YNOT – Like Madonna, adult jack-of-all-trades Mo bears a one-word name. Introduced to porn by a chance encounter with a well-known director, at first Mo had humble career aspirations.

As they say, things change.

Five years after entering the industry with no greater desire than to be a lighting grip, he now produces and directs his own content for Madness Pictures. When he’s not on-set, Mo is an advocate for the adult industry and its people. Right now, he’s one of the more outspoken voices in the battle to defeat Measure B, a Los Angeles County ballot initiative that would force the use of barrier protection on all adult film sets. He attends every meeting and press conference about the issue and tweets a “No on Measure B” message several times daily.

Despite an elevated profile, Mo said he considers himself “just an average guy.” Folks who’ve worked with him say he’s one of the good guys.

YNOT.com: Tell us how you got into the industry.

Mo: I worked in mainstream photography in various positions for 10 years before getting into porn. Five years ago, I was working as a photo assistant for a former Penthouse photographer and I met Andre Madness on a photo shoot. I thought he was a cool guy, so I asked him about possibly getting some work on video shoots. I had never worked on a porn set before, and he hired me to be a grip on a New Sensations movie.

I still remember the first scene I ever saw live. It was Alexis Texas and Tommy Gunn, and Alexis was playing a cable repair girl.

When I started in the industry, all I wanted to be was a lighting guy. I never expected I’d be where I am today.

How did you get into directing?

I was working full time for Madness Pictures, and one day out of nowhere, Andre asked me if I wanted to get my dick sucked on camera for the 13 Cum Hungry Cocksuckers line. It started off as a joke, but after a month of thinking about it, I decided to do it. For my first few scenes, Andre shot the scenes over my shoulder before handing off the camera to me. Andre taught me how to use the camera, and after a few more scenes he decided he didn’t want to watch me get my dick sucked anymore and let me do it on my own.

Why the name Mo?

It’s a shortened version of my full name. Everyone called me Mo in mainstream, so I used it as my stage name on the first movie that I was a grip on and it stuck. Everyone knows me as Mo, so I won’t change it, but I will be deciding on and adding a last name by the time the AVN Awards roll around this year.

What’s it like working with Andre Madness?

Here’s the kiss-ass portion of this interview, and I hope Andre actually reads it. I consider Andre to be a mentor and a friend. Any question or problem I have with work or in my personal life, he’s there to give me advice and support me. I feel lucky that I got into the industry with a respected director who runs his set professionally. I’m a serious person, have a solid work ethic and when I’m on set, it’s all business. Andre and I work together well because of this, and he knows he can count on me to make sure things get done.
I appreciate Andre moving me up in positions as quickly as he did. We agree that together we make a great team.

You work with a lot of pretty girls. Who are some of your favorite porn girls, and why?

I don’t like to pick favorites, but some of my favorite performers I’ve personally done scenes with are Jessica Bangkok, Rebecca Bardoux, Lizz Tayler, Gracie Glam and Ashlynn Leigh. These women did great scenes. For me, it’s not just about how great the BJ is, because in the end, I want a good scene. I will always have a fondness for the contract girls I worked on set with set when I started out, like Ashlynn Brooke, Bree Olson and Kayden Kross. I was around them the most early on and learned a lot from them. Lastly, as a fan, it’s no secret that I love Alexis Texas.

You shoot Asian Mouth Club scenes POV style. Is it hard to shoot that way? How often have you dropped the camera?

So far I’ve never dropped a camera, but there’s been a few scenes where the girl was rocking my world and made it very hard to shoot. I’ve had to cut a few times to slow the girl down, because I need 15 minutes worth of footage, not five. Some of these girls really know how to suck a cock. Jessica Bangkok was one of my all-time favorites. She gave an amazing BJ, and the scene was great.

You’re more than just a director, right? I’ve heard you do wardrobe, location scouting and a lot of other things — sort of a jack of all trades. Any truth to the rumor?

I don’t really have just one title that I call myself, although one day I’d like my credit on a movie to be All Around Good Guy. When Andre is directing, I do a lot of different things, but my official title is production coordinator. At some point I’ve done every job on a set, including performing as a stunt cock on a bigger movie. Yeah, I’m totally bragging about that.

One of the most valuable things I’ve learned from working with Andre on Adam & Eve sets is how to handle paperwork. It’s extremely important that your paperwork is in order for a movie. I also just started doing wardrobe and being a production assistant for Jonathan Morgan at Wicked Pictures, and the first shoot I did with him was a lot of fun. For Madness Pictures, I run the day-to-day operations, and I do whatever needs to be done from directing to packaging product in the warehouse. As for my movies, the box says it best: “Shot, chopped & rocked by Mo.”

Anyone who follows you on Twitter or knows you in person realizes you have some strong opinions about what’s good and bad for the industry. Currently, you’re campaigning against mandatory condoms and are a major supporter of the No on Measure B movement in Los Angeles. Why?

I’m very passionate about the condom issue because I believe it infringes on our rights as individuals and our freedom of expression. Performers are consenting adults, and it is their right to choose whether they want to use condoms. Any talent has the right to choose whom they work with and what they want to do sexually. There’s no other job that allows you to make those kinds of choices.

In the 16 years I’ve been voting, I’ve never been asked to decide what safety measures should been taken in the workplace. I don’t believe the general public is informed enough to decide what should happen on a porn set. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation [a major supporter and financer of the Measure B ballot initiative] does many great things around the world, but its president, Michael Weinstein, has taken donors’ money to strong-arm the City and County of Los Angeles into creating this unnecessary law. For well over a decade, the adult industry has done a great job of self-regulation, and we should be left alone to continue that.

I try to educate myself and keep current with what’s going on in the industry, and when I have an opinion, I have no problem voicing it. Twitter is a great place for me to communicate with other industry professionals as well as fans. I try to get my opinion out there in a humorous and sometimes sarcastic way, because I think when people are entertained they’re more likely to read and pay attention to the info.

One of the lines I use most about myself is “My soapbox may be small, but I have a very loud voice.”

What can people in the industry do to help defeat Measure B and make sure we decide our destiny?

I’ve said this many times: Social media is free, and we need to use it. Talent and companies in the adult industry have massive amounts of followers, so this is their chance to use Twitter and Facebook to voice their opinions. The female talent in this industry has a very captive audience, and if each girl in the industry tweeted just once, on a daily basis, about her thoughts on condoms, we’d be getting our message to literally millions of people.

Everyone needs to remember sex sells, and fans pay attention to what these girls say.
On the topic of social media, all industry members need to remember that the world is watching us, so we need to stop the negativity and internal arguing on these very public forums.

You’ve shot a lot of scenes and a lot of girls. Who have you not shot that you want to? And what else lies in the future for Mo’s career?

I look forward to continuing my career in the adult industry. I’m a pornographer, and I do this because I love it, not because I want to get rich.

I don’t want to name names, but I’m looking forward to working with some big-name Cougar and Asian performers in the near future. I’ve started shooting some content for girls, and I will be doing a lot more of that next year. I want to get back to my roots and do more photography, and I want to shoot more creative images, not just the typical porn shots. I have a dark creative side that hasn’t come out to play in porn yet, but it will.

I also have my blog TheAverageMo.com, which for now is just images, but I look to expand the concept over the next few months. My blog tagline is “Average guy; not so average job.”

How can people get in touch with you?

If you want to get in touch with me, the fastest way is by Twitter. You can also check out my blog for updates on what’s going on in my work and personal life.