from www.tmz.com – If you thought James Franco was kidding this month when he said on “Conan” he was directing a porn documentary … think again — because TMZ spies caught a glimpse of Franco earlier this summer … staking out one of the biggest porn studios in the country.

Franco was seen chatting up some of the, umm… employees at Kink.com. James is helming a project about the company which plunked down $14.5 million to move into the old San Francisco Armory in 2006.

Franco toured the joint in June and is due back in the coming months to begin filming.