Once upon a time, the legendary “Upper Floor” series lit up The Armory in San Francisco for Kink.com. Now, reigning XBIZ Gay Directors of the Year Siouxsie Q and Michael Vegas have taken on the ambitious task of crafting a spiritual successor: “The Bottom Floor.”
The project is part of their Adult Time “Director Showcase,” which empowers the studio’s top production maestros to go all-out with maximum artistic freedom.
In this case, that means bringing together a who’s who of kinky veterans with a diverse array of sexualities, gender identities and BDSM proclivities in a colorful and dark Los Angeles warehouse filled with Egyptian-style décor. There are pharaoh masks, all-seeing eyes, a pyramid that doubles as a DJ booth, sex-positive messages painted on the walls and a collection of naughty tools, much of it neon-drenched. There is a fuck machine, an X-cross, a Sybian, whips and clothespins, as well as loads of sex toys, lube and wipes for cleaning up. Once the fog machine gets going, the atmosphere is truly evocative of a full-on kinky affair.
Featuring as the main act a Siri Dahl double penetration courtesy of XBIZ Performer of the Year Seth Gamble and Codey Steele, the free-flow nightclub-style party scene includes a variety of extras, “sextras” and supporting cast members serving up a carnal carnival. Among them are Aiden Starr, Mickey Mod, Ian Rath, Penny Barber, Dillon Diaz, Hazel Grace, Davin Strong, Rebecca Vanguard, Zariah Aura, Nicky Zeal, Arson Leigh, Estella Bathory, Rex Shepherd, Gwen Adora, Beau Donovan, Dee Williams and Ember Fiera.
“At Adult Time, we pride ourselves on our collaborative efforts not only with performers, but also by offering our producers opportunities to explore their creativity,” shares Adult Time Chief Creative Officer Bree Mills. “Our main teams work on a wide variety of series for us, yet they’re encouraged to bring their personal dream projects and fresh ideas to us as well. To support this, our production team created a space in our programming for Director Showcases, rewarding those who surpass our expectations and align with our values with a chance to flex their own ideas. It’s our way of saying ‘thank you’ with a touch of creativity.
“The Monster Mouth team, under co-producers Siouxsie Q and Michael Vegas, has envisioned ‘The Bottom Floor’ for a long time,” she explains. “Their idea to voyeuristically document an authentic sex party was unique, and while it didn’t fit into our regular programming, it made an excellent candidate for a Director Showcase.
“They have tackled this project with extreme dedication and professionalism, from conceptualizing a stellar production and ensuring a safe on-set atmosphere to meticulously selecting guests for consensual play from a wide spectrum of sexualities and personalities,” enthuses Mills. “I am looking forward to the project’s debut, allowing Adult Time subscribers an intimate view into the unique world of ‘The Bottom Floor.’ It’s an experience that exemplifies porn done differently!”
Before the fiery festivities kick off, Q and Vegas gather the cast for a thorough consent discussion lasting more than an hour, with each member sharing their do’s and don’ts, from hair pulling and spitting to dirty talk and whether switches are feeling dominant or subby that evening. The directors then outline the general rhythm of the evening, during which literal rhythms will be provided by a live DJ — fitting, considering how much “The Bottom Floor” resembles an intricate, sprawling dance performance.
Before the mayhem ensues, some of the cast share their thoughts on the spectacle with XBIZ. First up is Aiden Starr, who speculates that Q and Vegas invited her because they observed her at a real-life sex party they all attended for her friend Eli Cross’ birthday.
“I’ve been involved in the kink scene since the ’90s, when I started working as a dominatrix in New York,” Starr explains. “So I have a fair amount of entrenchment in the social aspects of BDSM and alternative sex culture. Today, I am one of the sextras, and I have a couple of BDSM sex scenes negotiated.”
What might that entail?
“I’m going to sit on Davin’s face and call him my fuck toy,” says Starr. “I’m going to stick my fingers in Dillon’s ass and give him a prostate stimulation. Then my friend Bo ordered this super-fucking complex inverted suspension scene! There’s going to be a flogging and some massive shenanigans. All this crazy shit.”
Asked about the phallus she has donned for the occasion, Starr explains, “I am wearing a penis because the sextras are booked for oral. Only one person likes this in their butt because the consistency is good for them, but for most people, it’s too hard. They like a squishier thing in there. So I brought it for oral.”
Another experienced kinkster, professional dominatrix Arson Leigh, tells XBIZ that she has shot with Q and Vegas a couple of times for Peghim.com, where Vegas gets pegged by a variety of talent. She also recently shot with Inka Winter for a production releasing soon.
“So many hot people in the same room, and it’s just incredible working with them!” Leigh marvels. “There’s good energy and good vibes. I’m happy to be a slut with everybody in the room but I only switch for a select few people. I have a really small circle when it comes to switching! I’m primarily a session domme.”
When Codey Steele walks up, he is at first glance unrecognizable in his leather butcher apron, an outfit he freely admits is a “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” homage.
“I just flat-out butcher,” Steele says. “I consensually massacre Siri Dahl’s holes. All three of them.”
Having worked with Q and Vegas many times, Steele says, he counts them among his favorite people.
“They care about their talent,” he affirms. “And the artistic direction. They really want to make something lavish, which is always a fun idea.”
Most of all, Steele adds, he is thrilled about the group setting — and not just because of all the available partners.
“I love the exhibitionist part of it,” he offers. “I get watched on set, but it’s a little different when you’re live with other people who are really also having sex. So, it’s going to be a really good day.”
Next, 2023 XBIZ Gay Performer of the Year Dillion Diaz swings by in his best leathery finery, ready to unpack what is on tap.
“Oh my gosh, I am just here to have a good time with whoever wants to have a good time with me!” he declares. “There are so many beautiful people, so many people that I call friends and so many people that I haven’t met yet. Plus, Siouxsie and Michael have this great vision. Working with them is just a pleasure because you know you’re going to make beautiful art, but you’re also going to have a great time with friends.”
Meanwhile, Estella Bathory and Gwen Adora recline in a corner, where the XBIZ Award-winning extras will later entwine with Leana Lovings in an amorous trinity. Bathory notes that she herself literally arrived a few hours ago, having just flown out for the Pornub Awards taking place in a couple days.
“I’m looking forward to watching everyone have a filthy fucking time,” she gushes. “There’s an amazing atmosphere going on here, and there’s a really great group of people.”
While she has not previously shot with any of the performers present, Bathory says, she has worked with Q and Vegas.
“I like what they bring to sex in terms of creativity and inclusivity, which is why I really wanted to be a part of this today,” she says.
For Adora, this will be her initial foray into studio work. She reveals that Dahl is the person who “roped” her in.
“I thought, ‘This will be a fun way to get into it!’” Adora says. “Oh my goodness, I’m excited to see what’s about to go down. It looks like there’s going to be a lot of dynamic things happening.”
Mickey Mod strolls up, offering his perspective as a veteran of the kink scene.
“Being in the BDSM community and being friends with Siouxsie and Michael, I’m just really excited to support them and see how they pull this BDSM sexy-fun-time party together!” he says. “It feels really organic and natural. I’m very excited. It’s going to be a good time.”
Another example of casting with max authenticity in mind is Penny Barber, in full latex regalia with lifestyler hubbie Rex Shepherd in tow, his face concealed with a red bandana.
“What’s on tap?” she purrs. “Oh, all the dirty things are on tap at ‘The Bottom Floor.’ I make no promises, but maybe squirting? I don’t always know when it is going to happen.”
Barber notes that she is collared to Shepherd, and the couple take turns commanding acts of each other to demonstrate their unique dynamic, from dog barks to kneeling, with a practiced ease born of years of consensually agreed-upon parameters.
Around the corner strides a figure in a sparkly face-concealing mask, which he removes to reveal the chiseled mug of Seth Gamble.
“Today is a passion project of Miss Siouxsie and Michael Vegas,” he notes, his dapper suit somewhat at odds with the more unusual fashions sported by most of the other partygoers.
“They keep me clean cut,” he mock laments. “I never get to be the weird guy.”
Fresh from the makeup chair, Siri Dahl takes a moment to share her anticipation of the upcoming double penetration scene with Gamble and Steele.
“I’m very much looking forward to that,” she says. “I’m going to be in a very sub space in my brain.”
“I think this scene was inspired by an actual sex party I attended with Siouxsie and Michael!” Dahl further confides. “We all had so much fun and I’m very much looking forward to reliving some of those vibes. We’re creating the atmosphere of a real party. And that, for me, is really the right energy.”
What happens next is at first a demure affair. Much like an actual sex party, the scene begins as a slow burn, then gradually ratchets up into unhinged delights.
Starr gets the X-cross primed for Bo, who is giddy with anticipation at being so thoroughly mastered by such a mistress. Zariah Aura and Nicky Zeal start getting hot and heavy. Mickey Mod and Arson Leigh get frisky. Then, once the fog machine cranks up and the camera operators — Vegas and Robby Apples, with Natasha Inamorata as photographer — get to snapping and lighting up the action, the party really gets going.
The aforementioned pairings of Aura/Zeal and Mod/Leigh sustain their erotic tempo throughout, with oral, penetration, fingering and all manner of heated frenzy. Ian Rath with his lady love expertly administers rough affections. Starr hangs her sub upside down on the X-cross, with assistance from some heavy lifters. Shepherd happily watches Barber unleash her inner sexual beast, which she does with wild abandon, especially during a vigorous cowgirl on the couch astride the aptly named and hulking Davin Strong. Starr gives a blowjob to Diaz, late arrival Leana Lovings entangles herself with Adora and Bathory, and a silvery exotic dancer with glowing hair whirls about a pole.
Given the freedom of movement and the switching of partners, both organic and choreographed, it is akin to a live battlefield — with director Q as the medic, checking in on talent and crew with stealthy finesse, making sure water bottles are brought in to quench the thirsts of overheated combatants.
By the time Steele and Gamble serve up Dahl as the main course, piston-fucking her holes, voyeurs are switching from observer to observed, switches are toggling from top to bottom and “The Upper Floor” has soundly inverted into “The Bottom Floor” with neon-lit perfection, to the tune of balls slapping, whips cracking, tits whirling, DJ beats booming, dicks slamming and consensually orgasmic, orgiastic splendor.
A showcase indeed.
Reflecting on the production a couple weeks after the shoot wraps, Q and Vegas explain, “‘The Bottom Floor’ is a dream that has lived in our hearts for a very long time, but we weren’t exactly sure how to make it real until we had the support of Adult Time for our Director Showcase. We are so grateful to Bree, Patrick and Danae for believing in us and investing in a vision that is so monumentally important to both of us.
“Our inspiration for the project is rooted in both our individual, and shared, journeys through BDSM, nightlife and queer spaces,” they continue. “Before I started performing in adult films, I was immersed in the San Francisco BDSM scene of the early 2010s, regularly attending events such as Bondage-a-Go-Go, Kinky Salon, “The Upper Floor” (where “The Bottom Floor” star and Adult Time Ambassador Seth Gamble and I actually met for the first time!) at the old San Francisco Armory, and then eventually stepping into leadership roles at the SF Citadel, Dark Odyssey: Surrender, and the International Ms. Leather contest and conference.”
Q and Vegas noted these were pansexual community events where a wide variety of gender and sexuality expressions were present and celebrated, and that was very much the vibe they wanted to curate with “The Bottom Floor.”
“We prioritized casting and inviting folks that we knew would appreciate a space that centered kink, consent and community play above all, and I believe that’s exactly what we did,” they explain. “While it was challenging to execute a shoot with that many players, managing a consent conversation with 30-plus people was certainly a highlight of my career! Also the support of my leather community and folks who truly understand the vision and the mission was hugely important to the success of the event.”
They gave a shout out to their production manager Modest Pup, for bringing the they have cultivated over the years producing local play parties and events, as well as their experienced cast.
“I am so grateful to have had a group of truly solid BDSM veterans attending, such as Aiden Starr, Beau Donovan, Hazel Grace, Dee Williams, Codey Steele and Penny Barber, along with the legendary Mickey Mod and Arson Leigh of Collective Corruption,” they say. “‘The Bottom Floor’ is of the people, by the people and for the people of this industry. We deserve a safe place where we can play hard as our authentic selves and create the kind of magic that happens as a result. I hope we have many more opportunities to create these spaces for our community, and we are already scheming to manifest events for Pride and Folsom, so stay tuned! Follow @thebottomfloorLA on Instagram, and BottomFloor.org for updates on the future.”
