On the Set: Kay Brandt Brings in 'Safe Landings' for Adam & Eve

Safe Landings, directed by Kay Brandt for Adam & Eve Pictures, was released September 29 on VOD. The DVD streets today. Pictured at left, Brenda James and August Ames. To see more images from the movie, click here. The multi-story location house crawling up a canyon hillside is different from most location houses: Nobody lives here. Sets of duplicate furniture sit in unused corners of rooms, ready to move into position to give a new look. Small camera domes inconspicuously dot the walls to record damage by careless crews. Fortunately, the bathrooms and kitchen are fully functional. This is where Kay Brandt is directing her new movie, Safe Landings, based on her own erotic novel. The movie and book are set for simultaneous release by Adam & Eve. Safe Landings tells the story of two women, a married flight attendant and a young engaged woman, who survive a plane crash and build an emotional bond that leads to a psychological dependency—and the realization that they have to either spend their lives together or part and never see each other again. The kitchen is the setting for today's first scene, a confrontation between Brenda James, who plays the flight attendant, and her husband, played by Marcus London. The morning sunlight is supplemented by large lights shining in the window as London regales us with a story of a production company that made a pair of elevator sandals for him to use in scenes when he has to compensate for his 5-foot-6 height. "They call them Air Londons." Brandt pulls London and James aside to confer with them, working on readings and motivation, and the hubbub around the coffee machine dissipates as everybody discreetly moves to an adjacent room, one by one, to give them space. Conference over, Brandt summons cameraman Mike Quasar and places the actors ("How many scenes have we shot in this kitchen?") for rehearsal. James is in a sundress, London barechested in sweatpants. Quasar readies his camera, just in case. "Remember what's in your mind," Brandt tells London. "The truth must come out." They rehearse, stills guy snapping away. Their confrontation is quiet, intense. London feels betrayed, James is defensive. Brandt stops them. "Quit being so damn passive," she tells James. "I need you to go into flight attendant mode." To reinforce this, they add business with James nervously picking up and rinsing coffee cups. Rehearsal complete, they go to record. The scene is intense, hard, with London demanding to know what's going on, and James not giving an inch. The drama grabs everybody in the room; nobody makes a sound as the scene unfolds until Brandt calls cut. "I had been emailing with Bob Christian at Adam & Eve since 2012," Brandt tells me. "Things were glacial—they moved slowly. I made three movies for another company. Back when I left mainstream for adult, I did it because I wanted to make a difference. I wasn't going to do the same thing as everybody else. I wrote myself out of a job," she adds with a laugh. "I'm not just a writer, I'm a storyteller. Storytellers write screenplays, and not just a 10-page screenplay to wrap around sex scenes. The style I'm doing is really strong story, strong acting. Not a parody. I do real character studies, real character development, real backstory. A fully developed concept. In two days. Yesterday we wrapped at 3 a.m." The next scene is a seduction between James and August Ames. "She's the predator, you're the prey," Brandt tells Ames. "Back and forth. She brings out in you something you didn't know was there." Brandt turns to James. "You back off because you can tell she hasn't had any experience." "Yeah," James says, turning to Ames and riffing on the no-experience idea: "You're a really shitty kisser. Have you even been with a woman before?" Everybody cracks up, including Ames. James and Ames sit side by side on a couch, sharing wine from a prop bottle with a "Cherry" label, a reference to Brandt's previous film series. James reaches for Ames, talking about the plane crash they survived—"When I grabbed you and you grabbed me back, I knew everything was gonna be okay”—and going in for a sisterly hug. Quasar holds on Ames' face, then pans down. "It is a nice shot, the emotions on her face," Brandt says appreciatively, and Ames, noting her face is off-camera, breaks into a goofy grin before settling back into character. James pushes Ames' hair back, goes in for a kiss. Ames pushes James away, then lowers her resistance. No, then yes. Hands go forward and back, Ames retreats, James follows, on top of her. Ames looks up, a look of almost-fear on her face. James pulls up Ames' dress, kisses her middle, moves up to her face, caresses Ames' breast, then moves in close. Ames returns the kiss, giving in to the seduction. James starts to unbutton her own shirt when Brandt calls her off.   "Too fast," Brandt says. "Put your shirt back on. I'll tell you when to move on. Start kissing your way down her neck." This is going to take a while. Much like a real seduction.