Tag Archives: BDSM

July 28, 2015 · 5:52 pm

Fantasy and Ethics: Part 2 of Mindbrowse with Candida and Jacky

by Rich Moreland, July 2015

This is the second segment of Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals’ discussion with Candida Royalle and Jacky St. James. I neglected in the first installment to let everyone know that Mindbrowse is produced by Sssh.com, an erotica for women website that keeps the modern sex-positive female up-to-date on issues that move her world.

The owner of Sssh and Mindbrowse producer is the well-known voice for women’s sexual growth and exploration, Angie Rowntree. Launching Sssh in 1999 as one of the first “for women” sites on the web, Angie’s fame has moved forward in leaps and bounds. In 2014, she entered the AVN Hall of Fame Founders Division, a mark of elite recognition in the adult business. At this year’s XBIZ awards in LA, Sssh was honored as the “Alternative Adult Site of the Year.”  Sssh.com continues to grow and has been featured on MSNBC and Nightline and in publications such as Playboy, Psychology Today, and Time Magazine. It can be visited here.

header-www.sssh.com

 

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“I hoped that I would inspire other women to get out there and have the courage to . . . create their own vision,” Candida Royalle says.

Jacky St. James offers her view. “I really want to create content that reaches people . . . challenges them to think about their sexuality and their own sexual fantasy.”

The topic is porn and its nuanced expression of fantasy and art and the female influence in shaping both. Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals’ mindbrowse interview featuring Candida Royalle and Jacky engages the discussion from a feminist perspective.

Fantasy

Though a porn generation apart, Candida and Jacky represent a style of movie making that reflects the growing liberalism in our personal lives. We are freer today to talk about our sexual imagination. This is particularly true for women who realize that there is “fine line,” as Jacky says, between art and porn. Women can swirl them together to create their favorite fantasy.

An example for Candida is the rape fantasy. It’s “one of the most popular fantasies for women,” she says. Because society circumscribes female sexual behavior, women need “permission,” a way of “letting go enough” to be “pleasured and have an orgasm.” Sometimes that involves “being forced.” But remember its just fantasy, Candida insists, “you’re in control.” That’s important because no woman wants “to go out and get raped.”

Jacky on the set of "fauxcest" film, Our Father, with Steven St. Croix and Carter Cruise. Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

Jacky on the set of “fauxcest” film, Our Father, with Steven St. Croix and Carter Cruise.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

Jacky brings up another fantasy that is on the popularity radar: incest. “But, it’s not like they really want to have sex with a family member,” she declares. Jacky is now filming “fauxcest” porn that tells stories about step-relations. However, a bit of the luster is lost because legalities insist that “step” is emphasized in the film (none of the performers are related) and everything is consensual.

Despite their feminist critics, both filmmakers agree that women find empowerment when they fantasize about giving up control. BDSM movies, another hot topic for porn these days, is a perfect example. It’s the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon.

Dr. Tibbals asks about the future. Where will porn be ten years from now?

Candida hopes it will be less stigmatized as more women get involved in the industry. Jacky’s focuses on financial survival. Creating content people are willing buy is the key to stemming the rising tide of tube sites.

“Higher quality” porn will keep the companies going, she thinks, “the scripted kind of content that people do pay for.” For her employer, New Sensations, DVD sales are still strong, an indicator of success.

Truth and Ethics

Before the interview wraps up, Jacky asks Candida about her greatest hurdle in her early days as a filmmaker. Not surprisingly, the pioneering director mentions the industry’s male-dominated attitudes. Money talks in adult, Candida says, and her movies sold well enough that she gained respect quickly.

There was, however, “this sort of gang of outlaws in California back then,” she mentions. A time of transition, the industry was leaving the East Coast to settle out west and Candida was based in New York.

“They wanted to keep it [the industry] a renegade world. They didn’t want women entering it and they were very critical of my work.”

Candida took them on and held her own. Overall, she concludes, “I’ve been treated well by the industry.”

The question of ethics in filming comes up and Candida explains that her “rule of thumb” concerns female performers. “As long as the woman appears to be enjoying herself and seems to be really into it, I can enjoy what I’m watching.”

A Candida Royalle Classic Photo courtesy of Adam and Eve

A Candida Royalle Classic
Photo courtesy of Adam and Eve

Candida believes it is important to be as ethical as possible. Porn companies have to stand behind the content they produce and how they treat their talent. When  anything “ethically questionable” arises, freedom of expression is tested and everyone might suffer if the Feds intervene.

To stress her point, the owner of FEMME Productions comments that too many young people in adult today don’t remember the 1990s when the government “assaulted” the industry. It could happen again.

Jacky St. James gets that picture.

“I live and die by ethics,” the multiple award winner declares. She has three important tenets in filming: make sure talent is aware of what is expected before they are booked, let them know who they are working with before they arrive on set, and always communicate limits.

As for content, some of hers is considered “unethical” by the occasional critic, but Jacky reminds everyone that she’s “creating a fantasy.” Of course, with BDSM and “fauxcest” the risk is promoting certain activities that make some people uncomfortable.

In the end, it’s up to the individual, whether performer or viewer, to decide if porn is for them. It’s called responsibility.

Candida departs with the hope that the industry will be legitimized as “another form of entertainment.” If that happens, the renegade reputation that has surrounded porn for decades will be pushed aside and the number of talented and ethical people who want to work in the business will increase.

Finally, both women encourage fans to support porn and pay for what they enjoy.

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Many thanks to the good people at Sssh.com for their permission to use portions of this important discussion.

Angie Rowntree Photo courtesy of AVN

Angie Rowntree
Photo courtesy of AVN

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July 11, 2015 · 9:26 am

My Way and My Niche

by Rich Moreland, July 2015

This is the fourth installment of the story of Mercy West. She represents an important part of the adult scene today, genderqueer, alternative, and willing to try just about anything. My thanks to her for sharing her personal  background and thoughts on being in adult film. More insights into Mercy are coming soon.

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Her experiences with phone sex and web cam revealed to Mercy West that “everyone wants to be accepted and everybody needs to feel loved.” The same applies to sexuality. “No matter what it is, no matter the fetish, the taboo, the turn on, we just want somebody to be okay with it.” To have someone be “excited about it” just adds to the pleasure, she says.

Thoughtful Moment. Photo courtesy of S. Thanatos

Thoughtful Moment.
Photo courtesy of S. Thanatos

Because phone sex callers are diverse, our masochistic kinkster inadvertently became an on-the-job sex therapist, as we have previously seen. What did she learn? Too many people are in unproductive situations like “dead” marriages and “crap” relationships, she says. Some are single and unhappy; others are folks who are just shy. Frustrated, they want someone to respond to their turn ons and validate their desires. Mercy was more than willing and treated them all with understanding.

Whether or not her “talk therapy” paid off remains to be seen, but her own personal life was enriched. Mercy has a clearer understanding of what satisfaction means when she plays with fetish lovers who are “utterly into what they are doing and know what they want . . . I feed off that excitement,” she exclaims. This is particularly true with BDSM because the attitudes and passions of the players energize each other once a scene gets underway. In some cases, Mercy has kinky partners so enthusiastic before the fun begins that she feels she is “going to explode” it is so hot. “With the right person, it’s perfect,” she exclaims.

On camera

When a girl is totally exposed in front of the camera, she’ll be judged, Mercy says. It’s a risk that rightly causes hesitation in some models. For her, it turned out to be a breezy experience. Doing web cam in Portland opened further opportunities in adult entertainment. “I really liked it and realized I was comfortable in front of people [that way]. Once I sold a few videos, custom stuff I had made for people, I started looking for work.” Web camming is highly individualized and is primarily a solo gig, which oft-times includes toys at the customer’s request.

Web Cam Seduction Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Web Cam Seduction
Photo courtesy of Mercy West

At this point, Mercy was ready to decide on her first booking with an adult company, but concerns about familiarity with the buisness and confidence in those in it arose. She liked gonzo porn as a viewer, but didn’t feel ready to take it on as a model. Instead, a BDSM shoot caught her attention, a natural because she had been doing scenes in clubs and festivals. The BDSM stage is all about getting to know the players and building chemistry with liked-minded people, so a bondage shoot seemed perfect to break her porn cherry. People she trusted in the community would be there to jump-start her career.

Paintoy Action Photo courtesy of Paintoy.com

Paintoy Action
Photo courtesy of Paintoy.com

Eventually, a little research yielded Paintoy, an attractive option though a little caution begged consideration. Mercy explains. “I wrestled with it for weeks because this is the real thing. People are going to know who I am.” It wasn’t too late to back out, “I had the option to pull my stuff off the internet and sort of disappear . . .” Such decisions are tough and Mercy confesses that shooting a heavy-duty BDSM scene with total nudity, real marks, and real tears “meant I wasn’t going to disappear any time soon.”

Hesitancy, anyone? Maybe a little and it did hang around. “I knew I was really, really going to like it,” Mercy coos, and best of all, Paintoy “had been around for a while.” Simply put, hardcore BDSMers know the label. It’s called legitimacy. So that part was settled.

Still, “things went through my head,” Mercy confesses, and after “a good long talk with my partner about the pros and cons of being in the industry and thinking it through for weeks,” she brought it to him front and center.

Paintoy is the Real Thing Photo courtesy of Paintoy.com

Paintoy is the Real Thing
Photo courtesy of Paintoy.com

As expected, the best happened. “He was completely supportive,” Mercy says, and had no problem with her breakthrough step. “He had seen me play and he knew that people liked to watch me.” Her lover knew she would “feed off a crowd” and was well aware of her exhibitionist tendencies.

Incidentally, a supportive partner is a gift when it comes to porn. As she explained previously, Mercy has found a relationship utopia that moves beyond monogamy.

“I started to realize I had only been monogamous because of other peoples’ expectations.”

Something else was needed, so Mercy and her partner decided upon an alternative way of being a couple that, in their view, is more suitable for them.

“We are in a polyamorous relationship. We both have the freedom to act as we please sexually or emotionally as long as we are honest with each other.”

Another Paintoy Moment Photo courtesy of Paintoy

Another Paintoy Moment
Photo courtesy of Paintoy.com

Things were now set for Mercy. “So, I took the little sticky note with Paintoy’s number off my computer monitor and called them. Two weeks later I was shooting with them and three weeks after that I was shooting with Intersec.” That, she says, is “my journey into pornography and fetish modeling, how I sort of found my way and my niche.”

Paintoy can be found here.

 

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Mercy West’s meteoric rise has led to a further step. Recently she decided to secure an agent in L.A.’s Porn Valley where vanilla is the flavor. With the advice and help of an industry writer, Mercy signed with Foxxx Modeling and can be booked by calling 818-884-0847 or visiting Foxxx here.

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July 7, 2015 · 9:54 am

Think and Talk Sexy

by Rich Moreland, July 2015

Erotic work came early to Mercy West. Her adolescent fascination with outré books and art, those treasures gleaned from scouring book shelves and bins, promoted her love of fetish. Why not make a few bucks doing what she adored?

“I had my first fetish modeling job two or three months after I turned eighteen.”

Looking Sexy Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Looking Sexy
Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Playing in a privately owned dungeon in Tucson, her hometown at the time, kick-started Mercy’s interest in exploring sexuality beyond the bedroom. “I was offered my first artistic fetish modeling job after I had done a awesome scene with the dungeon master the first night.”

Mercy was no stranger to kink. A boyfriend had introduced her to bondage when she was just a young pup, only fifteen. A later, much older partner nudged her into a BDSM relationship that was “really intense,” she affectionately remembers. “He was in his mid-thirties and we really developed our D/s dynamic but it was a switch relationship. I really learned a lot because he had been in the scene for quite awhile.”

From the outset, our fetish honey learned both ends of the whip, a complete education because BDSMers believe that to be a good domme, you must first experience being submissive. Know how it feels before you introduce it to someone else. Be absolutely sure you understand what it means emotionally and psychologically. For now, Mercy’s porn experience in front of the camera has been as a sub . . . that’s where the money is and what the fans want to see.

Pensive Moment Photo courtesy of Sam-R.com

Pensive Moment
Photo courtesy of Sam-R.com

A Few More Fetish Shoots

Recalling the elation that swept over her following that first dungeon scene, Mercy says, “I was really feeling good and was thanking him (the dungeon master) when he said he had a friend that might like to use me for an artistic fetish shoot . . . this really cool suspension shoot in front of a green screen. . .like floating in space suspended on this giant mobile.”

“I get to be tied up by professionals and get to have cool, sexy photos of myself! I had no qualms about it. It just seemed fun. I wasn’t worried about nude pictures of me or people seeing me naked.” Her open mindedness is Mercy’s most endearing personality trait.

At this point, the future was cracking its egg; a tiny chick was breaking out.

Mercy realized she loved fetish modeling and that BDSM was a part of her private life, as it is for the best fetish models. What she needed was trusted guidance to compliment her determination to network and show her wares, including the bit of ink she carries.

A Little Fun with Web Cam Photo courtesy of Mercy West

A Little Fun with Web Cam
Photo courtesy of Mercy West

The bondage photographer became a guidepost in her development. “Sexy alternative glamour” assignments complimented by “a few more fetish shoots” constructed an agenda in those early days. Mild was the tone, nothing hardcore or extreme just “suggestive and fun stuff,” Mercy recollects. Having spent her teen years searching out sexy images of enticing models, seeing her own now was more than exciting. “I liked working with someone who had a vision, who had an idea, who liked using me for their projects,” she declares. Mixed among her interests was a brief stint with web camming. That was Mercy West for a couple of years.

Phone Sex Therapist

A move to New Mexico for school introduced an uneventful time. Online modeling afforded some income, but Mercy admits she was “not really pursuing anything serious” in adult. Her next migration to Portland, Oregon, offered a shot at phone sex “with someone I met through the BDSM community,” she recalls. “We hit it off and she thought I would do well working as an independent phone sex operator.”

The prospects attracted Mercy as did the female owner who helped our queer punk cutie understand how to be successful in the job. They remain friends to this day.

The gig turned into a memorable experience, though Mercy discovered typical phone sex girls don’t “actually enjoy what they were doing . . . for them, it was just ‘cocks and wallets’ as they say in the business.” On the other hand, she found the job rewarding on more than one front.

She was herself on the site as were the other Portland girls who remained apart from the norm. “No fantasy profiles,” she says, “I like the fact that it was so real and focused on girls that actually enjoyed their job.”

The real satisfaction for Mercy was on the other end of the line. “I really enjoyed listening to people’s fantasies, hearing people’s desires, and having people tell me their secrets.” In turn, the callers wanted to know about her and a camaraderie emerged. Honesty created feelings of allegiance.

She was a BDSM switch, she told her “clients,” gender fluid, and pan-sexual. Her open mind hid nothing. “I wasn’t secretive and I actually got an interesting array of people calling me because of my gender fluidity and my openness to other sexualities.” Her callers “didn’t feel judged,” she says, “They were comfortable talking to me . . . not just because I was being paid to listen but because I was genuinely interested.”

Empathy goes a long way in phone sex just as it does in hotline services still offered in some communities. Mercy believes callers talked with her because they couldn’t communicate with their partners or didn’t have a partner or anyone else with whom to share in confidence their thoughts and feelings. Quite frankly, Mercy West became a commercial phone sex therapist borrowing the empathy model of trained counselors.

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Web cam. Just for You Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Web cam Just for You
Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Despite her phone sex success, Mercy felt the itch to return to web cam. Chatting with girls who were making a go of it piqued her interest. An unexpected benefit came along for the ride. Mercy “brought to the table something other web cammers didn’t . . . an awesome set of verbal skills.” The learning curve was improving. “I’m used to being a phone sex operator and not having to use my body, so I had to be one hundred percent sexy and give people what they want without doing anything live in front of them.” Not as simple as it sounds because fans are titillated by the visual.

Mercy West is quick to suggest that fans appreciate a girl who tweaks the timeworn package. “They want someone who can think sexy, talk sexy, and give them new ideas and show them new things.” For a moment she pauses to observe that there is a difference between “live” and “staged” performances and comments that she doesn’t know, at least at this point, “how well some porn stars translate to live performances versus staged, edited ones.”

Actually, for performers who feature dance and others who shoot live at Kink.com, it is pretty seamless.

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June 29, 2015 · 7:57 am

The Handkerchief Code

by Rich Moreland, June 2015

Mercy West is a performer in transition. At twenty-five the Oregonian knows the ropes (pun intended) for bondage modeling, but shooting hardcore is another matter. Now that “porn star” is on her agenda, what is pornography in her mind?

Sunny Day Photo courtesy of Sam-R.com

Sunny Day
Photo courtesy of Sam-R.com

Mercy’s adolescent years were spent in Tucson, Arizona. Like most teens, people watching at the mall and flirting with kids her age (only to “have it fail miserably,” she remembers) was part of the routine. Mercy was different in one respect. She dallied a bit with “the older crowd,” again not getting very far but establishing a preference for the age play that delights her now.

Her favorite hang outs were record stores and used book outlets where she often became a familiar face. Her curiosity developed a taste for art and photography, so sifting through book bins became an obsession.

“Different types of art and prints jump out at you and you’re just not sure why,” Mercy recalls. “Everybody has their own tastes. I just remember being fascinated by the human body.” Highly eroticized images swirled around a teenager’s interpretation of art and porn.

Darker Images

Book store time nurtured this budding fetish model.

“It made me think about how I wanted to express myself. I was drawn to images of sexuality, erotic images not necessarily in the context of porn . . . darker images of alternative sexuality and gender fluidity,” Mercy says.

House of Gord Artwork courtesy of House of Gord

House of Gord
Artwork courtesy of House of Gord

So what were these images? The late performance artist and masochist Bob Flanagan intrigued her as did the black and white illustrations of the House of Gord’s latex bondage, pony girls, and forniphilia which had a “more esoteric” flavor. “Classic male dom, female sub leather and rubber BDSM” were her favorites and a bondage elitism was emerging. “Kinksters are aware of Gord’s contributions but most BDSM light/Vanilla folks have no clue,” Mercy says.

Raised in a liberal home environment, Mercy didn’t see any of this “as naughty or shameful.” Instead, the images were “aesthetically pleasing . . . the bondage, the sadomasochism . . . the sort of power play that was involved in S&M really intrigued me even though I didn’t quite understand what was underneath it all.”

Running across a variety of other publications where porn is high art enhanced her journey.

“Magazines like ‘Skin Two’ (a British publication) and ‘Modern Primitives’ were always super exciting finds and I treated them like precious gems, reading and rereading the articles, studying the clothing, toys and body art intensely.”

In fits and starts, an intelligent libertine was finding her future.

Pushing What it Means to be Sexual

Fashion Snapshot Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Fashion Snapshot
Photo courtesy of Mercy West

As comes to most of us, Mercy’s hormones kicked in around age twelve or thirteen. BDSM scenes gnawed at her sexuality; fetish became her thing. Fashion was not far behind. “I learned very quickly that people wore certain types of clothing as symbols and signs to others.”

In particular, the handkerchief code attracted her attention. Mercy recalls people “wearing spiked belts and having colored handkerchiefs hanging out of their back pocket.” (The code began in the gay community years ago and is generally, but not universally, accepted today. Left indicates a BDSM top; right a bottom.). Fashion blended with community and a kinkster’s education marched on.

Of course, what is pure alt often gets bastardized and commodified. “Some of the meaningless fashion in mainstream had been pulled from very meaningful fashion in some underground communities,” Mercy notes.

The code represented communication, openness and freedom, a symbol of being your own person this bondage disciple in the making could not absorb fast enough. Discovering that there were people who lived “a certain lifestyle or the S&M lifestyle 24/7” was pure elation.

Becoming Your Own Person Photo courtesy of San-R.com

Being Your Own Person
Photo courtesy of San-R.com

“What these people were doing was right for them. They were not devious or fucked up in any way. They weren’t causing harm to society,” Mercy declares with a smile. Coming out and “communicating their sexuality to their family . . Saying here, this is me, this is who I am” was natural and undeniable.

Lifestyle statements now mattered to Mercy, whether it be the S&M community or the complexities of the late Francesca Woodman that blurred artistic definitions with psychological statements spoken through the camera’s lens. She “pushed what it means to be a sexual human being,” Mercy says.

An Evolution

What drew Mercy to pornography? She is vague because it was more of an evolution than a moment. “Around the time my sexuality was coming to be I was really starting to think about what other people mean to me [in that way].”

story of o 2Porn didn’t help or hinder her development; rather it provided an understanding that she wasn’t alone with her feelings. Mercy references a trio of influences: Anne Rice novels, Pauline Reage’s The Story of O, and John Cleland’s Fanny Hill. She was intrigued by these works, she says, though at the time she did not profoundly understand them.

As her self-education continued, the bondage slut in Mercy remained muted. The teenage years passed. Interactions with other kids were normal with no “unhealthy obsessions.”

Though sexually active at a young age, Mercy insists porn was an avenue to it, not the reason for it. She was never “broken or scarred” from her interest in the erotic. “I was pretty stable and dealt with things all right. It was just my path and the way things were meant to go.”

So, what is porn to her?

Mercy points out that some people believe porn lacks “artistic intent” [and is] created solely to inspire sexual arousal,” serving no purpose other than “getting someone off.”

Getting off on a Paintoy shoot Photo courtesy of Paintoy.com

Coming Out of her Shell
Photo courtesy of Paintoy.com

“But that isn’t my definition. That isn’t what it means to me. I’ve used it as a tool to navigate my own sexuality.” Porn “can bring people out of their shells,” she insists, letting them “come to terms with things that they wouldn’t have been able to alone or with a partner.”

Is that a pro-porn cop-out or a level-headed assessment? Social scientists and historians agree that porn is a form of sex education. For some of us, it’s the only kind we’ll ever get and for Mercy it shaped a future.

Mercy’s “love of alternative sexuality, S&M and the fetish community translates into the real world” for her now. But she’s just getting started; a seismic shift in her sexual Richter Scale is occurring. She’s figured out that her personal happiness is more than “picking up a whip for a little while” after her day job. “That has led me to Paintoy and Intersec,” Mercy West says, where her shoots will delight BDSM fans who want to see this evolving star shackled and aroused for their entertainment.

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March 14, 2015 · 1:55 pm

Why Can’t We Have It All? Part One

by Rich Moreland, March 2015

tumblr_inline_niyv8fWLMv1qkrmi0

The Submission of Emma Marx: Boundaries is Jacky St. James’ sequel to her award-winning masterpiece, The Submission of Emma Marx which I had the pleasure to review in three parts here in August 2013. With cinematic partner Eddie Powell, St. James now boldly continues Emma’s odyssey.

Before moving into the film, it’s worth mentioning that sequels are financial risks. Though supportive of her project, New Sensations President Scott Taylor was cautious. “Sequels often flop.” St. James remembers him telling her. “They don’t sell as well. They seldom find that magic of the original.”

Perhaps, but in the case of Boundaries it is every bit as good as it’s older sister and I encourage watching the first film before enjoying the second. If not, the viewer will feel like a late arriving movie goer who takes a seat half way through a story with no understanding of its origin.

Boundaries‘ success is complemented by the reassembled cast. Penny Pax reprises her role as Emma, as does Richie Calhoun as Mr. Frederick. Though porn flirts with the edges of mainstream Hollywood, both players remind us its acting can be every bit as good. Pax is learning her trade, building a resume that separates her from adult’s usual “just give me the sex and don’t ask if I can act.” No doubt St. James’ directing is a crucial factor in the diminutive model’s professional evolution.

Jacky, Penny and Richie. Photo courtesy of Jacky St. James

Jacky, Penny and Richie.
Photo courtesy of Jacky St. James

Riley Reid is perfect as Nadia and Van Wylde likewise as Ray. Their roles are not an easy sell because Reid and Wylde must come across as a vanilla “cookie cutter suburban couple” snug and homey in their conventionality.

In making the film, St. James confesses that “staying true to Emma and her sexual journey” could not be compromised. The result is Emma as a complexity that intrigues the viewer on various levels. I can imagine that her shadow seductively passes through the corridors of St. James’ mind just as she does in the film’s opening credits and its denouement.

Conceding that her “screenplays hold very deeply personal connections to experiences I’ve had or people I’ve known,” Jacky St. James faces a near impossible task with Boundaries, write a flawless script that moves Emma along bit by bit while confronting the viewer with unsettling issues. The question that captures the film’s raison d’être and St. James’ good storytelling is simple: Does sexual and emotional turbulence reach a satisfactory resolution that spells the end of the story?

Or, is there room for Emma redux, part three?

One thing is evident, Boundaries’ tightly written script is worthy of industry accolades. Indeed, it is as close to impeccable as an adult film can be.

Part of News Sensation’s Erotic Stories line, this second Emma Marx falls into the couples porn genre, yet it is sexually groundbreaking for a date night film. The carnal scenes are integral to the story; nothing is thrown together or gratuitous. Some of the action, however, directly challenges the formula for what the industry touts as comfortable for lovers. But more on that later.

Just Drawing Lines

Emma Marx and Nadia are sisters whose relationship is close considering their sexualities are anything but. In the first Emma Marx, Nadia and Ray “silently judged” Emma’s fetishes. Now they are outspoken, letting her know of “their aversion” to BDSM.

Is this progress?

Over a bland vegan dinner she believes is suitable for everyone (one size fits all, if you will), Nadia announces she doesn’t understand why being tied up and spanked is not abuse. Deprecating BDSM kinkiness with her sappy smile and haughty attitude, Nadia tacitly reinforces her normalized sexuality in a way only modern moralists can appreciate. When Emma mentions consensuality, she is ignored. In an amusing moment, Ray condemns suspension and cattle prods while disgustingly holding a fork with two pieces of the vegan mystery food hanging from it. The real torture in this scene is inflicted on Ray.

But, apparently the happily married duo is not opposed to a little experimentation.

With the superficiality of a Valley Girl who thinks a sip of wine makes her a connoisseur, Nadia announces to Emma the next morning, “Ray and I totally tried BDSM last night and I’m totally a sub.” Kudos to Emma for respecting her sister’s asinine interpretation of sexual enlightenment.

Jacky setting up the scene for Riley and Van Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

Jacky setting up the scene for Riley and Van. Blurred flowers framed on the wall.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

Here’s the story. In the film’s first sex scene with Nadia and Ray, a blindfold is about as deviant as they get. (She does ask him if she can call him “master” in a laughable attempt to identify with what Emma authenticates.) Having now seen the light while not being able to see, Nadia tells Emma she “completely” understands what a BDSM relationship is all about.

Incidentally, the sex is classic Riley Reid, who is an industry gem. Considering it’s a script-driven vanilla encounter–necessary to set up Emma’s future sexual experimentation–Riley’s smile, spirit, and energy carry the show. On the wall bedside the bed is a black and white photo of two flowers that lord over the sex in front of it. The flowers are blurred, an important image for this film.

Blindfold in place, ready to shoot. Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

Blindfold in place, ready to shoot.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

Later when the sisters are in the gym, understanding suddenly vanishes. As she gives the elliptical machine a workout, Nadia is clearly irritated. “Trying BDSM was the biggest mistake of my life.” Now Ray wants a three-some, but Nadia slammed the door on that idea, proclaiming that men put women in “sexual situations solely for their benefit.”

Emma’s hint that Ray might want to expand Nadia’s horizons falls flat. “Men do that,” a fired up Nadia says. “They pretend it’s all about you and it’s really about them. They wait for the moment you say, ‘yes,’ and they push your limits.” Annoyed with Emma’s suggestion that Ray wouldn’t cheat, Nadia digs in. “I’m just drawing lines.”

But doesn’t everybody?

Open to New Experiences

Nadia’s indignation spurs Emma to confront her own crisis. Mr. Frederick has presented her with a new contract which she reads line by line in an earlier scene. It is a quest for “Why can’t we have it all?”

Preparing for an office shot. Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

Preparing for an office shot.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

When she reviews the contract, equality and symmetry are visually emphasized to reflect the supposed state of their relationship. Emma is sitting on a long desk with her legs extended to a Mr. Frederick who massages her feet. The shot has perfect balance regarding the desk: two half full glasses of red wine on each end and a pair of tall plants in floor urns on either side of it. In the background, French doors halve the scene like the entrance into a Georgian manor.

As this segment progresses, brief glimpses of Emma and Mr. Frederick’s encounters are revealed as she goes through the contract.

In one, symmetry is repeated when she talks about training. It is a shot of interior French doors at the end of a hall. Framed prints are on opposite walls to balance the scene. Mr. Frederick leads Emma from left to right across the screen, moving her symbolically from an old definition of her sexuality to a new experience.

“I will not just play the role,” Emma says in reference to being a submissive, “I will become the role.”

When she is bound to pillars in the kitchen a la Fay Wray in King Kong, Emma says, “my body is his to do with as he pleases.”

The Kitchen Pillars. Photo courtesy of Jacky St. James

The Kitchen Pillars with Eddie Powell in the background.
Photo courtesy of Jacky St. James

Incidentally, in the provision having to do with enjoying her orgasms, there is a quick flash of them having sex in a hallway that doglegs to the right, an image that is revisited later.

When Emma gets to the item that involves having sex with other people, she balks. Tense and unsure, she asks if he is bored with her, that fatal relationship blow everyone fears.

This moment sets up the rest of the film. Mr. Frederick orders her to stand up, face him, and masturbate while thinking about someone who sexually arouses her. With eyes closed, she confesses it is Shane (Logan Pierce), the new guy in the office. Emma loses her bearings in a rush of endorphins and says, “I wonder if he’d like me.” Projecting her sexual preferences into Shane, Emma says he’d be down and dirty and insist on violating her with anal.

Logan Pierce Photo courtesy of 101Modeling.

Logan Pierce
Photo courtesy of 101Modeling.

It’s the opening Frederick wants and sex scene number two begins with anal its focal point, a clear break from the couples’ porn formula. To emphasize this shift, Eddie Powell moves his camera over Richie Calhoun’s shoulder to get the standard male masturbatory gonzo shot of a kneeling Penny Pax, mouth at work and adoring eyes looking upward.

St. James and Powell have a dual purpose with this scene. For story purposes, Emma’s exploration is picking up steam, but on another level, they are forging a new path in romance porn. The bondage remains light, adhering to the submission pornography genre popular in today’s market, but the sex is edgier.

Several questions in the film are present here. Mr. Frederick claims he is turned on by Emma’s self discovery, but is he engaging in his own fantasy of whoring out Emma and role playing Shane? In her mind, is Emma mocking her sister, knowing Nadia would never be this unconventional? Or does this exercise add to the unpredictability of Emma relationship that keeps it from getting stale?

There is a deeper question. Is Mr. Frederick gently and firmly nudging Emma forward or is he applying subtle pressure with the bet that Emma’s devotion will give him carte blanche to ratchet up his demands?

Or perhaps what Frederick tells her is straightforward and eerily true. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I just want you to be open to new experiences.”

Mr. Frederick and Emma exploring. Photo courtesy of Jacky St. James

Mr. Frederick and Emma exploring.
Photo courtesy of Jacky St. James

At any rate, as Mr. Frederick anally penetrates his submissive, Emma sees and feels the new guy in her imagination. Before the pop, she begs, “Cum on me please, Shane.” Is Emma transitioning to a new experience or enjoying a healthy fantasy?

Whatever St. James’ intention, the scene explores the emotional complexities of BDSM characteristic of submission pornography, or what might be called in today’s culture, bondage chic. For raw sexuality, it steps beyond the inanity of Fifty Shades while pulling up way short of the hardcore fetish elements found on many extreme internet tube sites.

Dumbbells

Back in the gym the options posed for both Nadia and Emma are carefully defined. As the camera moves in on Emma’s treadmill next to Nadia’s elliptical, it floats past a rack of dumbbells that illustrate the choices available to each woman.

The top row contains two smaller dumbbells, both round and equal in size, with a exercise baton nestled in the juncture between them. This is Emma’s next possibility. Both weights are side by side and sexually open with the option of welcoming in a third person. In the same row, but to the far right, are two larger six-sided dumbbells of equal size representing Nadia’s view of her marriage, closed off and solid, or so she hopes.

Should either woman choose an unequal relationship, open or closed, in which her stature is diminished , the options are on the bottom row. Two round dumbbells and two six-sided ones, with the larger dominant one snuggled next to the smaller. Curiously, off to the right of the closed dumbbells is a single and smaller six-sided one, perhaps it is Ray’s suggestion that so infuriated Nadia and her no nonsense answer.

Where will all this drama leave Emma?

 

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February 27, 2015 · 10:24 am

Get Your Clothes and Go: Rain DeGrey, Part Three

by Rich Moreland, February 2015

Rain DeGrey and I have run over our alloted time in the press room but I’m curious about one more topic. How are girls at Kink are chosen for shoots and is the process the same at Intersec?

Rain in the press room. Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse

Rain in the press room.
Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse

At both companies, models are hand-picked for specific shoots. “The director says to a talent booker, ‘I want that girl.’ The booker can offer a selection, but the director is the one that makes the final choice [because certain models will] flavor their content.”

Rain emphasizes that to direct for Kink, riggers must rank above their competitors professionally. “I have nothing but praise for anyone who becomes a Kink director because that’s the cream of the crop.”

Most rigger/directors don’t stay at the Armory for lengthy careers. Circumstances vary, professional visions evolve, personal lives change. But no matter, it’s the legacy that counts.

James Mogul. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

James Mogul.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

“Even if you cycle through the fact that you [were] on-screen means that you are bringing a level of skill that most people won’t even come close to approaching.”

Rain praises an all-star list of directors who choreographed her at Kink: Princess Donna, Lew Rubens, Lochai, Matt Williams, and James Mogul. “All of them [have] their own flavor. It is awe-inspiring what they can create and produce.”

In changing times and diminishing dollars, only James remains at the Armory out of that original group. The man is as much psychologist as rigger, Rain implies. “He is a genius, he is very intense, and you really need to be able to hang with what he is offering.”

Of course, good directors also have the privilege of good talent and Rain DeGrey is top of the line.

A Crush

Princess Donna. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Princess Donna.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

We turn to Princess Donna for a moment and Rain fills with energy. Her eyes light up and her gestures become more animated.

“Oh my god, she is insane!” Rains blurts out. “Wow, okay so I still have a crush on her. She is so charismatic and intense.”

Rain spins the tale of her first shoot with Donna, which incidentally was her first kinky porn scene for profit. She had just submitted her application.

Booked for Donna’s Wired Pussy site, Rain was nervous, explaining that she was “in the presence of someone” she admired so much that she was “shaking.” “I’m like tripping all over myself,” she says.

Sometimes first shoots can be daunting because eager to please overwhelms the atmosphere.

The scene called for a cattle prod with Rain on her hands and knees. Donna was firm about her expectations. “‘Now Rain, it is really simple. I’m going to hit you with this cattle prod and if you move, the shoot is over.'”

Rain was really nervous, after all cattle prods move huge beasts and she is much smaller than a 1500 pound animal. When the prod was applied, the newest Kink hopeful “lurched forward,” she remembers.

“Princess Donna was disgusted. ‘This is the level of talent they’re giving me! I can’t work with this! Get your clothes on and go.”

Run over by a truck she never saw, a confused and disappointed Rain retrieved her belongings. Kink was too demanding, this whole shooting idea was a disaster. “I had no idea I didn’t qualify to be a model,” she remembers thinking.

The Kink neophyte took two steps and was paralyzed by Donna’s commanding voice.

Donna gives the orders, Rain smiles. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Donna gives the orders, Rain smiles.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

“‘Where do you think you’re going?”

“Donna grabbed the back of my hair, flung me to the ground, and surprised fisted me. I’ve never been fisted in my life and [suddenly] I’m a Muppet!” a beaming Rain recalls.

After the shoot went online, the fans loved the performance, complimenting Rain’s acting. “I wasn’t really acting,” she sheepishly confesses. “I thought Donna cancelled the shoot because I sucked as a model.”

From there, a career was launched.

Rain comments that PD is no longer with Kink, attributing the change to shifting winds in the porn business model. Donna’s shoots were getting “more hardcore,” she explains, suggesting that the Fifty Shades phenomenon has led Kink to tone down its product. Rain guesses they are “going for a softer, more marketable base.”

In other words, Donna has authentic standards that aren’t the sappy Hollywood fare of Fifty Shades. Her expectations reflect her personal level of performance as a bottom. “But most people can’t do what Princess Donna can do,” Rains says, and sites like Public Disgrace were getting too extreme even for Kink.com. “She wasn’t able to turn back her directing style because she is directing from her passion and her heart.”

Try Something Once

Before we wrap up, Rain has one more story, this time about her Public Disgrace appearance. Up until that time, she had done very few boy-girl scenes, but “you just don’t say ‘no’ to the Princess.”

The situation was somewhat bizarre because an unexpected psychological role reversal took over the room.

The bar scene. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

The bar scene.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Rain describes the scene. “I am completely naked in a bar full of strangers. They pour beer all over me, spit on me, and are dragging me by the hair into people’s faces.” As part of the shoot, Rain was required to ask everyone for their name.

She remembers that “every single person in that room was terrified of me. I would get up in someone’s face naked and covered in beer and spit and say, ‘Who are you?”

“I’m like, ‘Where is the disgracing? I own this room. My naked beer covered ass is terrorizing you!”

In other words, who was empowered in that bar? Who was in control?

Later Rain had anal intercourse on the pool table before PD “flipped” her on her back and fisted her and she “squirted all over” the felt surface. As an afterthought, Rain wondered what the pool playing patrons would think if they knew that twenty-four hours previously her porn body was sprawled all over that table!

The action on the pool table. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

The action on the pool table.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

As we close, Rain pauses to convey her philosophy of shooting adult film.

“You are only on this planet once and your body is the greatest toy that you well ever have and some people are afraid to play with it. I’d rather try something once and not like it than be on my deathbed and think of all the things I’d wish I had the courage to try.”

“I don’t live my life for anyone other than me. When you stop [worrying about] what other people think, [you have] absolute freedom. You only have a finite amount of time and I want to use the time I have [well].”

“That is why I am here today.”

*          *          *

Adult film is a potpourri of personalities and Rain DeGrey’s carries an amusing, and sometimes scalding, wit that fires a flurry of stories with the rapidity of a machine gun nest. When you think she is finished, she’s always has another round.

Below is the hilarious finish to her Public Disgrace shoot. It’s a behind the scenes look at the trip back to the Armory. I cleaned up the language where appropriate.

Oh, My Knee

Steve Holmes is an ethnic German born in Romania who performs frequently at Kink. He’s no youngster, having been in the adult business for almost thirty years.

According to Rain, Steve is “such a pervert” with a sex drive in overload. He’s a “swinger” who got into porn because “he wasn’t getting enough” at home. She relates a story about a clip he made that reveals his extraordinary ability.

In the scene, Steve’s got “this little eighteen year old girl and he’s going to do the pop shot on her face,” Rain says. “It’s like her first shoot and she dodges the pop.” Things are now fouled up from a production point of view, the ending is ruined. What to do?

“Most dudes when they’re fifty cum once and it’s go sit in a corner. Steve is like ‘no problem give me a moment.’ Fifteen seconds later he ejaculated, holding her little head so she couldn’t dodge it this time. He was like ‘come here you little cum dodger and whoosh!”

“This man is a genius, how can you not respect that?”

On the day of her Public Disgrace shoot, Steve was at the Armory. He had just finished a Sex and Submission shoot, Rain remembers. Meanwhile, Princess Donna’s cast and crew are preparing to depart for the bar in a company van.

Steve Holmes and friend ready for SexandSubmission. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Steve Holmes and friend ready for SexandSubmission.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Rain was ready to go, walking through the Armory “wearing two Band-Aids and a cork, five pounds of make up obviously off to [have sex],” she says. Steve “is hanging out in the lobby” and asks what is on her agenda.

“‘Nothing. Just off to do Public Disgrace.'”

“‘Oh great! Can I come?'”

Rain shrugs and comments that “Steve likes to relax after [having sex] all day by [having sex] all night.”

“So we are in the van off to the Public Disgrace shoot and not only is he about to [have sex] with me just because he had nothing else to do that night, he’ll actual [have sex] with his fans.”

When the shoot is over, everyone is jammed into the van and headed back to the Armory. Steve, who uses all his social media accounts to chat with his fans, makes contact with a woman who wants to have sex with him. She’s a forty-five-year-old African-American truck driver in a knee brace. It is now one-thirty in the morning and the fan shows up.

“We are tired and exhausted and lube is trickling out of my butt,” Rain recalls. The fan is just getting wound up. “‘Now it’s time to party!'” she announces.

“This is the highlight of her night, [but] we’re a van full of bored, tired porn stars [who] are all ready to go to bed,” Rain says, so the evening isn’t going to be extended.

Disappointment sets in and the fan caves, “Oh well.” But there remains a small problem. “‘My knee. You’ll need to give me a ride home,'” she insists.

“Fine, we’ll give her a ride home so she climbs in with the knee brace and gets to Steve and starts giving instructions [to her house]. ‘Two blocks [gurgling sound] go left [gurgling sound]’ and I’m convinced she is giving bad directions to drag out the time.”

“We get there and start pushing her out of the van and she is like ‘Would you like to meet my son?'”

No! And the lady is dropped off. Everyone is tired and armed with the same thought “‘Steve, you have got to stop with the fans, you’re killing us.'”

“Five minutes later we get a phone call that she left her purse in the van. I have to pee at this point and I’m sitting in a pool of butt lube ready to kill Steve.”

“We have to turn around, give her back her purse. . . Anyway, Steve is insatiable and that was my Public Disgrace.”

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February 25, 2015 · 6:38 pm

Zen, Masochism, and Lew Rubens: Rain DeGrey, Part Two

by Rich Moreland, February 2015

Venturing back to the Victorian Age and the birth of psychoanalysis, popular belief about BDSM, or S&M as it was known in those days, was fairly straightforward: practitioners were sadists and masochists wallowing in their perverted fetish to compensate for problematic childhoods. In our modern times understanding has moved light years ahead, or so we hope. Not all BDSM submissives have masochistic tendencies, nor are all tops sadists. Furthermore, BDSMers don’t believe they are deviants and their adolescent years are as normal as anyone’s, despite the bill of goods now for sale from E. L. James.

Rain DeGrey, however, does have a healthy dose of masochism. It’s “incredibly personal” to her and she’s “passionate about” it.  “I’m never more grounded or immediately in my body as when I am in a masochistic state,” Rain begins. “It’s like Zen for me, my meditation. The endless chattering voice in the back of my head shuts up. All of my self-consciousness is gone.”

Like Zen. Photo courtesy of InfernalRestraintscom

Wonder Woman empowerment.
Photo courtesy of InfernalRestraintscom

Is that subspace?

“Yes, undoubtedly. That’s why we do what we do. You’re causing your body to release adrenaline, endorphins and natural pain killing opiates. Without taking a single substance, I have hallucinated [and become] completely unselfconscious.”

According to Rain, the feelings are so intense that sometimes she reaches “a primal state” where she can’t sit up, walk, or recall the day of the week.

The bondage veteran believes that masochism is empowering. “Everyday in this society women are told they are weak and fragile,” Rain says, but for her BDSM alters that paradigm. When she is punished or disciplined in a shoot, Wonder Woman-like feelings overtake her. It’s “the most empowering thing in the world,” Rain claims, making her feel “invulnerable.” She proves to herself and anyone who wants to listen that she can take it.

“I feel like I am so strong I could topple a building. That is what I get out of masochism.”

Does pain bring on an orgasm?

“I am not the person to ask because a gentle breeze will make me cum. I usually cum in about thirty seconds and can have twenty, thirty orgasm per day. I’ve done orgasm play until I’ve cum so hard I passed out and [had to be] revived with CPR.”

Rain and Felony performing with Princess Donna. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Rain and Felony performing with Princess Donna.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

She elaborates. “I did an Orgasm Destruction shoot for Kink [with] Felony, who is now retired. We both came multiple times while passing out and being revived. The shoot ended when we were both puking. I don’t think a dude will ever understand what it feels like to have fifty orgasms in an hour. It’s like running a marathon.”

Though the pain factor is often muted for Rain, she’s experienced a few pain induced orgasms. She does remember one “paingasm” she experienced in an Intersec scene. “I hallucinated the White Mountains of Japan, Mount Fuji.”

Casey ready to shoot for Intersec. Photo courtesy of SexuallyBroken.com

Casey ready to shoot for Intersec.
Photo courtesy of SexuallyBroken.com

Rain is not the first performer to tell me about multiple orgasms in a BDSM shoot. Casey Calvert relates similar stories. This leads me to bring up Casey.

“Oh yeah, Casey cums easier from pain than I do. Casey is a tough puppy. Before she got in the industry and before she started doing boy-girl she was hanging out with Lew Rubens. I did a suspension and DP (double penetration) scene with her. ‘Isn’t she a cutie,’ I remarked to myself then and less than a year later she is a Spiegler girl and wrangling dicks professionally.”

The Reason I’m Sitting in this Room

Lew is highly respected in the bondage community and we take the conversation in his direction.

“Lew is actually the reason I’m sitting in this room talking to you. Lew got me into porn. It’s all his fault.” A smiling Rain is more than affectionate with her comment.

She recalls the MySpace days when networking on that stage was the backbone of social media. Lew was there. “I saw the guy and he had these incredible bondage photos.” Even though Rain was unfamiliar with Lew Rubens, she did know he worked for Kink so she messaged him.

Lew Rubens. Photo source unknown.

Lew Rubens.
Photo source unknown.

In getting his attention, Rain jokes about her assets. “Boobs are really powerful, they have gotten me far.” Lew took an interest and invited her to drop by.

“It was that easy,” Rain declares. “That is when I first got into the industry and did my first modeling gig.”

Like other girls I know, Rain is a Lew Rubens’ fan.

“I have a great respect for Lew. He is an artist. In fact, he was such an artist that is why he wasn’t able to work for Kink. He is a purist and unfortunately with Kink it becomes a sausage factory. ‘Crank out the product. We don’t have time for art. Get a shoot, get another shoot.'”

She explains that the conditions were difficult for Lew. “He is one of the most skilled riggers I have ever met and like most artists, it is hard to transition the art into paying his bills.”

Bobbi Starr's first shoot for Lew Rubens at Kink. Photo courtesy of Waterbondage.com

Lew Rubens with Bobbi Starr at Kink.
Photo courtesy of Waterbondage.com

(From my conversations with Lew, I support Rain’s assessment wholeheartedly.)

I mention Casey and the now retired Bobbi Starr as Lew enthusiasts.

“Yes, Lew started Casey, he started Bobbi. Though I never dated him, I hung out with him a lot. He started me, too. I would have probably ended up here anyway, but Lew greased the wheels.”

He is very proud of the girls he’s worked with and started in the business, I remark.

“He should be,” Rain says.

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February 24, 2015 · 3:53 pm

Taking the Orgasms, if You Don’t Mind: Rain DeGrey, Part One

by Rich Moreland, February 2015
Adult film models fall into two broad categories. First is the fresh face who is excited about her new-found line of work and wants to make everybody happy. A bit naïve, of course, but give her credit for enthusiasm, especially if she sticks around for a while. Next is the established veteran who realistically grasps the business and has a solid film resume around which she has built a fan base. Having paid her dues, she’s probably branded her name.

Both can be found in the LA porn world.

Rain during our interview. Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse.com

Rain during our interview.
Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse.com

However, there is a third performer, the bona fide fetish model who gets her kinks in Northern California’s porn theater. One such girl is San Franciscan Rain DeGrey who recently left her Kink.com roots and crossed the Bay into Oakland to join the staff at Intersec, an internet company that rivals Kink’s business model.

The transition was seamless because Rain was already familiar with Intersec’s product, having modeled for all the company’s sites: Real Time Bondage, Sexually Broken, Top Girl, Infernal Restraints, and Hard Tied.

Rain took a half hour out of her busy schedule to talk with our media team recently in Las Vegas. She mentions the Vegas AVN show is actually a recruiting trip for her.

“I’m the talent booker for Intersec interactive and here to recruit for Sexually Broken.”

Rain’s shooting history at Kink makes her one of their most popular models and she gladly reflects on her time with the company. Her familiarity with the directors landed her “a lot of shoots, maybe even more than a model in her thirties who is heavily tattooed should get,” she remembers. However, Rain is not shy. “I am an amazing performer and I love what I do,” a fact that explains all those Kink segments.

How did she get started?

The idea of sending an application to Kink came from an acquaintance at the SF Citadel (a local BDSM facility that doubles as a club and community center). Doubting that she was attractive enough for the company and overly inked to boot, Rain took a chance anyway.

A little suspension can take a nurse to new heights. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

A little suspension can take a nurse to new heights.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Kink booked her the next week.

It was “mind-blowing,” Rain declares, because now she could make money for what she was already doing for free. “I love this shit, it’s why I get up in the morning and I can make a living doing it? It was like winning the lottery.”

With a day job as a nurse, Rain never intended to enter the industry. But the phone kept ringing, so she turned in her bedpans for twisting in suspension above a basement floor.

The statuesque blonde describes her career adjustment by presenting a choice between a run-of-the-mill job (like working at a gas station) and what seduced her, summarizing it this way:

“You could be having incredible sex with a ridiculously good-looking person who is skilled at fucking. [Throw in] flattering lighting, good makeup, paperwork proving that [everyone is] STD free and a huge paycheck. . . . Hmmm, I’m going to take the orgasms, if you don’t mind.”

“And that is how I accidentally got into porn,” she concludes with a smile.

Friendly Face

Stepping into BDSM is not for every performer out there; as a result, recruiting new talent has its challenges.

Sex in bondage is “scary for some people,” Rain says. In vanilla porn a girl learns “all sorts of techniques and pivots” to back away and ease the discomfort of penetrative sex. With a bondage shoot those options disappear. “Escape,” as Rain phrases it, is minimized so that trust becomes imperative for success. The shoot can be psychologically harrowing. “You put a chick in bondage and you take that option away from her. A lot of girls don’t want to give up control.”

Throw in accelerated levels of intensity and a bondage orgasm “can be powerful,” Rain says. “We’ve had girls cry, had them get dizzy because they don’t ordinarily cum that hard.” She references “cum drunk,” the result of putting “a model in sexual subspace.”

We get “LA porn girls with the big fake tits, blonde hair and the shellac of makeup and halfway through [their shoot] you can see them shift, the pretenses drop, they not doing the LA porny fake moan, ‘it’s so good,'” Rain jokes. Honesty takes over. “It’s a beautiful transformation on-screen.”

Model Skylar Price shooting for Top Girl. Photo courtesy of TopGirl.com

Model Skylar Price shooting for Top Girl.
Photo courtesy of TopGirl.com

When models complete their booking, Intersec pays for the flight home, but some are not ready to go. “We put them in the green room and they’re like ‘Is it okay if I just sit here for an hour?'”

The company isn’t going “to boot them out of the studio,” Rain says, preferring instead that the performer “sit down and enjoy the buzz [they] just earned.” She characterizes post-shoot reactions as “naked relief.”

But not all models reach a BDSM nirvana. “Some girls love it and some girls can’t take the journey [despite being paid] a ton of cash. Not everyone is willing to walk to the other side.”

Rain explains. “We recognize what we’re asking models to do is strenuous. No one ever comes away from a shoot neutral. [We] either open their eyes and show them a whole new world and they are hooked, or they say ‘never again.’ Both responses are valid.”

A shoot can get intense. Model Jynx Maze for Sexually Broken. Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

A shoot can get intense. Model Jynx Maze for Sexually Broken.
Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

For those who can’t make it to a shoot’s finish line, a “kill fee” is paid and the model gets something for the completed segments. Intersec covers her air fare with “no hard feelings.” But that situation is rare, Rain insists, because “our handlers are the best in the entire planet.”

In the bondage business, that is worth gold.

“I see these fussy girls come in” and I’ll think, “You’ll not be able to extract an hour of content from her.” In those cases, the crew’s creativity takes over; timing and pace can produce a workable solution. It works like this.

“Just five minutes in a position, hit her [with BDSM toys], take her out [of her predicament],” Rain explains. “Once we string [the segments] together [with even] the fussiest girls, we can usually get a shoot out of it. We won’t book them again, but very rarely does someone get sent home because we adapt the level of the shoot [to get results we want].”

Rain behind the scenes at Intersec. Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

Rain behind the scenes at Intersec.
Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

The end product may not be up to Intersec’s standards, but accommodations are made. “We would prefer not to do the super light shoots, all we ask is that a model go as hard as she possibly can. You can see the effort. If a vanilla LA girl is giving it her all, that’s what the viewers want to see . . . her honestly trying.”

Being a talent recruiter for a BDSM internet site has its moments. Not every girl is confident about shooting a hardcore bondage scene, Rain DeGrey says, so “I am here today to put a friendly face on Sexually Broken.”

*           *           *

If interested in further information on becoming an Intersec model, click here.

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February 22, 2015 · 12:15 pm

Call “Red” Anytime: Ela Darling, Part Two

by Rich Moreland, February 2015

Ela continues our conversation. Photo courtesy of 3hattergringhouse.com

Ela continues our conversation.
Photo courtesy of 3hattergringhouse.com

Ela Darling is a responsible professional who has turned her fetishes into a career, so our jumping off point is the central question that teases all fetish performers: what makes a bondage shoot fun?

This ex-librarian and forever Harry Potter fan calls on her masochistic side when the camera rolls.

“I like rough sex. I like being spanked, I like the top of my hair pulled. I like being choked and slapped. [These things are] really arousing to me.”

Ela explains that rough sex acts as foreplay do not create orgasms by themselves. Rather, they make the orgasms “considerably stronger” when combined with hardcore penetration.

Smiling so Much

Ela loves Kink.com and respects how they handle the models they hire. She appreciates their checklist review because it illustrates the value they place in the people who shoot at the Armory. “You have to go through [it] every time you work for them to indicate what your are consenting to, what you’re okay with, and what you don’t want to happen. The director [and crew] both memorize your points on the list so they know exactly what you’re not okay with doing.”

“They’re super respectful. They make me feel so comfortable. They take care of me. I have so many friends who work there because they employ good people [who] try to do good things. I really like them.”

Running through a list of names at Kink, I bring up the now retired Bobbi Star, a well known pornography feminist. Ela shot her first porn scene with Bobbi when the San Jose State grad was still a performer. “She was the first girl I ever fucked on camera,” Ela remembers, though she never shot for Bobbi when she was directing for the company. Nevertheless, Ela describes Bobbi as “cool and smart.”

Ela at Kink.com. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Ela at Kink.com.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Incidentally, Ela did an Electrosluts shoot–Bobbi’s old site for Kink–when Lorelei Lee was directing. Also a feminist and long time Kink veteran, Lorelei owns a Master’s from NYU. “She’s incredible,” Ela remarks. “She is such an amazing woman. I have so much respect for her.”

To illustrate the importance of communication at Kink, Ela’s predominant memory of a Public Disgrace episode is being pulled aside by one of the female crew and quickly educated about what to do when stressed.

The crew person offered a valuable tip. “‘I know sometimes the girls get intimidated to use their safeword, so for Public Disgrace just call ‘red’ anytime, even if you have to go to the bathroom. If something is going on and you don’t feel comfortable saying, ‘Hey, this guy is creeping me out or this person is doing something I don’t like, just call ‘red’ and go to the bathroom, tell me what’s happening and I will take care of it so you don’t have to.'”

“That made me feel so incredibly safe and taken care of,” Ela recalls. “It made such a difference. It was a great shoot.”

Did she ever use her safeword during the show?

Ela's Public Disgrace shoot. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Ela’s Public Disgrace shoot.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

“I did,” Ela remarks, “a couple to times.” In one, she was not uncomfortable, she just needed a break to take care of a problem with her hair. On another occasion, food was the issue. Ela was “transitioning out of being a vegetarian” but still “very much” into it at the time. A cast member wanted to throw deli meat at her, but Ela was not okay with that and needed to halt the shooting to straighten things out.

“I called ‘red’ to ask people not to throw turkey on my vagina, which they we’re doing. They were very respectful” and adjusted the shoot.

Public Disgrace has a reputation of tipping toward the edge and chooses its models wisely for that reason. A beaming Ela describes her shoot as “so much fun [and] so extreme.” Her friends who watched it later were aghast. Ela was amused.

“There were times when I would have to turn my head away from the camera because I was smiling so much! It was so awesome!”

As often happens with girls who begin in BDSM porn as submissives, Ela is turning the tables a bit now.

A girl who can switch. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

A girl who can switch.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Owning Her Scene

“I switch sometimes. I top men mostly, which is really fun.” But Ela Darling underscores that bottoming for men is not high on her list.

“I like to top women sometimes. But I love subbing to women. I love seeing a strong and empowered woman just like owning everything.”

Well, Ela is owning her scene today. The final question has to do with the BDSM, in general. Is she a lifestyler?

“I really don’t consider myself a lifestyler because I don’t really participate in community events. It’s more of a private thing for me. But my interaction with the lifestyle community has been really great. [They are] a really intuitive bunch of people.”

If she ever changes her mind and goes more public, I’m betting Ela Darling would be welcomed with open arms.

*          *          *

Ela Darling is represented by Star Factory PR. They can be reached at 818-732-0191 or via email at Info@StarFactoryPR.com
StarFactoryPR.com

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February 8, 2015 · 11:25 am

Empowerment Instead of Degradation: Part Three of an Interview with Holly Heart

by Rich Moreland, February 2015

Anyone who writes in the adult film industry knows that some performers have little to say, prefer questions that are pure fluff (defined as requiring no thought), and repeat the same old tired information repackaged for the moment. This is not true of Holly Heart. She is the genuine article, an animated and thoughtful woman whose knockout good looks impose her presence wherever she goes.

*          *          *          *          *

“I don’t think it is hard to be a dominant, for me anyway, because I know exactly what a sub wants and I’m not afraid to give it to them.”

Holly Heart, like many submissives, now switches; in other words, she plays the Domme role more often. Well-schooled in BDSM, this imposing performer relishes the pleasure she can bring to subs because that is primarily the responsibility of a top, master, or mistress.

Holly during our interview, a real sweetheart! Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse.com

Holly during our interview, a real sweetheart!
Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse.com

“I love to see them do their tasks, watch them in their humiliation [and] watch them struggle. I’m intrigued and turned on by the process, it’s so amazing, sexy, and euphoric. I want to give that to a submissive.”

But how easy is switching because apparently not all subs want to know what it feels like on the other end?

“I think a lot of submissives are afraid [to dom] because they don’t want to hurt somebody, that’s their mindset.” It seems that switching is a fairly smooth process if the sub approaches it with the proper perspective.

“A true submissive can be a switch at any point in time [because] they know another submissive loves it [the act of submission],” Holly declares. I agree. The now retired Bobbi Starr, an industry legend and personal acquaintance, is a perfect example.

However, Holly admits that some subs “will never change, will never switch, and will cry when they [are] forced to dom another sub.” That situation can get complicated, she remarks, when a Dom has two subs and one becomes the “alpha sub” who does the Dom’s bidding on the other girl. There is sometimes resistance because it is so difficult for some subs to turn off their true feelings.

“It’s really intricate and each relationship is just different,” Holly explains. “Some people just want to be submissive. They don’t want to cross over and that is fine.”

In her personal life, Holly loves diversification and talks about how it flavors her marriage. She adores “live parties” and her husband is her “submissive whenever we go anywhere,” she says. In fact, Holly rarely bottoms anymore and “only to certain people,” mentioning her favorite directors, James Mogul and Matt Williams, in particular.

But there is a price to pay for that side of the spectrum, especially if vanilla work in LA is on her agenda. She loves giving her body “full-fledged and wholeheartedly” to James and Matt and she’ll let them “mark” her. “I don’t care I love wearing them [marks] with pride,” she interjects, a point of view I’ve heard from other submissive performers. But vanilla companies don’t want a bruised and reddened girl in a shoot they are trying to sell to their fans, so a fine line is walked.

As for BDSM’s critics, Holly is blunt. “I don’t care what people think or say because they have no clue what I get out of that experience.”

Holly Heart is her own free-spirited woman.

A True Switch

The conversation turns to Princess Donna, a beloved Domme at Kink.

“I did a Public Disgrace shoot [PD’s website for Kink] in a vintage shop in San Francisco back in 2009. She took me in a van with Roger [the male Dom] in the scene. We had a group of guys at the shop and they paraded me around,” Holly remembers. Donna insists she perform oral sex on the men, typical of Kink shoots, and put a clown nose on her. “They wrote ‘cum slut’ on me. I really loved it.” Later Hollly was booked for Hardcore Gangbang (which replaced an earlier PD site called Bound Gangbang), but at that time another director was in place.

The clown nose. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

The clown nose.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Over and again I’m told about the magic that is Princess Donna and Holly is no different in her evaluation of the director.

PD in her most sultry look. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

PD with her most sultry look.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

“She is statuesque, very beautiful, just super,” Holly says of the thirty-something New York University grad. “She is this untouchable angelic being to me. I look at her and just see so much confidence and perfection. She is definitely a role model in a sense that you just want to submit to her.”

Holly recalls an Upper Floor shoot with Donna that also featured Madison Young. “I must have been twenty,” she says, “my first party.” Though memories sometimes become hazy, Holly believes Donna fisted her, a thrill for the BDSM neophyte. She admires Donna and wants to follow in her “BDSM footsteps because she is a submissive, too. I love that she loves pain and gang bangs, all those hardcore things she empowers.” Incidentally, Donna still shoots occasionally as a sub.

Madison Young performing on The Upper Floor. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Madison Young performing on The Upper Floor with Matt Williams.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

I’ve described Donna as a feminist in my recent book on the industry and Holly reinforces the raven-haired beauty’s image of a strong woman, echoing what I’ve heard over years of interviews in this film genre. “I wish more women would take a look at Donna and see her as a role model for women’s empowerment instead of degradation because it’s really frustrating when people see it [BDSM] like that.”

A final comment on Donna highlights Holly’s perspective. “She’s been a staple for me. It’s nice to have that somebody that honestly and truly cares and wants to educate people [about BDSM]. She is so sweet whenever I meet her in the hallways at Kink. I had a wonderful time with her on Public Disgrace.”

“To have the BDSM role model to look up to [is important],” Holly concludes, because Donna is “a true switch who can just flip it on and off.”

Lastly, we chat momentarily about Matt Williams who left Kink a few years ago to start his own collection of websites.

Their relationship is good. “He is super professional and he respects everybody and I respect everybody.” Now that Matt is running his own business, Holly enjoys “rekindling and revisiting” her connections with him. As for as who is working for whom in the BDSM trade, personal kinship, not companies, matter the most, Holly believes.

*          *          *          *          *

Aware that time has gotten away from us, we must wrap things up. The Press Room is a constant flow of people with PR types running around trying to fit all the pieces together, never a easy task. So for now it’s adieu with the hope that one day Holly and I can further explore her BDSM journey.

She’s a dynamic package that is too adorable to ignore . . .

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