Exclusive: How Tom Faulk Made MXXX Such A Hit, Who Stabbed Him, And Why Michael Lucas Is Running “The Most Fucked Up Studio On The Planet”
One of my favorite interviews I’ve ever published was with Tom Faulk nearly two years ago. His on-set stories were absurdly hilarious yet highly informative, and what I appreciated most was his matter-of-fact honesty, which you don’t often see in this business. Today, Tom Faulk is opening up again, this time about the greatest production of his gay porn career—NakedSword’s MXXX: The Hardest Ride—and also a disastrous production he recently wrapped—with Michael Lucas and Lucas Entertainment—that made him rethink his future in the gay porn industry. All of that and more below in Str8UpGayPorn’s exclusive interview with Tom Faulk.
Hi, Tom! Before we talk about MXXX and everything else, how are you feeling? A couple months ago, you tweeted that you woke up in the hospital with a collapsed lung. What happened?
I’m feeling alright. I was driving home from my friend’s house, and a police officer shined his spotlight directly in my eyes, from the opposite lane, when I was on my motorcycle. It surprised me and blinded me, and I hit a curb at about 10 to 15 miles per hour, and that’s all I remember.
Until…?
Until I woke up in the hospital, with a partially collapsed lung. I had no tickets, no charges, and no explanation [for the spotlight]. My license is currently restricted, so I kind of just left it at that and moved on. But, it’s been hard to leave my house the last few weeks because I’m scared of police cars now.
I was wondering if the lung collapse had anything to do with you being stabbed, which happened a month earlier while you were filming MXXX. You mentioned that the assault happened away from set, and no one from the movie was involved, but what happened exactly?
One of my good friends explained it best: He said it was my mechanic’s inner homophobia coming out when he was drunk.
So, your mechanic stabbed you?
Yeah. Either he really hated us, or he really wanted to fuck me, LOL, but when it happened, it was so sudden and so out of character, it blew us all away. It was the night we shot the MXXX party scene, and he had had a lot of whiskey. The porn cast had left, and it was just us locals. We were talking about a motorcycle trailer I have, and all of a sudden he shouted, “Nobody threatens me!” He grabbed me by the throat and slammed me on the ground, impaling me on a beer bottle next to the DJ table on my porch. I got up, looked at my back hanging open—it was agape, one might say—and I passed out. It’s all I remember.
Well, I’m glad you’re OK! Maybe don’t hang out with the mechanic again.
It sucked. I bled all over my best friend’s backseat while waiting on the ambulance.
And then you were able to wrap production on MXXX, which you co-wrote and worked behind the scenes on for months. What led to it becoming a feature, and how did you come up with the idea?
In November, for my birthday, we had started buying dump trucks of dirt. Load after load, and then a bobcat—which is a tractor with a front-end loader—and I was like, hey, we’re gonna sell this house this summer anyway, so why don’t we have a giant blowout party and film a porno here? It’s my uncle’s place, so why not?
Your uncle was cool with you shooting at his house?
Yeah. It’s in the north Austin area, at the place I love the most. My uncle and people there are such cool hippies. They love me, and I was so glad to help them out a little with the property rental.
And, you mentioned that your dad took some of the drone shots on the film. Did you have other friends and family working on the production?
My dad was the drone pilot, my aunt and uncle rented the property, and of course my mother came by and took some pics of us the day we were all there riding together. I always like to brag that anyone in the LGBT community deserves to have family treat them like mine treats me, especially my father. He’s now retired, and is an awesome dude. I try to soak up as much knowledge I can from him whenever I see him, because I know there will be a day when I’m faced with the feeling that I don’t know him enough.
It’s so great that your family got to meet and hang with so much of the cast and crew.
They had a grand time with everyone, and they thought Gabriel [Alanzo] was the star of the week. He was always singing to them. We shot for 10 days, and the movie actually turned out differently than we expected.
But it still turned out great, I think. The filming, cinematography, and story is unlike anything else that’s been released this year.
Bro, I’m not gonna lie, this movie was so off script. Between the rain and the stabbing, we had to change a LOT. I was supposed to double-penetrate Brent [Corrigan] the last day, but I was so out of it on pain pills and was all stitched up, it didn’t happen. The rain drove us off the jumps. I was supposed to go out the last two days and ride and jump in everyone else’s jerseys, but the rain was so bad I couldn’t do it, and everyone was gone.
The models did most of their own riding, right? They just weren’t expected to do the major stunts.
Yes, everyone we cast rode, and it was amazing! I had to teach some of the guys a little, but by the end of the day to see everyone riding around and smiling…it was probably the best part for me. Even if they couldn’t do the big jumps or wheelies, it was fine! It’s just a porno after all, and I think we did a really good job considering.
You’ve primarily worked as a model, so was this your first time working on the production side? What was the hardest part?
Honestly, the hardest part was procuring the jerseys, and having every single bike ready and prepped. And keeping the track nice. And, not riding on the track beforehand and getting hurt. I actually broke my collarbone on a jump off-site a week before, and I was in a sling half the shoot, even before the bottle incident. Oh, and having a writer’s deadline was weird. I haven’t had a deadline for a written presentation in years, haha.
While you were filming, did you and mr. Pam know it was going to turn out looking so great?
mr. Pam and her crew, Leo and Anthony, were amazing. They are so creative and kind, and they had a blast learning how to ride themselves. The rain at the end of the last scene was so impromptu, it was literally perfect and dramatic. I again say thank you to NakedSword for this opportunity. It was the most fun I have ever had at a shoot. I missed my boo Ryan Rose over the last year—the last movie we did together was Scared Stiff—and I made so many new friends with everyone else.
Two weeks ago, you sent me a message about a different production in New York. You mentioned that you were shooting with Michael Lucas and his studio, Lucas Entertainment, and that it was “the most fucked up studio on the planet.” Now that the shoot is over, are you able to tell us what happened with Michael Lucas in New York?
OK, here’s the part where I exhale deeply for five seconds, and I take myself back to the beginning. In doing so, I hope to answer every question that any person has about that studio and its owner, and give information that will help models.
The more people can learn about what goes on on a Lucas set, the better. Take all the time you need to explain.
I want to start by saying that Men.com, their subsidiaries, and NextDoorStudios have something in common: Their STD testing for talent is superb. Their systems are streamlined and subsidized so the model only pays $20 dollars, each time and every time. And, if you do bareback, you get tested twice. That second test is handled by the studios, and it’s free, with next day results. In the many years I have worked in the industry, I have never contracted an STD, going back to 2012 after I left CollegeDudes. Hell, even FraternityX uses this system, the PASS database.
Yes, it’s used by tons of studios, both gay and straight.
Now, years ago I was in New York City shooting for someone who used to work with Michael, and he told us that Michael had always told him it was easier to “test models after” a shoot for STD. Why is this important? Let me get to that.
To be continued…
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Tomorrow, Tom Faulk shares his complete experience of working for Michael Lucas and Lucas Entertainment, including Michael Lucas’s verbal abuse, Trimix injections, and Lucas’s distribution of the prescription drug Truvada to models on the morning of a Lucas Entertainment bareback gay porn shoot. UPDATE: Part two of this interview is now live.
