NYLON - A Fetish

American Fetish deals with many fetishes, including nylon. This is an extremely popular fetish, with culture easily accepting it, and in fact many commercial enterprises make a great profit pushing nylon on the public. Women love to wear nylons and garters; men love the look of it and fell of it also. Last century silk and nylon stockings caught on greater as skirts got shorter, and a 'glimpse of stocking, sometimes shocking', as the song goes, was a huge turn on. Tights and pantyhose are another kind of fetish, sometimes more secretive than garter and nylon. The photo on the right was from the key art shoot of the movie; I shot this photograph in the living room of my house. The model was Ryan Kelly, a well known fetish model. The playing cards inside the PH was an idea I got from being a roadie on tour with the group 'THE TUBES'. The dancers could not be nude on stage, so they wore PH and put the cards over their privates...and keep out of jail! I adapted the concept and created an amazing icon for American Fetish. See the film at: www.americanfetishfilm.com

AMERICAN FETISH Trailer!

THE NYLON CLUB

The Nylon Club is the primary location of the story. Chet's dad passes away and he inherits The Nylon Club. I wanted to create an environment of attractive women encased in nylon, stockings, tights and pantyhose...a dream come true for a real fetishist. The photo to the left is a 'frame grab' from the film. This is a scene in The Nylon Club when something happens and 911 must be called. The actress is Jackie Gold, who enjoyed wearing the sexy outfits and it fit her well. It got a little rough working all day surrounded by the actresses walking around in next to nothing. Even though the nylon is sheer, the actresses would feel 'covered' even though they were putting on quite a show. The movie is a total visual feast. Shooting on film instead of digital, gives the film it's stunning look.

THE ENDING

I don't think this picture at the right will give away the ending, but it's a pretty good hint of what it's all about. The lead character, Chet Lands, has inherited his dad's nightclub, The Nylon Club. As the film unfolds, Chet finds himself getting deeper and deeper into fetishes, and finds himself in an reoccurring dream. Model Ryan Keely wears the great visual icon of the film, a Royal Flush under pantyhose covering her privates. I didn't want to make an X-rated movie, but wanted to be radically erotic to the fetish crowd. More and more people are getting into fetish as a result of explicit sex overwhelming the internet and culture -- leaving nothing to the imagination. Also in the picture is a 35mm motion picture camera, a French Eclair Cameflex, about 50 years old -- that not only shot the ending scene, but also shot about 30% of the film. An oldie but goodie! American Fetish's incredible look is due to shooting the entire film on 35 and 16mm film.

www.americanfetishfilm.com

The Making of American Fetish

Making any film is a hard chore. We watch movies and say, "oh, I could do better than that." And that has motivated many filmmakers to grab a camera and start filming. I had produced some indie films that were sold to HBO -- and once the filming was done, I was done. I worked hard and did not own any of the film. So I decided to make my own film with my own money.

The digital revolution had just started, and I figured I wouldn't ever have a chance to make a feature film on film. So I picked up a 35mm motion picture camera on Ebay for $3500. And started designing a film in my head. The first scenes shot took place in the infamous 'Nylon Club'. I designed the look of the scene and with the help of a very talented art director, Roxy, together we came up with what you see. Then more scenes were shot outside the club and I assembled a rough cut of the film -- it was called American Fetish. I used that title because I believed that America had a fetish for guns, violence, girls, the underground world and crime.

I wanted more fetish in the movie, so I engaged the services of the world's foremost fetish photographer, Eric Kroll, and he and I designed some stunning scenes...the blue movies, stag films and smokers. I love his work. And I decided to add more and more of my own fetishes to the movie.

And it was back into the editing room. Months and months of cutting and re-cutting. Many great films lived a long time in an edit room...and living in that room can drive one crazy. Any filmmaker who tells you different hasn't been through the editorial process. Sir Nick helped me put together more contemporary fetish scenes; the lead character Chet Lands was going to go on a journey of discovery of fetishes...including discovering some of his own.

Did Your Mother Wear Leg Braces?

Hey, I'm Michael Simmons and this is my blog for my motion picture AMERICAN FETISH. I want the blog to be a forum for artsy movies, cool stuff, indie filmmaking stuff and a general good time. The only rule...use taste...and if you don't...make sure it's tasteful 'no taste'.

The picture to the left is a still from a flashback 'blue movie' from AMERICAN FETISH. (Let's call it AmFet from now on.) Eric Kroll, the world famous fetish fashion photographer, designed the image and we shot this scene on Super16mm film. I completely accept digital, but I love shooting films on 35mm, 16mm or Super8. AmFet was shot on all film. I really miss those days when the camera jammed, the lab lost the film, or exposed film was re-loaded. But then again, there's nothing like a digital file going 'poof'! And all is gone.

But let's move forward. I'm going to keep you posted on the release of the picture, and things happening in general. Enjoy!

www.americanfetishfilm.com

The Filmmaker

Michael Simmons has been making films for 25 years. He produced films for HBO including NIGHT RHYTHMS, THE PAMELA PRINCIPLE and ANIMAL INSTINCTS. A graduate of San Diego State University, he made award winning shorts then moved to Los Angeles to pursue the bigger game. He shifted into directing, first doing erotic films for WARNERVISION, and has directed for Playboy and Penthouse, including THE ART OF MASSAGE. American Fetish is his directorial debut, shot completely on 35mm and 16mm film to preserve "the incredible look and feel of fetish driven subjects."

"American Fetish is the natural evolution of erotic thrillers. I wanted to push the genre into the fetish subject matter because no other film had really addressed the issue. Thrillers always explored criminal activity, but never the sexual fetish behavior, and to me, that became the most interesting."

"American Fetish was a complete labor of love. It was made outside of the mainstream movie business, and I would not compromise my vision. The film is quirky, eclectic and like nothing else ever made -- and not everyone's cup of tea. But it always evokes an intense reaction, especially the ending, which I'm very proud of."

Michael lives in Los Angeles and is now developing other unusually unique motion pictures, including one exploring the fetish subject matter even deeper.

And one last comment -- "Everyone has a fetish. What's yours?"