"We are very proud that Tony has chosen to sign with us. He is the most exciting new fetish performer to come along in years," Titan Media CEO Bruce Cam said. "His natural abilities to direct became apparent over the past year. We are very excited to transition this amazing performer into a director. I personally can't wait to see the level of intensity he will bring to these films."
Tony Buff became a studio exclusive in late 2007 and has since anchored seven films. The studio described him as "a well-known player and role model within the leather/BDSM community [who] brings a level of authenticity to hardcore fetish play like no other."
Buff will headline as well as direct the series; videographer Paul Wilde will serve as lead cameraman. The as-yet-untitled first installment is currently set for spring release.
Supporting players in the film will be drawn from the BDSM community. "The line will be a realistic and brutally honest representation of what real fetish players do behind closed doors," the studio said. "Not for the faint of heart, these films will shred the boundaries of what has come before."
Extreme fetish play has surfaced as an emergent trend in gay adult. Producers who seek to push the envelope as a means of engaging jaded consumers are turning to extreme fetish play and rely upon kinkmasters like Tony Buff to devise new avenues of extreme sexplay. Titan has already tested audience tolerance levels with a controversial waterboarding scene in 2007's "Fear," which features Buff.
"From the very beginning, starting with 'Fear,' we let Tony steer his own fetish sequences. He clearly knew what he was doing and we wanted things to be as authentic and safe as possible," Titan Vice President Keith Webb told XBIZ.
"As we worked with him, he contributed more and more to each film. By the time we got to 'Folsom Prison' last year, he was essentially co-directing all of the fetish sequences," Webb said.
Initially, Wilde will set the camera shots while Buff will focus on choreographing and supervising the sex and fetish sequences. "Tony's strength and background is realistic and authentic fetish sex," Webb said, "so that's where we will let him shine. This line is such a specialized line we decided we needed to have a real-life player directing it."
As the star performer, Buff will be able to "direct from within the scene" without having to call for a new take. "We want this to be as real as possible," Webb said.
However, he stressed Titan will adhere to RACK guidelines adopted by the BDSM community. RACK is an acronym that stands for "risk-adverse consensual kink" and specifies agreed-upon boundaries to be respected by all players involved in kink or fetish play.
Titan Media recently received an XBIZ Awards nomination as GLBT Studio of the Year.
For domestic and international wholesale-retail information, contact Stephen Mounce or Charles LeBlanc at Wholesale@titanmedia.com, or call (800) 360-7204.
