Tag Archives: Kink.com

AEE 2020: Casey Calvert on Rapid Change

by Rich Moreland, February 2020

Photos by Kevin Sayers

*          *          *

By virtue of her eight years in the business, Casey Calvert is a respected adult film veteran. I’ve known her for some time and she is always an informative interview because she carries that remarkable trait that separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, in porn. With a university degree adorned in honors, Casey is no dummy.

We had an extensive interview that covered a handful of topics, but the part recorded here is on the changes that porn as an industry is experiencing as we move into the next decade.

As a result, this discussion is placed within the sequence of articles on the show that examines the evolution of the modern adult product.

*          *          *

Be Patient

Offering a thumbnail sketch of her career, Casey reminds us she began and as a bondage model shooting for Lew Rubens. That was over nine years ago.

How about your first hardcore shoot?

“The first time I did that on camera was for Sex Art in November of 2012,” she says. Surprising to me, incidentally, because I thought it was for Kink.com where Casey’s early career was nurtured.

In fact, one of the films nommed for this year’s AVN Movie of the Year was Derelict, a Kink production starring Casey and Charlotte Sartre.

If you could go back in time and have a talk with yourself about the business, what would you say?

I would tell myself to be patient and to not expect overnight success in the way people were telling me it was going to happen. And I would also warn myself that the business is changing.”

The native Floridian insists that every performer should understand today’s business environment. Getting into porn in 2020 is different from 2012.

Where the Money Is

If she were starting today, Casey would do things quite differently. “I would have never moved to LA. I would have never signed with an agency. I would have never shot mainstream porn. I tell people these days that you don’t need to do that. That’s not where the money is anymore,” she declares.

“The money is in owning your own content and being your own content creator and shooting the kind of porn you want to shoot with the kind of people that you want to have sex with. But in 2012, that was not what the business was. So, I would warn myself to be prepared, rather than trying to play catch up.”

What potential conflicts would you warn yourself about?

“I would tell myself that MindGeek is coming [which] translates into all of these companies that you work for now and idolize are going to change in some way. I would also warn myself more generally that all of these big companies now that you’re so excited working for, they’re going be gone in ten years.

There’s more.

“I would warn myself that these things that you think you want right now, may not actually be what you want in six months. Things change so quickly, just be prepared for rapid change . . . . rapid like institutional change.”

Paperwork

Referencing the “Rolling Your Own” seminar that appears on this blog, I ask Casey about the problems that arise when girls engage in content trade.

She brings up two issues: paperwork and negotiating what is to be traded.

“Paperwork is the number one thing,” she says. “I did a contract trade [recently] with a bunch of independent content creators. When I brought up that we needed to do 2257s in releases, [their response was] ‘We don’t do paperwork.’”

(FYI. 2257 is the government regulation that guards against child porn. Among other things, it makes sure all performers are eighteen years of age or older.)

In response to their naivete, Casey decided to take care of it herself. She got the IDs and went from there.

“Just because it’s a content trade doesn’t mean we not do paperwork. I was the mother hen,” she comments, “and swept them all up.”

“Another big problem is not negotiating beforehand where the content is going to go,” Casey points out.

“If you shoot a content trade scene with someone and they put it up on Pornhub for free. Now you can’t sell it. Sometimes people shoot content trade because they want to have sex with someone. [In that case] put it up on PornHub, do whatever you want. [But] get paperwork because you’re making a film. Follow the law,” she emphasizes.

“But, if you’re shooting content trade with the intention of having a product to sell, you have to communicate with your content trade partner. Put in writing a release plan [with a] schedule and rules.”

Casey explains many content traders don’t do that because they’re just using their phones to shoot the sex.

Does that make every amateur a professional?

“Technically yes,” she replies. “If [you’re] doing something [for money] that makes you a professional, it makes every amateur a professional.”

In the end, it means everyone has the opportunity to create porn.

Casey Calvert sums it up.

“You can do it. You don’t have to move to LA. you don’t have to find an agent. You don’t have to go and work for any of those companies where they tell you who you’re going to have sex with, what you’re going do that day, do your makeup and all of those other things.

“You just do your own thing because you almost certainly have a cell phone that connects you to the internet.”

*          *          *

Casey shooting for Lew Rubens as a bondage model before she entered hardcore porn.

Photo courtesy of LewRubens.com and TheBondageFiles.com

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

AEE 2019: Porn Stars on Camming. Casey Calvert

by Rich Moreland, April 2019

This is the second post in our porn stars and camming series from the 2019 AVN trade show at Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel.

Casey Calvert is a popular BDSM performer who has expanded her acting skills and moved into the upper echelon of porn performers. Recently, she joined Gamma Entertainment’s Adult Time as a director, advancing her industry resume into Hall of Fame territory.

For the record, Casey and I have known each other for years and have had our share of frank conversations about the industry.

Photos are credited to Kevin Sayers.

 *          *          *

Benefits

Have you ever cammed?

Only a couple of times, Casey responds.

Because the alluring brunette shoots scenes as her primary source of income (she doesn’t dance or escort), does she believe that camming is advantageous for a porn girl?

“Yes, it definitely benefits her to cam,” Casey says, and mentions Dani Daniels. “She started as a girl-girl performer shooting scenes, transitioned to boy-girl. Now she cams and does Snapchat and other social media. She’s made that transition really seamless. Her fame that she built as a performer drove her cam traffic.”

Casey agrees that porn girls bring their audience with them when they cam. But, she suggests, that same accomplishment might be tougher for a cam girl who gravitates to porn.

“There’s a lot of cam girls who have gotten flack for shooting scenes because of their fans. Camming is a really intimate, dynamic relationship” and there is a cost involved, the University of Florida grad says.

Fans do not always take to cam girls who “are doing solos” online then “go shoot a boy-girl scene, Casey believes. Some of them will say, “’You’re taking dick on camera now? That’s not okay!’”

Fans seem to regard cam girls as their own and get a little jealous and offended when they shoot scenes. So, the bottom line of this interpersonal dynamic is risk for the cammer.

“I think that’s a part of it,” Casey says. “I think there’s some slut shaming which is inappropriate. But I know that happens.

Cam Girl Stigma

Are cam girls creating amateur porn?

“That’s exactly what they’re doing,” Casey replies. “They’re entrepreneurs, they’re businesswomen and they’re amateur performers. And I don’t mean amateur in the derogatory sense. Just amateur in the literal sense.”

In her opinion, cam girls are not porn stars, but they’re “making porn”, nonetheless.

“Some of them also see themselves as amateur performers,” she adds, while others insist, “’I don’t do porn, I am not a sex worker, I am not a porn performer.’”

Things get complicated from there.

“There’s this cam girl stigma of ‘I’m not a porn star’ and there’s this porn star stigma of ‘I don’t cam, why would I need to cam? I’m a performer.’” Casey explains.

Is that a dividing line?

“No. To me, all of us are sex workers,” she asserts, and mentions there are plenty of cammers and porn performers who agree with her. But she understands those who don’t.

“I know that there are some people who live within the stigma. When I was just a fetish model, I told people ‘I don’t do porn, I’m not a porn star.’ I was wrong. I was doing porn.”

Without penetrative sex?

“I was creating a product for people to masturbate to. That’s porn.”

The highly respected Speigler Girl elaborates.

I didn’t know that then. I was afraid of the stigma. I didn’t want to be a porn star. I don’t do fluid exchange, I’m not making porn. But in hindsight now I see that I was being a sex worker. I just wasn’t doing ‘this.’”

I suggest that anyone can watch porn and not masturbate. But I do concede Casey has expanded my interpretation of what porn is.

From her perspective, porn’s “intention is to create something masturbatory,” as she puts it. Of course, the viewer makes that decision and there are people who don’t.

“I watch porn all the time and don’t masturbate to it,” the long-time Kink.com model says, “But it was created as a product to be masturbated to.”

For a moment we get into the phrase “porn star” and I got from Casey what I expected.

“I don’t know if I even like the phrase ‘porn star.’ I’m a porn performer. I’m an adult performer. I don’t feel like I’m a porn star. But porn star means something so I use that word to convey meaning.”

A portal

Does Casey think that camming to a portal into porn?

“No. There are thousands of cam girls and how many of those girls go shoot porn…a hundred? So, just statistically, no. Not enough people make the transition for [me to] agree with that.”

Should a cammer want to get into porn, does it matter if she gets an agent?

“Yes, it does matter because it shows an interest in sex work and an interest in creating pornography,” Casey insists.

“You have some experience talking to the camera and being sexy on camera and all of those things that an agent finds desirable. It’s not a necessity. There are plenty of girls who get into porn who have never cammed, who have never worked in a strip club, who have never done any fetish modeling and just go right into hardcore.

“But, for the most part, I find that most girls did some form of sex presentation before they started doing hardcore porn.”

In the end, Casey summarizes her take on our discussion.

“There are fans who don’t want to watch scenes ever. They just want to watch girls on cam. [Then there are] scene fans who have no interest in watching their girl on cam.

“There’s that degree of separation that a porn performer has with their fans that cam girls do not have because they ‘cam-to-cam.’ You see the guy [and] interact with them on a really intimate level. Much more intimate than shooting a scene.

“There’s no real interactions with the fans just from shooting scenes. So, I think there are fans who want that level of intimacy, and fans who don’t.”

It’s a choice, Casey Calvert concludes, that will prevail for some time to come.

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

AEE 2019: Cory Chase

By Rich Moreland

Cory Chase is porn veteran whose cam work began last year. In her thirties, this New Jersey girl who now lives in Fort Lauderdale, did her first “homegrown” porn shoot in 2003 and her initial adult film in 2006.

We made ourselves comfortable in the press room for our talk.

Photos are credited to Kevin Sayers.

*          *          *

Recounting her professional past, Cory mentions that her adult career began with “just pictures” for a site called MyHottestGirlfriend. She won contests on the site and popularity came her way, but the next step needed a little push.

“What really got me into porn was my husband now, boyfriend back then. He liked to videotape us having sex. So, we had this [private] library of our own content,” she says.

Cory mentions that the website she started, SouthernCharms, still contains that original work.

Now that her career is on solid ground, Cory’s goal is to expand her custom videos.

“The fans enjoy knowing that they’ve produced, in a sense, their own porn that other fans are enjoying as well,” she says.

Just Step Away

I bring up the idea that the new cam girl is really the new amateur porn model. Does Cory agree?

“Yes, especially if they’re going nude and inserting objects,” she replies.

In the midst of our discussion, Cory suggests that girls wanting to cam should take their time.

“Work slow. Don’t expose yourself completely if you don’t have to,” she begins.

“You don’t have to show off everything and do everything from day one. If you can talk and express yourself without having to undress, then go for it.”

The heart of camming is “being able to express yourself and tell a story,” she asserts. “So, don’t expose yourself completely unless you want to.” In other words, a girl needs to find her comfort level.

Cory offers the best advice I’ve heard about any girl who wants to begin camming.

“Remember that no matter how much you might feel like you’re being bombarded with commands or requests, they [the fans] are not actually in the room with you in person. You can just turn off your computer. You can just step away from it and that is it.

“So, understand that if you’re feeling overwhelmed, just step away.”

Market Trends

For cam girl success, Cory insists, fetishes are important because they keep the customers coming back. Whatever the fans want creates the marketing trends that dominate cam work.

“Going with those market trends are great for business. But you have to be creative on your own and come up with something that you are passionate about. So, yes, you have to want to expand and grow the things that you do. But yet you still want to go with the flow because if what you’re doing isn’t quite working, you have a fallback and you can do something that is in trend.”

She uses a personal example to explain what she means.

“I started out with footjobs, but the trend depleted. I stopped doing footjobs for videos.”

Cory clarifies that what goes viral establishes market trends and returns to footjobs for a moment to illustrate her point.

For “a couple of celebrities,” she remembers, “footjobs were big twelve, thirteen years ago. It was because celebrities were posting pictures of their feet on social media accounts. Footjobs just went through the roof that year and I jumped on that bandwagon.”

She reminds us, however, that what is hot today, may fade and then return.

“I find [that] trends kind of cycle through. Bondage is coming back in style. With Fifty Shades of Grey, [BDSM] kind of peaked a little bit, but it’s really coming back around [now],” she says.

Cory comments that she personally likes BDSM shoots, but the business world is not always receptive.

“Bondage sex has a tendency to be faux pas, credit card processors don’t really allow when a female is bound completely and not able to give consent [or] walk away. I wish things like that could be changed.”

A veteran of bondage play, Cory still dabbles in it with her husband though “most larger companies, other than Kink, don’t really play with it too much because of the credit card risk.”

Without an Agent

For the most part, cam girls don’t have agents in the traditional porn sense. Is that a good idea?

“It really depends on the mentality [and] the work ethic of the model. Production companies usually don’t talk to a girl if she doesn’t have an agent because there’s no fallback. If she doesn’t show up, they can go back on [the agent] and get funds or get another girl to fill in for the girl that cancelled or no-showed,” Cory says.

Having said that, if a cam girl wants to shoot scenes, an agent is probably a good idea.

However, Cory indicates that camming and porn tend to move in different environments within the porn world. There is a divide.

“A cam girl doesn’t have to be a porn girl. A porn girl doesn’t have to be a cam girl, but you can do both,” she affirms.

Considering that response, does Cory believe established porn stars ought to pick up camming?

“Yes and no,” she says.

“I’m more of an established porn girl who got into camming. I dabbled in a little bit of it when I first started [doing porn, but] it wasn’t for me. It didn’t feel right so I didn’t cam for seven years. I only started camming [again] back in July of last year. So, I really haven’t been camming that long.”

But Cory hits on a serious issue in the adult business that separates cammers from porn girls, but maybe not for long.

“Because of porn and how it’s all over the internet—a lot of times for free,” she says.

In other words, porn girls have a problem: piracy. Cory mentions that some cam fans will be talking with their favorite porn star/cammer “in the public chat while watching them somewhere else.”

The warning? “Established porn girls, you have to go back to making it personalized for that fan that is talking to you,” Cory insists.

That’s the cam girl’s chief advantage, I comment.

“Yeah, and they don’t have the content out there for free,” she quips. Or at least, that is what they think.

Cory offers up a reality check.

“It’s out there. Somebody is recording it, either with a camera, on their computer screen, or they’re capturing it directly from their computer screen. It’s being recorded and posted somewhere.”

That Fourth Leg

Cory has an interesting response to the three-legged stool question of making money. She sees camming as a “virtual strip club that allows a lot more visual display than the typical strip club.’

So yes, camming is the fourth leg, but like a girl’s other options, it’s a personal decision, Cory indicates.

“What makes you happy as a model? Producing content or providing a service. Is it escorting? Is it dancing? Is it camming? Because pretty much everyone can produce porn now.”

In the end, where is the adult business today when it comes to mainstream porn and camming? Cory makes an important observation that deals with the past.

“In the old days when porn started all the way up to the nineties when the internet first came out, fans were dedicated to the girl.

“Nowadays I’m finding fans are more dedicated to a website or a network, or a genre like camming or porn. They’re more dedicated to a style as opposed to the girls themselves.”

Her solution?

“I provide content and I have to post it throughout different websites. I’m getting more eyeballs, different fans, but they’re watching the same thing,” Cory Chase says.

Though technology and innovative platforms are pressuring industry girls to work harder, that’s a positive because eyeballs turn into dollars.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

AEE 2019: AINews Reports from the Show, Part 1

by Rich Moreland, February 2019

This is the first of two installments highlighting the 2019 Adult Entertainment Expo (aka the AVN Show) in Las Vegas. Our team circulated on the floors of the hosting venue, the Hard Rock Hotel, networked where we could, and conducted interviews to get an in-depth look at the porn industry today.

So far, we’ve reported on Evil Angel’s thirtieth anniversary and Nina Hartley’s thirty-fifth. We’ve also taken a look at how the show reflected the changes in our culture.

A pair of talented visual artists, still photographer Kevin Sayers and videographer/filmmaker Davyana San Miguel, provided the visual energy that graces these articles.

         *          *          *

Is there love between AVN and the cam world?

 If the last few years at the Adult Entertainment Expo is any indication, the porn world is experiencing an internal evolution.

That’s right, things are changing because the new kid on the block—the cam girl (and boy)—is altering the landscape of what defines porn, at least the commercialized version.

First, a little in-house geography. For those of you who have never visited the Hard Rock Hotel, the “floor” is divided among four major venues, three devoted to the on-screen industry and one to novelties.

A walk around the environs reveals that cammers are more evident than ever before. Not only do they have their own booths and tables inside the show rooms, they dominate the hallways that connect them.

That raises interesting questions. Are cam girls the newest version of porn girls?

Do cammers believe they are creating pornographic content when they perform for their fans and sell their shoots online? If that seems obvious to you, it isn’t to everyone and “therein lies the rub.” (my apologies for the well-worn misquote of Shakespeare)

Are cammers open to shooting for studios in a scripted environment?  It’s certainly outside their comfort zone where they interact with fans unencumbered by directors, cinematographers, and their crews.

And, how do the established porn stars—the studio moneymakers—regard cammers? Do the stars also cam as a way to build their brand?

In the interviews we did for Adult Industry News, I posed these questions. Answers varied, as you might expect, and we will look at some of them in later posts.

For now, here’s what we encountered during our meanderings about the premises.

Something for Everyone

The cammers greet fans in the hallways . . .

. . . And in the rooms! They seem to be everywhere armed with their connection to the fan world: their computer.

Cammers are not restricted by agents, you see. As a result, they are on their own to mix and mingle.

As a contrast, let’s take a few snapshots of porn’s traditional studios and the well-known stables that supply the talent.

The Agency Booths

We stop at the booths of a couple of modeling agencies I’ve dealt with in the past. At Foxxx Modeling, a brief chat with some girls we’ve already interviewed kicks off the afternoon.

The sexy Scarlett Mae.

The sultry Emma Hix.

And the perky BDSMer Emori Pleezer.

Nearby over at John Stevens’ Matrix Models, we find one of my favs in the biz, Vanna Bardot. Kevin and I met her recently on a Girlfriends Films shoot.

Porn’s Commercial Tradition

Then it’s on to the studios, the heavy hitters of porn. First is Adult Time, Bree Mills’ venue where . . .

. . . I renew old acquaintances with three of porn superstars, all of whom are up for AVN awards. We set up interviews to explore new topics we’ve not talked about before.

Tommy Pistol, one of adult’s finest male actors.

The popular Derrick Pierce whose on-screen personality is in high demand.

Then we have the talented Casey Calvert, a longtime friend. (It’s generational with our schedule making, as you can see. She’s electronic, I’m old school with my pen as we discuss arrangements!)

And a new contact, the luscious and award-winning Kenna James who later gives our team a terrific interview!

And, of course, Bree is there. We had interviewed her earlier in the day.

Other stops include Evil Angel where Katrina Jade is signing for fans.

And Jules Jordan where we pause a few moments with model Emily Willis.

Moving on to Greg Lansky Media, a rip-roaring booth pulsing with club music that engulfed the hall, we pick up a couple of conversations there.

We didn’t forget to take a quick look at the AVN booth (it’s their show, after all!) where a variety of girls were signing each day.

After some searching, we finally locate Sofie Marie, a girl (or MILF, depending on your point of view) who shoots for studios AND maintains her cam site. Later she gives us a terrific interview.

Before wrapping up our mini-tour of the rooms, we visit The Lair.

It’s sponsored by Kink.com, the leading BDSM porn producer in the business. Since the fan has to go upstairs to see the The Lair, there is the undeniable connection to Kink’s popular website, The Upper Floor.

And, as is the habit at AEE, an after-hours party for fans who want to pay for the privilege is offered.

Mostly, The Lair is a quiet respite from the clamor of the show floors. It’s vendors mostly with a demonstration here and there. For BDSM enthusiasts, it’s somewhat of a letdown unless the fan wants to shop .

Veterans

For anyone who writes in the porn biz, there is the “go-to” interviewer (and this is not to diminish any writer presently working). By “go-to” I mean the guy who sets the table for the basics about a performer. In other words, bio facts, personal preferences, shooting history, and the like. Everything that helps a girl build her fan base and gets the rest of us thinking about what we want to ask her.

He is “Captain Jack” and I have the privilege of meeting him after all these years.

Speaking of those in the industry who’ve been around the block a few times, our team briefly greets Evan Stone and has a short talk with Katie Morgan. No interviews this time around due to time and the hectic pace of the show. Maybe next year.

Then there is a new face and an old friend. For the first time, I make the acquaintance of Prinzzess Felicity Jade, a Girlfriends Films superstar, and update personal news with now retired performer, Daisy Layne.

Blended or Separated?

So, where does our brief tour leave us? For sure, the line between camming and shooting scenes is blurred. Take shooting, for example.

Today, the trend is make your own. Everyone, porn vets and cammers, can produce and manage their own content. After all, that’s what the fan wants . . . easy access just a click away.

There’s an old standby, Clips4Sale . . .

. . . And a newbie in the mix, Iwantclips.

At a convention that for decades touted video tapes and performer meet-and-greets, today cammers and studios play side-by-side. With Greg Lansky’s Vixen, Tushy, and Blacked responding to fans on the left of the picture below while the cammers’ ManyVids draws a crowd on the right, what does that tell us about 2019?

Well, maybe a solid “spank” in between to get our attention about a changing industry!

Peaceful Co-Existence?

In our next post, we’ll move to the novelties part of AEE 2019.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Vanna Bardot: The Girl with Braces

by Rich Moreland, November 2018

New girls come and go in porn at what seems at times dizzying speed. A shoot or two and a lot of girls go home never to return to the industry.

Vanna Bardot, on the other hand, is more than the blink of the eye. She’s smart and friendly with a fan base that, I suspect, grows daily.

Interviewing her was more than a pleasure, it was downright fun!

All photos are credited to Kevin Sayers.

*           *           *

On a recent visit to a Girlfriends Films set, I sat down with newcomer Vanna Bardot. Though a mere nineteen, she is wise beyond her years with a killer attitude that spells porn fame.

A camera presence is natural for this slim and spicy girl since artistry is in her DNA. Vanna attended a performing arts high school and was steeped in the rigors of ballet for much of her young life. With adoring audiences always close by, Vanna expanded her on-stage resume. At eighteen she was dancing in Miami clubs and exploring the delights of camming.

By the way, that’s all good with her family. Vanna grew up in a liberal household where self-expression was never stifled.

All of these adventures were a warm-up for the real deal: shooting porn. And boy, is she ready.  With a smile, this petite sweetheart proclaims, “I’ve done a lot of living so far.”

A Broader Market

Rather than delve into the formulaic interview questions every porn girl gets, we talk about Vanna’s career interests. Is filmmaking from the other side of the camera in her future?

“Transitioning from an actress to a director is sparking my imagination now, especially after becoming more familiar with different sets and meeting different directors,” she says.

As Vanna navigates through the industry, her education is expanding.

“I’m taking more time to really watch other people’s work whether it’s on sets or online.”

It’s inspiring she says. “I see things that I really like that fall into my style.”

Vanna does have her opinions on what she sees in the industry, however.

“I would never tell a director how to do their job, of course. But it may happen I see things that could be altered in a way that could be more efficient or more esthetically pleasing.”

That brings me to ask, “What drives porn, director choices or market demand?”

“I think market demand ultimately decides what’s happening,” Vanna replies.

“People want to make money and they want to cater to what people are asking for. But I think we’re coming into a time where a lot of people are starting to shoot the kind of content they want even if people tell them this isn’t going to sell. And those things do end up selling.”

She mentions Spain’s Erika Lust.

“She shoots a lot of porn that caters to LGBT people.”

Vanna believes Lust’s work is “a truer presentation” of porn’s demand because the stereotype that “only old dudes buy porn” is a misconception.

“There’s a much broader market for porn now, especially for younger people, people of different sexualities, gender identities, and race.”

The Bondage Scene

Porn is becoming more diverse and that is particularly true in the fetish arena.

For example, BDSM is popular today. How does Vanna regard the bondage product and does she want to try it?

With eyes brightening, she exclaims, “I want to. That’s what I’m most looking forward to. I really want to shoot for Kink soon. I’ve been kind of waiting to do everything super slowly. But yeah, that’s something I have a really big interest in.”

“What fascinates you about that?” I ask.

Pausing for a moment, the olive-skinned teen says,  “I started watching porn when I was younger. Once I started having my own sexual experiences, it’s something I started to dabble with. The power exchange is great, but I feel in BDSM porn I see real reactions.”

Too often BDSM scenes rely on “frivolous acting” and that hides the reality of authentic bondage pleasures, Vanna asserts.

So, if you’re listening Kink pick up the phone!

The Real Thing

For Vanna’s porn fun, it’s about authenticity, an advantage she believes the amateur porn product has over scripted studio shoots.

Speaking of real porn reactions, I mention that a woman’s sexual desire peaks in her thirties and beyond.

“That actually makes a lot of sense,” Vanna comments.

Perhaps in the future being thirty or forty will be an industry norm. Vanna is on board with that.

“I do think so. In porn, girls fall into only two categories. There is rarely a middle. You’re either a teen or you’re a MILF. Girls as young as twenty-one, if they have big tits, can be cast as MILFs which is crazy.”

She mentions director Greg Lansky, three-time winner of AVN’s Director of the Year.

“What I’ve noticed with Greg Lansky’s work is it’s a lot less teen and MILF. A lot of the women he casts are girls who are women, not necessarily ‘little girl’ and not necessarily ‘I’m your friend’s mom.’”

Vanna believes that there are “girls in their twenties and forties and no girls in their thirties,” or at least it seems that way. For whatever reason, today’s content dictates that “those are usually the characters girls have to play.”

She’s hopeful that “more women in their thirties” will come into porn.

Her remarks lead me to delve into the final questions I have. The first has to do with camming and how that ratchets up the amateur porn universe in the mind of the online customer.

Reagan Foxx and Vanna along with Elsa Jean and Sarah Vandella.

The New Porn Girl

Is the cam girl the new porn girl?

“It’s interesting,” Vanna muses. “I think camming is really taking over the porn world, at least what I hear from a lot of men. They don’t watch [traditional] porn anymore. They like to go on camming websites because they see this girl next door who is camming in her room. Then they can interact with her.

“This is a really big market now and it’s easy for any regular girl to do it. You don’t have to go through this whole process of getting into porn which is very daunting for a lot of young girls.

“So, this idea that you sign up on a website and work from the comfort of your own home appeals to a lot of people.”

However, this self-proclaimed homebody believes that camming presents a major change, like it or not, for girls accustomed to shooting scenes.

“For porn stars, it’s not usually enough to just do porn. A lot of girls do weekly or monthly cam shows because people want to be able to interact with their favorite girls and see them in real-time and not always acting in a role.”

This brings us back to the young girl in porn. Regardless of camming or playing the ‘little girl,’ as Vanna puts it, an amateur product that markets a naïve girl sells well.

I’m interested to know if the young girl image represents a power exchange concept for the viewer, especially if he is an older man.  Does it fit a formula that is easily repeated in amateur shoots?

Vanna is doubtful about that.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a formula that is going to work because I don’t think everyone enjoys seeing that,” she says.

“It definitely works for a lot of men because they like this idea of preying on a young innocent girl but I think for a lot of other people they’d rather see a more empowered role not necessarily of a girl who doesn’t know what she is doing but a girl who is more eager. She going to find this sexual encounter, or this sexual experience.”

Braces

We should mention that for the present, Vanna’s appeal lies somewhat in her braces. That certainly helps to sell her teen image.

“I still have my braces [which is] something I’ve been able to build my fan base on. It is pretty unique thing that not a lot of people have. I got them really late when I was seventeen, so I still have them.”

For now, they’re very marketable.

“But it’s not something I plan on keeping forever. I don’t want to be twenty-one with braces as much as I’m sure my fans would like it. I’m looking forward to taking them off. But I think it’s a good thing because my fans are kind of growing up with me and can see me turn into a young woman.

And, the future?

“I don’t know how long I’ll be in porn, or if I’ll reach MILF years. But I think it’s going to be good. I think people are going to enjoy seeing me grow up.”

Then this very intelligent sweetheart gives us the feel-good news.

“I’m here because I like sex, I like these sexual experiences, I like to see myself out there.”

Braces and all!

*          *          *

Dan O’Connell’s sets are always idyllic, a refreshing touch to the day’s work for any performer.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

A Gonzo Afternoon: Part Two

by Rich Moreland, December 2017

Their shoot for Eddie Powell wrapped up, Steve Holmes and Mandy Muse are game for a dual interview so we move outside to the veranda.

Steve’s wife soon joins us.

Here’s some of what we discussed.

*          *          *

A Convenient Marine

I open the discussion with a question about getting into the business.

Mandy starts us off. She’s been shooting for a while and works with Kendra Lust’s agency, Society 15.

“I’m 23 years old. I’ve been in the industry for 4 years now, started when I was 19. I have a big booty which I’m known for. I do pretty much everything except for double anal and double vag.”

Mandy has no background in acting other than a film class she once took. But the Southern California lass is well versed in sex, having her first experience at the tender age of twelve.

“I had my first threesome with two guys when I was fourteen and then my first orgy at about fifteen.” Her voice rises as if she’s not sure of the age, or doesn’t remember exactly.

She got into the industry once she turned eighteen, Mandy says, and relates how it happened.

“I was attempting my first DP with these two marines on base.”

A good time was had by all before another soldier shows up. He was on duty but that didn’t faze Mandy.

“He was really attractive and I wanted him to join in,” she remembers.

The marine was interested but declined. He was on duty. Undaunted, Mandy gave him her number.

“He later asked me if I’d do a scene with him for a uniform fetish website. I wore my cheer leading uniform from high school and that’s how porn found me!” the brunette declares gleefully.

Married with Children

Steve’s path started at a much later age.

“I’m German, born in Transylvania, then went to Germany as a kid.” he begins. “I worked in IT for ten years, before that in different jobs, always sales and marketing.”

I can believe that. He’s easy to get along with, just ask Mandy who met him for the first time today.

Steve’s wife arrives to pick him up and takes a seat.

As if on cue, he says, “When I started I was already married with children.”

I suggest his wife is a tolerant person. She smiles and sends him a knowing look.

“She is, yes,” he responds and turns to Mandy, “I did a nice feature with your agent, Kendra Lust. She played my wife.”

Come to think of it, I guess Steve has had lots of “wives” but only one real wife.

I tell Steve I first learned about him through his work with Kink.com in San Francisco.

“Kink is a funny story actually,” he offers. “They booked me the first time in 2007. I didn’t know the company. They always asked the girls at Kink who they like to shoot with. They were requesting me.”

The fetish giant explained that before they booked him he needed to do a little research to find out his comfort level with what they do.

They said, “’It’s not like the regular stuff. We’ll send you a link to our website and a password,’” Steve remembers.

He checked out their shoots and noticed something. He didn’t know how to do the rope work that seemed to be everywhere in a Kink production.

“They told me, ‘no problem we have people for that,’” Steve explains. “So that’s my first shoot at Kink for Sex and Submission in February or March, 2008.”

As time passed, Kink expanded their offerings to Steve.

“They asked me if I can help with producing and organizing. That’s how I started directing. One of the websites I produced was Public Disgrace. Princess Donna initiated that with the company.”

Donna has since left the adult business. I remembered seeing her a couple of years ago in a shoot for a European BDSM company called Elite Pain. Their work is rougher than anything stateside.

“Yes, a company owned by a friend of mine in Budapest,” Steve interjects. “They normally just shoot nudity with no sex.”

He references a shoot he did for them and shows a still of the bound model on his phone.

“The girl contacted me many years ago. She wasn’t a porn girl. She was a medical student in Germany. I booked her in Europe and we shot her in Berlin for Public Disgrace and I asked her if she enjoyed the scene.”

“‘I was hoping you’d beat me harder,’” he remembers her saying.

Asked about her limits and the girl said, “‘I don’t know, I’ve never reached that.’”

It turns out that Steve suggested she might want to give Elite Pain a shot.

“She came for the scene. We did it together. Hard punishment. I fucked her and she had so many orgasms. She was happy for the experience, but she’d never do it again,” he says with a chuckle.

As time passed Steve’s work with Kink was so impressive that he became one of their directors and specialized in filming in Europe.

Warming Up

Turning our attention to the shoot just completed, I asked our pair how they got to know one another when they arrived.

Steve begins

“Easy. We met. We got attracted to each other. We use the time they are setting up the lights.”

Yep, all that “warming up” paid off.

Mandy points out that being comfortable with your co-stars is important and in her case, she has “never really had a hard time finding chemistry especially with a performer like Steve Holmes. It’s just how I love being handled during a scene.”

“Thank you,” Steve says, forever the gentleman. Mandy giggles.

“We had a good time,” he continues, and comments on touching, caressing, and the like.

Mandy chimes in, “We talked about that too.”

Steve brings up the most important factor in porn . . . do you love what you do? It can make or break a shoot. And, of course, there is chemistry between performers.

“Productions have a certain idea about the scene and how they want it to be. But then sometimes they don’t always book the right people. When I feel the girl is just going through the motions, it usually reflects in the scene.”

Reading Expressions

How about communication when the camera is rolling?

Steve thinks of it as akin to dancing and uses a generational analogy I completely understand.

“My role model is Fred Astaire. Sometimes you go on the dance floor with a girl and she doesn’t feel it. You try to lead her, push her, you know. And then there are sexual girls. You dance to enjoy and also to put on a show. This is what we do here. We know where the camera is. We try to enjoy ourselves and look nice for the audience, the camera.”

I ask Mandy about making eye contact during sex.

She loves to do that but comments that in her personal life, it doesn’t always happen.

Regardless if it’s business sex or private sex, “You can see what they (your partners) are feeling more when you look at them.”

The eyes “make connections” and bring people together, she adds.

Steve is on board with that.

“Eye contact is very important. You know what your partner enjoys by reading their expressions. We react to each other.”

“Coming back to the BDSM fetish stuff,” he says, “it’s so important to read your partner so you can push them or back off.”

In shooting that type of scene, there is always a potential a safety issue, so everyone needs to be on the same page.

Did Steve use his expressions to get Mandy to go where he wanted to be in the shoot, or where he wanted her to be?

In chorus, Steve and Mandy exclaim, “Both.”

“It’s a given thing,” Steve says.

There was a fair amount of spanking in the shoot. How did this influence Mandy?

“I’m submissive,” she explains. “I like pain so I like to be spanked. It gets me stimulated. When the penetration after the spanking happens, it’s two different types of feelings so I just love the mixture of both.”

The PA for the shoot, AJ Westwood, comes out and offers to drive Mandy to her car. She’s parked at a local mall. Steve says it’s on his way and he’ll give her a lift.

Incidentally, in LA neighborhoods people coming and going from a house raises red flags. For that reason, my photographer and I parked down the street some distance away.

Keep the Energy

Before we wrap up, the conversation turns to Eddie Powell.

Steve says he’s worked with Eddie for about a year. He likes shooting for him because the director gives his performers freedom to express themselves.

“There are certain directors you enjoy more than others,” Steve says, and he’s known ones that are not to his taste.

He mentions a director from years ago. “The first time I shot for him was so boring.”

Once the director put the performers into a position, Steve explains, “he didn’t change anything. Don’t move your hand, don’t change anything. Hold the position.”

The crew worked around them.

“In the end the product looked great because the dynamic came from the editing. It was actually not a lot of fun, (just) hard work,” he says, adding that some shoots can range from five to eight hours on set.

Today was much different, Steve declares. He didn’t have to save his energy.

“The camera follows you, you can just keep going and enjoy yourself because you know the camera is going to pick it up.

“With Eddie, the scene is so good with the lighting and the camera being handheld. It’s not so easy and he pulls it off so well. That’s the quality of his shooting.

“The key is that Eddie actually tries to book performers who know what they are doing, then he tries to capture it. If you give him what he wants, then he lets you do it.”

Mandy offers a final comment about maintaining on-set energy especially during breaks.

“Even when the cameras aren’t rolling I want to continue the flow (of the scene) to still keep the energy there.

“Today was not supposed to be so hardcore. It was easy to not get worn out when the lights are changing,” she says.

What is important, Mandy insists, is “to continue flowing with the same energy.”

Understandable. That’s always a priority when you make your living as an entertainer.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Darker Side of Desire: Part Two

by Rich Moreland, March 2017

Here is Part Two of my review/analysis of Jacky St. James’ Darker Side of Desire, a production of Mile High Media.

To get a flavor of the images mentioned in this analysis, watch the “not safe for work” trailer here.

All photos and images are courtesy of Mile High Media.

*          *          *

A Balanced Message

The sex scenes in Darker Side of Desire are Jacky St. James at her artistic best and reflect the mission of Sweet Sinner video. The scenes are woman-friendly and romance-oriented with female consent the focal point of every shot.

Passionate kissing abounds with everyone receiving oral pleasures, but the gagging, choking, and deep throating of today’s run-of-the-mill porn are conspicuously minimized; not surprisingly, the same applies to porn as an anatomy lesson.

Facial expressions communicate desire while the camera focuses on both bodies equally when the sex heats up. Cinematographer Hank Hoffman often shoots a symmetrical view of the lovers to highlight carnal expression as a two-way street.

Speaking of visual clues, Jacky St. James concentrates on phallic symbols like candles and vases paired with flowers (very Freudian) to underscore the psychology of sex. Since vases offer a canal to be filled, so to speak. . . Well, I think you get the idea.

As mentioned above, communication is the heartbeat of each sex scene. Darker Side is solid feminist porn with male performers who express their feelings through conversation and touch. Take note, for example, of how Mickey Mod gently cradles Cassidy Klein’s head during their intimate moments.

To shoot a female-centered film requires men who are comfortable with their sexuality and are willing to yield their masculine focus in favor of pleasuring their partners.

Jacky St. James casts the best of them.

Sexual Maturity

With Darker Side Jacky is as true to the BDSM community as she has ever been. Take for instance, the performers in the dream sequence. They’re older, a reflection of real-life bondage aficionados. The renowned MILF, Cherie Deville, is the perfect choice to perform with Tommy Pistol, a veteran of Kink.com who is in his forties.

Mickey Mod and James Deen are also Kink veterans who have been in the industry for ten and thirteen years respectively. Michael Vegas didn’t enter adult until he was twenty-six and is in his seventh porn year. Experience also characterizes the women. Cassidy Klein and Gia Paige are well into their twenties, hardly newbs by porn standards.

Only Riley Nixon is a youngster among this crowd, but she is mature by fetish standards. And make no mistake, this girl is a charmer with an adorable, disarming smile.

In the BTS segment of the DVD, Riley tells us she’s “very submissive” and BDSM gives her an exciting sexual space to be free of worry and responsibility.

Submission is “who I am deep inside, a natural state for me,” she declares. Can you feel the love?

Experience teaches BDSMers to be comfortable with their fetish. Sex is as much mental as it is physical and any bondage lover will tell you that understanding your sexuality and being open to talk about it is what the kink is all about.

The Game

Darker Side has two themes. The first, as we’ve seen, is the appreciation of authentically presented BDSM.

The second is feminism’s relationship to kinky sex brought out in the film’s pivotal scene, the drinking game. A tequila bottle (another phallic symbol) is positioned in the middle of a divan around which four players (Bryce and the girls) sit.

It’s a bit of truth or dare fun that unexpectedly wrings a bondage confession out of Sydney. Her words touch a nerve with Robyn (Riley Nixon) who challenges her roomie’s feminism by asserting that BDSM is anti-woman.

Sydney replies she did not give up her power when she played in the dungeon. A chill rises quickly around the group.

Robyn is indignant. “You bent over and let some dude spank you and you think you‘re in control?”

Sydney leaves abruptly. How do you spell tension?

Raising the Bar

Darker Side of Desire is an artistic commentary that raises the bar of the average porn film. Make no mistake, Darker can survive on its terrific sex scenes alone, but, as we’ve mentioned, Jacky St. James has a special talent for shooting sex that fits perfectly into the narrative.

Later, when Natalie persuades Sydney to tell her story, she learns that her friend researched BDSM websites which led to her adventure with Alex, an accurate comment on how kinksters find each other in today’s cyberspace.

He was “much older,” Sydney says (reinforcing the age factor). Their fetish sex was immediate.

“It didn’t evolve, it started there,” Sydney says.

They talked about everything.

“What I wanted, what turned me on. He was completely respectful of my boundaries.”

Negotiation and trust are the most important parts of the BDSM experience.

The rewards were enormous. The sex unleashed something inside her, she explains.

Unfortunately, Sydney was a college freshman at the time and sexual self-understanding was in short supply. Though she was happy with the arrangement, she broke it off because she felt “weird” and different from other girls.

Youth led her to judge herself negatively. Fear stepped in and now years later she regrets everything, Sydney tells Natalie.

You’re Next

Emboldened, Natalie is now ready to begin her emotional/sexual journey.

To prepare the viewer, Jacky St. James breaks the fourth wall in Natalie’s final dream episode. During the fantasy sex, Cherie Deville looks directly into the camera expressing her satisfaction before Tommy Pistol turns to the lens and confronts Natalie’s reticence with, “You’re next!” It’s her inner challenge to act on her desires.

She’s watched for too long, now it’s time to play.

When the final sex scene shows up, Natalie and Bryce come full circle. By the way, Cassidy Klein’s oral performance is stylish, more art than gonzo, a kind of sensual caressing.

In the bondage sequence, the lovers are reflected in a mirror to the left of the screen. The shot is laden with shadows and represents their transition, stepping through the looking-glass if you will.

Natalie, who submits to a blindfold, lives out her fantasy in her imagination. Bryce’s voice nurtures her internal visions, much like the radio dramas long ago when listeners created the visual scene for themselves.

The dream has come to life, a reminder that BDSMers always have their favorite scenarios in their heads.

Inside the Self

Finally, Darker Side of Desire is impressive for two reasons.

First, Jacky St. James has all the right performers. Each one brings a special talent to the screen.

Second, Jacky has grown in her understanding of BDSM. With Emma Marx, she successfully normalized the fetish. Now she has moved kink to a more personal level with the women of Darker Side. Words and caresses excite them while the sex is hot and heavy without gonzo-style sex for sex’s sake.

Simply put, the fetish is nurtured inside the self. Her desires inflamed, Natalie’s here and now contrasts with Sydney’s fond remembrances of a past experience that offers hope for the future.

There is a course correction needed in this story and it appears in the closing scene. Her wrists and ankles shackled, Robyn extracts a promise from her lover to say nothing of this to anyone . . . Appearances always matter, of course, even to feminists who decry that bondage objectifies women while wrestling with their own ideas about its erotic allure.

Just as Natalie’s over voice opens the film, another with real honesty steps in before the final credits roll . . .

“Robyn eventually acknowledges that sexual fetishes are deeply personal and not to be judged until fully experienced.”

For Natalie, Sydney, and Robyn, this is not the end, of course, but a beginning, or more precisely an electrifying rebirth . . .

Will there be a Darker Side of Desire, Part Two? If so, this reviewer is on board!

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

AEE 2017: Emma Hix

by Rich Moreland, February 2017

*          *          *

The Adult Entertainment Expo is a rush for everyone. When I stopped by Foxxx Modeling for a quick visit, I notice a striking blonde named Emma Hix. She’s tall and slim with delicate features and something I’ve rarely seen on a porn girl: a wedding ring.

Intrigued, I asked her if she could give me a few minutes of her time.

I returned the next day and we talked briefly amongst the fans ready to take my place when Emma’s attention was free.

img_0509

Rough Sex

Emma is nineteen, from LA, and married with a “very supportive” family behind her.

“I got into porn because I love expressing my sexuality,” she says.

Her first scene was in April of last year. So far, she’s stayed on the vanilla side. “I’ve done four anal scenes, and soon I hope to do my first IR scene.”

Photo courtesy of Foxxx Modeling

Photo courtesy of Foxxx Modeling

Emma wants to turn her career up a notch and shoot for Kink.com.

“I do like rough sex,” she says, but when it comes to bondage, Emma is more into being tied up as an expression of art.

“I don’t think of the rough side so much,” she admits. “With them that’s going to happen, so I have to be prepared.”

For a youngster in this business, Emma has a grasp on reality.

“You have to know what you are comfortable with and what you’re not comfortable with. It’ll be fine, but it’s a little nerve-wracking.”

Since this sweetie hasn’t done any features, I ask about her acting experience and found out she took some drama classes in high school.

“I was better at acting back then because I felt more open with myself. But now that I’m in the adult industry I feel more pressure to be good at acting,” Emma says.

“My acting skills have gone down. I’m not going to lie. I’m going to take a course because I do want to eventually go into mainstream. It’s really hard to do that after porn, but that’s the goal.”

Be Yourself

What is the most important piece of advice she would give new girls?img_0737-2

“Be yourself and don’t change for anyone because a lot of girls in this industry will change for other people to look good. I try to be myself, I try to be friendly to people.”

It’s worked for her, Emma says. People who knew her before porn tell her she hasn’t changed.

Finally, Emma has a warning for every eager starlet.

Watch Out

“Watch out for people who will take advantage of you. If you’re coming into the industry as a new girl, you will get taken advantage of.”

It happened to her and Emma is very open about it. Her story reflects what I’ve heard from other girls.

img_0752-2“My very first scene, the guy is only supposed to cum one time. That’s like the rule. He came four times, he came inside of me, he did off-camera two times and I thought that was the norm, it was fine.”

In fact, she took the behind the scenes episode as a compliment.

“I felt good, ‘Oh he really likes me,’” she remembers.

But then reality kicked in.

“When I went back home to my agent, he said, ‘That is totally wrong.’”

Emma explains that the industry has good guys and ones that aren’t and the bad dudes will take advantage of an unaware girl.

“As much as you love sex, doing it off camera is different.  Some directors try to get you to have sex with them just to get work. When I pick that up I don’t want to work for them. I’ll just be friendly. ‘No, I don’t want to do that.’”

“You got to watch out,” Emma declares.

Emma Hix’s fans were a little restless by now, so we closed things out. Check this girl out if you don’t her at Foxxx Modeling. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

The Meaning of Consent: Allie Haze

by Rich Moreland, February 2016

Adult film has it’s stars, and then it has it’s superstars. Allie Haze is one of the latter and destined for the AVN Hall of Fame. During the recent Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, she gave me some of her valuable time. We found a quiet spot beyond the bustle of the convention for a lengthy interview that was a pure delight.

*          *          *

My impression of Allie Haze is strength, self-assurance, and a sweetness that escapes description. What’s more, she understands the business of adult film.

“This is more than just a job because I’m selling myself. What you’re putting out there is you, your heart and your soul.”

Considering that statement, let’s delve into things that can happen on the set that might not always go down to everyone’s liking.

Allie Haze Photo Courtesy of Smash Pictures

Allie Haze
Photo Courtesy of Smash Pictures

The Sinkhole

Like others I have talked with, Allie does not believe consent issues pervade the industry, but she does recognize they affect the business with a collective concern.

She characterizes the James Deen/Stoya incident as “a sinkhole within us. It’s a very small part of a very big world that just happened to fall in.”

Having said that, the native Californian concedes that the allegations and resulting opinions are evolving into “a monster that is damaging our community.”

Essentially, James and Stoya, are “two powerhouse individuals” who have shaped the modern porn landscape, Allie says. They are among “those top twenty people” the public regards as important adult film voices, “the people who make the difference, the ones the media actually gets to hear.”

So, are there real issues with consent in porn?

For some people, yes. But, Allie believes, “it’s a case by case basis.” In other words, it differs based on personal preferences and the ability to understand the demands of porn.

“I could be twenty-five and be super manipulative or I could be eighteen and be smarter than the twenty-five year old,” she explains. “It has nothing to do with age. It has to do with your maturity level and there is no way to determine that.”

Photo courtesy of Allie Haze Twitter

Photo courtesy of Allie Haze Twitter

Know the Rules

Though she has a history of “good choices,” Allie supports mentoring performers because entering porn can be scary.

For example, she says, just getting started is challenging. Flying in from out of town and meeting an agent for the first time is often a bewildering and anxiety-producing “life changing event.”

Throw in that first day on the set with its consent issues, and a girl can fall into more than she expected. So it’s important to ask, “What are the rules of what you are getting into?” she says.

What’s more, the award-winning actress warns anyone thinking about shooting porn that “in less than six months your whole family” will know what you’re doing and you should understand the possible consequences of your decision.

Are there ways to guide newbies, particularly if they are having problems?

“I hope the older generation [of performers] would take them under their wing,” Allies replies.

But there is another vital point the stunning brunette wants to make.

Allie recalls her first job in fast food and the “food workers card” she secured after taking an eight-hour class. She endorses a similar practice for adult because performers do not have a union to address these concerns. The closest organization available is APAC (Adult Performer Advocacy Committee).

In her view, it would work like this. “When we have our I.D. [for age purposes] and [blood] test [results] we also need our permit card. No matter at what age you enter the business, you should have to go through a class, learn about your body and what you can say ‘no’ to.”

The former minister’s wife completes her thought with a strong affirmation about the process. “It also has to be industry funded.”

Teamwork

Allie Haze is not gun shy and it works to her advantage.

Photo Courtesy of Smash Pictures

Photo Courtesy of Smash Pictures

“I’m a little feisty and I never felt like I could not say no.” However, she is familiar with “meek, beautiful, and intelligent women” who have shared stories in which it was “more of a hassle to say ‘no'” than to just go along.

Nevertheless, Allie believes, the onus is on the performer to speak up. “No one is at fault because you made that decision [to say nothing]. If you had enough time to think of all of that, you had enough time to say ‘no.'”

The multi-talented performer shared a personal experience.

Once during a rough scene, a male model spit in her face “in the heat of the moment.” Allie stopped the shoot. She didn’t mind the choking and the slapping, but spitting was out.

A newcomer at the time, Allie had discussed her limits before the scene began, but really couldn’t blame the guy because she forgot to mention that spitting was a ‘no.’

“As much as I was frustrated and really offended, I told him that I know I didn’t say it and we’re not going to stop the shoot. Don’t lose your mojo, just don’t do it again.”

She apologized to the director and he said, “No, you’re good.”

Allie advises female performers to act with care. By screaming at the guy, his arousal level is crushed. “Now it’s his fault and nobody gets a paycheck and we have to come back the next day.”

“Although you’re entitled to an uproar, this is a career so there’s a professional way to handle those bad situations. You’re working as a team.”

Courtesy of Smash Pictures

Photo courtesy of Smash Pictures

A Way Out

Allie comments that Kink.com, where she has completed some twenty BDSM shoots, can create stressful situations. Safe words are important on their sets.

Her personal Kink anxiety centers on electricity.

“I wanted to challenge myself so I did their electrosluts site. My fear of electricity made me cry. I was gagged. I wasn’t in pain. Nothing was wrong. But once I started crying they cut the camera.”

An important lesson was learned.

Girls can communicate when fears are aroused. At Kink, crying, which is usually not related to physical discomfort, is a way to stop a scene.

It’s a matter of figuring out what behaviors companies consider sensitive.

“If you know what the rules are when cut happens” you’re on top of things, Allie declares. But always remember that “stop or cut” means lost footage. So a degree of common sense kicks in.

Having said that, Allie is adamant about feeling safe.

“No one should be in that situation where they feel like they need to find an escape or a way out. That’s what breaks my heart, that’s what makes me sad.”

In the middle of a hectic day, Allie is still cheerful and willing to chat

In the middle of a hectic day, Allie is still cheerful and willing to chat.

*           *           *

Through it all, Allie realized that when the James Deen/Stoya incident got out, women in porn were going to be portrayed as victims.

She wants everyone to know she is not a victim even though she’s “done a lot of interviews where they think that.”

Well, this is not one of them, I’m delighted to say.

For her final thought, Allie Haze proclaims with sharp certitude, “I’m happily a seven-year veteran and still going strong. I would never change it for the world.”

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

The Meaning of Consent: Derrick Pierce

by Rich Moreland, February 2016

Not all the superstars in adult film are women. Men have their place.

Derrick Pierce is a multi-talented performer whose honesty and good nature is well-respected in the business. We’ve talked before and here is much of what he said during our latest chat at the 2016 AVN convention.

*          *          *

Photo courtesy of Adam & Eve and AVN

Photo courtesy of Adam & Eve and AVN

When male performers are asked about consent, the response is pretty unified. The guys want to make sure everyone is on board with likes and dislikes before a scene begins.

Sometimes, they will tell you, limits are defined by studio protocol.

Veteran performer Derrick Pierce offers this assessment.

“[Studios] like Hustler or Wicked have their own set of guidelines that typically supersede the level of what we as talent would like, meaning that even if talent is okay with certain things [and] the company isn’t, we have to abide by what the company wants.”

In the case of less restrictive studios, performers will work out their limits before shooting commences.

The Side of Caution

If he is paired with a girl he doesn’t know, Derrick wants to find out what she “is cool with” so boundaries can be set. For example, she might say, “I’m fine with hair pulling, spanking, just don’t slap my face.”

He is there for her, Derrick insists, and will tell his co-star, “if there is anything that you don’t like and you want to stop, just give me a couple of hard squeezes on the leg or the arm and I’ll adjust it so we don’t have to stop.”

Derrick Pierce

Derrick Pierce in the media room

Fortunately, Derrick is aware that after a scene girls sometimes have doubts about what they let happen, prompting him to “err on the side of caution.”

“I’d much rather female talent walk away from a shoot [thinking] ‘I probably could have done more’ than ‘Whoa, that was way too much!'”

Aside from his resume of vanilla shoots, Derrick is an experienced BDSM performer. In bondage scenes, establishing limits is imperative.

He cites Kink.com, where he appears frequently, as a studio that is “very, very strict” about their shoots. They do give performers “a lot more latitude, but with more latitude come more rules,” Derrick adds.

In fact, there is a two-page document on a girl’s limits–what she is fine with and what she is not–that performers hired as dominants “now have to read” and “sign off” on. It’s specific, he says, “probably thirty different items” that include spitting, marking, anal play, and the like.

Derrick notes that the document also has a comment section. A girl might mention “no marking” if she has a vanilla shoot coming up, or “go for it” because her next couple of weeks are open for recovery time.

Finally, everything is “read, signed, counter signed” before going to a production manager who “oversees the paper work.” Next, the webmaster and director also sign off on the guidelines. “Kink is so through it’s ridiculous” Derrick says. (And getting more so, apparently. The March issue of XBIZ reports the company is refining its consent policy.)

“They [the performers] know what they sign up for when the go to Kink. You can’t walk away saying they’re negligent.”

He mentions that the San Francisco studio will give a model partial pay if she decides to bail on a shoot. “They’ll pay you half your rate. I don’t know another company that will do that.”

The Elbow Test

I bring up new girls and possible problems that arise. Are they vulnerable?

“Absolutely!” Derrick declares. “How do you say ‘no’ to things you don’t know you’re okay with or not okay with? Because I’m an experienced performer, when a girl says, ‘I’m cool with everything’ I’ll say something ridiculous like, ‘so you’re cool if I elbow you in the face?'”

She’ll back off, of course, leading Derrick to respond, “‘You do have limits, then?’

That leads to an awareness dialogue that is initiated with, “Well, what do you like?”

“You have to lead them,” Derrick adds, because they don’t understand “the full spectrum of what ‘I’m okay with everything means.'”

Getting through to a girl belongs to the male talent, Derrick believes.

“Help those girls out because they’re not really familiar” with what is expected of them and the shoot. From there the directors step in. Even if a director says little, especially if it’s BDSM, Derrick still assumes responsibility.

“At the end of the day, I’m [either] going to be the one taking care of them, making sure they are okay, or be a part of them going too far,” something he wants to avoid.

“I’d much rather err on the side of caution for the first time.” He lets subsequent shoots determine if the girl wants to go harder.

Derrick with superstar Dani Daniels

Derrick with superstar Dani Daniels

The Eyes Don’t Lie

In the final analysis, consent is all about conversation.

“I think that when two people can connect, even if it is on a minimal level, it helps the scene.”

He will ask a co-star, “What puts a smile on your face?” knowing the answer will subtlety show up on film.

“The camera picks up those things. The eyes don’t lie. If you really watch a girl you can see when she’s not okay.” That’s important, Derrick mentions, because “sometimes the cameraman is so involved with other issues, he’s not looking for the intensity or intention of the talent.”

“I always take that responsibility, or try to take that responsibility, to make sure I’m always checking in if we’re doing something out of the norm.”

Then he adds with a smile, “Even if we’re not, girls get tired.”

His suggestion for fatigue? Take a break and resort to a little oral sex. “No director or cameraman is going to say ‘whoa’ [to that],” he chuckles.

It’s a trick top-notch male performers keep tucked away for the right moment.

In adult film, the value of the veteran male performer cannot be overstated. That is why their circle is so small. The best work all the time.

Once you “learn the game,” Derrick Pierce says, “the better you’ll be for talent. The girls will want to work with you because they know that you’re looking out for them.”

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized