Changing Hands

by Rich Moreland, January 2014

The adult film business has its own Fortune 500 movers and shakers. Names like Adam and Eve, Hustler, Vivid, Wicked, Evil Angel, and Digital Playground come immediately to mind.

Powered by a self-created niche it has seen widely imitated, another name is seeking a space in that pantheon. Started over eight years ago, Girlfriends Films (GFF) is the leader in girl/girl erotica, an expanding genre in the industry.

Praised for its innovative film work, Girlfriends’ DVD and VOD (Video on Demand) inventory contains over a thousand scenes representing the best of the industry’s female performers.

As for the company’s ethical business practices, listen to Dan O’Connell creator of GFF. “No one has ever quit or retired from Girlfriends Films.” Now Dan extends that reality to himself because things are changing.

Dan O’Connell is passing from owner to adviser and confidant. Effective January 1, Dan sold the company to his long time Vice-President, Moose. But Dan isn’t going anywhere; he retains ownership of Groundwork Visions, the business that produces all of Girlfriends‘ work.

The new arrangement frees Dan O’Connell to do what motivated him from Girlfriends’ inception, shoot film. He has an “exclusive arrangement” to continue with the company and, along with famed hetero filmmaker B. Skow, provide GFF fans with the high quality product expected of this superbly run enterprise.

For Girlfriends‘ loyal customers, nothing has changed. The varied and iconic GFF series will continue and production schedules will not be affected.

The deal is a win-win for everyone, particularly Dan O’Connell, who is at last putting management issues behind him. Opportunities going forward to improve his “movie-making game” are now on the table, he says. The sixty-something will devote his energies what he loves, filming beautiful women having sex.

As the new owner, Moose will continue with all his current duties. Dan reminds everyone that Moose’s talents are well versed in handling a multiplex business. “Running Girlfriends Films is a very complex operation that includes movie production and post-production, sales and marketing, internet sites, [and] our new GFF cable channel,” Dan says, not to ignore overseeing the company’s 37,000 square foot facility in Valencia.

Their relationship over the years has been close as I can attest from a recent visit with some of the GFF gang (see “The Pornographer’s Heart” November 20, 2013). Everyone looks for the company to maintain and enrich its present course.

“I’m very fortunate to have someone of Moose’s caliber to take over the operation,” Dan O’Connell says, but adds his personal full-time efforts are not quite over. Upcoming is the hectic schedule of the Adult Entertainment Expo in Vegas and GFF’s distribution of other brands that demand his keen eye and industry wisdom. As the company likes to say, Girlfriends Films is “simply the most realistic sex in lesbian adult video.” Such a boast requires hard work and attention to customers and fans, something GFF does well.

For anyone interested in the business, visit girlfriendsfilms.com or contact Moose at moose@girlfriendsfilms.com.