Most adult stars only get one opportunity to film a debut scene. Then there’s Leah Gotti, who made it happen twice.
First, as a talent.
And now, as a director.
Long regarded as one of the top performers in porn, Gotti recently got a feel for life on the other side of the camera thanks to close friend and colleague Alan X.
Gotti had already written a handful of screenplays for X’s “She Seduced Me Banner.” Her work was so impressive that X rewarded her with directing duties for “Lesson Learned,” which features Gotti, Penelope Woods, and Alex Grey in an all-girl threesome.
“Wardrobe, props, set design, sequencing, script … I was involved in every single detail,” Gotti tells PornCrush. “A few times, I was even going back and forth between the scene and the camera just to make sure the angles looked right. It was a lot of fun.”
X said he couldn’t have been more pleased with the versatility and well-roundedness Gotti displayed on set.
“Leah has always expressed ideas about how she wants things to look, how she wants things to operate,” X said. “We let her bring her vision to life.”
X has reshaped “She Seduced Me” in recent months and now shoots scenes designated exclusively for performers’ content platforms, such as OnlyFans, before popping up on his site at least 30 days later.
In other words, the performers get the content first, and they own it, too. And X encourages them to devise their own storylines and craft their own scripts.
“It’s mainstream quality content for girls to put on their fan sites,” X tells PornCrush. “It gives them an opportunity to work with a production crew and film something a little more polished than what they’d do on their own.
“Girls have really gravitated toward it, especially because I give them the opportunity to write. They felt more invested in it. I’m getting just as much energy from them as they’d put into mainstream work, because it’s their idea and they’re going to benefit from it.”
While Gotti may have been the first performer to direct for X, he says she certainly won’t be the last.
“Others will see what Leah has done and want to do it, too,” X says. “That’s what the whole project is about: empowering models to become content owners.”
Gotti has received strong feedback on “Lesson Learned,” which dropped last week on her OnlyFans platform. Gotti, who also wrote the script, plays a dominatrix who counsels Wood on how to serve her husband better. Wood, however, is worried that her husband has been cheating on her with Grey—who happens to be friends with Gotti.
“Penelope wants me to invite Alex over to teach her a lesson,” Gotti said. “But instead, we flip the script on Penelope and teach her a lesson.
“Alex is a great performer and Penelope is a fantastic sub. The chemistry between all of us was great. We only had to cut one time, and that was just because we couldn’t get one of the toys to turn on.”
Gotti, 27, entered the industry toward the end of 2015 and shot more than 100 scenes the following year. Soon after, she took an extended hiatus after getting married and starting a family. Gotti returned in 2022 and now only shoots girl-girl content.
“She has a huge fan base,” X said. “A lot of people are glad that she’s back. Girl-girl is a lot bigger genre than it was a long time ago. There are a lot more sites for that than there used to be. She could be successful for a long time.”
In front of the camera.
And behind it, too, as Gotti said her first experience as a director left her eager for more.
“The editor has already emailed me notes and constructive criticism on how I can get better,” Gotti said. “I’m motivated and ready to do it again.
“I want to hire talent and shoot boy-girl scenes, even though I obviously won’t be in them. Someday I’m hoping other studios will watch what I’ve done and say, ‘Wow! We’d love for you to come do this for us, too.’”
