looking back, Greenwood says he’s grateful for how his career has progressed.

“I was lucky that Jon Blitt at Mile High trusted me and believed in me, and let me create what I wanted,” he attests. “Everyone has a different road into this business, and it’s not always so nice, so to those looking to break into this world, I’d just say, ‘Be careful who you associate with,’ and ‘Trust your gut.’ I’ve seen girls fall in with the wrong crowd and get caught up in this vicious cycle of drugs and partying, and it fucked up their careers. You can get stuck in that circle pretty fast.”

Reflecting on how the industry has transformed in recent years, Greenwood says he’s excited by how creative some content creators are — but he also worries that many don’t understand or appreciate industry rules and safety practices that have evolved over the years.

“They don’t think those rules apply to them because they think they’re invincible,” he says. “It’s easy to destroy something when you think you have a better way, but then it’s very hard to put that thing back in place. Creators who are willing to destroy the porn industry, because they think they can do it better on their own, don’t realize there won’t be an industry for them to fall back on when they need it.

“Think about how Uber affected the taxi business,” he elaborates. “Yes, taxis were expensive before, and maybe not the best solution — but now there’s Uber and Lyft, and the prices are sky-high, and you can’t take a cab because they don’t exist anymore, because everyone taking Uber and Lyft killed the industry. So now we’re stuck with them.

“It’s cool that people can create their own content on OnlyFans,” Greenwood says. “But at some point, they’re going to need the industry to promote them and make them a bigger star who’s recognized around the world so they can make more money. If you destroy the industry or don’t take it seriously, it won’t exist anymore, and you’ll stay at the same level.

“Is the industry perfect? No,” he concludes. “But it’s a different thing than OnlyFans, and it can be a stepping stone to bigger things.”

Greenwood would also like to see platforms like OnlyFans, as well as the studios, pitch in to educate creators and performers.

“I think before any content creators, actors or producers work in the business, they should have to take Porn 101 and pass a little test and get some kind of certificate,” he says. “I mean, the people who work at 7-Eleven and McDonald’s at least had one training day to learn the business. In the adult industry, there is no training. We’re just like, ‘Oh, she’s cute. Send her to my set to get fucked, go home, and get a check.’ Meanwhile, no one’s teaching these young people to save 10% of that check so they can pay taxes at the end of the year, or pay whatever percentage to their agents.

“Or if you’re a producer, how are you supposed to conduct yourself on set?” Greenwood continues. “What are you supposed to do when this or that happens? This is the kind of education we need to make the business healthier and safer. I’m trying to figure out a way to do it. The studio and agencies may not want that, but I think we’re in a place right now where the talent wants that. I think they’ll appreciate it.”

Laurels, But Not Resting

Although winning awards helped launch Greenwood’s career, nowadays such recognition isn’t quite so important to him, as he feels like he has less to prove.

“When you’re starting out, you chase awards because they allow you to move up a step,” he observes. “But once you’ve reached the top step, it’s your reputation that keeps you there. Awards are external validation, but they don’t bring you more money or more work — and you have to put in a lot of time, effort, energy and sacrifice to win.

“People know what I can do,” he says simply. “If I don’t win Movie of the Year, it’s not like I’m not going to have a job next year.”

That much is evident. Greenwood’s recent projects have included features for Dorcel and Digital Playground, and scenes for Gamma, Mile High, Parasited and more. “Deadly Vows” is expected to arrive this fall, likely in September. Around the same time, Dorcel will release another new Greenwood movie: “Strip,” starring Riley Reid and Tommy Pistol.

Or to put it more simply: Ricky Greenwood always knew he wanted to make movies. And now he does.