Wicked Head of Production Jessica Jasmin Discusses Directorial Debut ‚Blast From the Past‘

MONTREAL — Wicked’s new Head of Production Jessica Jasmin spoke with XBIZ about her directorial debut, the retro comedy “Blast From the Past,” with scenes streaming now at the studio site.

Shot last year, before Jasmin succeeded Axel Braun as studio runner at Wicked, “Blast From the Past” is a lighthearted romp with unmistakable industry veteran Evan Stone playing the current-day version of protagonist Michael Adkins, who reminisces about the sexy shenanigans of his earlier self, played by Seth Gamble.

“I was inspired by the older days of Wicked movies where you had Brad Armstrong those kind of fast-paced, fun comedies,” Jasmin tells XBIZ during an exclusive interview about the project. “What Axel did with his parodies, which were hilarious comedies, was also an inspiration for ‘Blast From the Past.’”

Although Jasmin acknowledges that choosing comedy — a notoriously difficult genre to pull off successfully — for her maiden voyage as a director, she says that she was enamored of “the idea of nostalgia, of going back to the past, and also getting to step into the ‘80s world. It all came really together in the movie,” which was written by prolific Adult Time scribe Taylor Saracen.”

Having reigning XBIZ Male Performer of the Year and rising director Gamble on set was another key element for the project’s success, Jasmin stresses.

“I absolutely wanted to have Seth be part of it. I developed a great working relationship with him early last year, when we worked on some projects for Adult Time and Bree Mills. He was also my biggest support for stepping into the directorial role. He was like, ‘Go for it, you should do a movie.’ The Axel, before he left, suggested , “You should have some of the ‘Legends of Porn,’ like Stormy Daniels and Evan Stone.’ They were all extremely excited to get to act on a feature.”

For the rest of the cast, Jasmin chose performers whom she knew could act and also be funny, starting with Nathan Bronson.

“I knew he is very good at just playing dramatic characters, like he did for James Avalon’s ‘Dark is the Night,’ but also you look at his social media, and his ‘Cooking With Nathan’ shows are so hilarious. I had him in mind right way. And then I had my choice of really popular girls like Slimthick Vic, Charlotte Sins, Lily Larimar, Kylie Rocket and Blake Blossom.”

Jasmin says that “Blast From the Past” — which also co-stars Tyler Cruise and Jaslyn Ray — really achieved what she set out to do: a “fun movie.”

“I really want people to enjoy watching it,” she adds. “Of course, we also want people jacking off — so hopefully, hopefully they do both at the same time!”

Hailing from Montreal, Jasmin has a background in film, majoring in cinema during her university years and then notching up production experience in the the art department of mainstream projects, and also learning how to edit.

Jasmin moved into the adult industry as a video editor, before climbing up the production ladder and developing a burgeoning collaboration with Adult Time’s Chief Creative Officer Bree Mills. After overseeing several gay and trans projects for Adult Time, Jasmin’s persistence and skills eventually led to taking over Wicked after Braun left the industry earlier this year.

“Directing was an old dream of mine,” she explains, “and people — especially Seth — kept telling the that I should just try. I definitely went for it, and, honestly, it was a pretty easy transition from producing and art directing. When I went on set, I knew how cameras work, I knew how angles I know, I knew the cinema language of it all. I have that background, so I just went with it. And really I loved it.”

“Blast From the Past” was also a change of pace for Jasmin. “I really wanted my Wicked debut to be something funny. Sometimes, when I worked on the gay side, it was a lot of taboo stuff and really going to dark places. But for this one, I really wanted something very light, very colorful, very funny. Just good entertainment.”

Comedy, however, is only one flavor of Jasmin’s plan for the Wicked brand under her supervision.

“Wicked’s already a legendary brand,” she states. “We don’t want to go too far away from it. I just want to take it to the next level, and have it be something like a cinema studio, like a Warner Brothers, where you can have comedies, you can have drama, and any high-end type of movies you can think of, where somebody can go during the weekend and find whatever they’re looking for.”

Besides doubling-down on Gamble’s directorial prowess — Jasmin reveals the multi-hyphenate talent is working on more ambitious series this year, including one where he “goes through different time periods, like the ‘30s the ‘40s” — the Head of Production says that Wicked is “going to have more comedies, more romantic comedies, some dramas and thrillers, and more.”

“The goal here is to have high-end movies that could be compared to what you watch in movie theaters,” Jasmin concludes. “But also with the best sex!”

To watch the first scenes from „Blast From the Past,“ visit Wicked.com.