Erika_Lust

Actors negotiate their own pay and we pay by day rate, we do not pay performers based on the sex acts that they will do because we don’t want them to feel pressured into doing something that they don’t like for more money. As for reading the script, absolutely! They are sent the script and moodboard well ahead of shooting, they know who they are going to shoot with and the type of sex they will be having. They tell us their limits, what they want to try, what they don’t want to try, and this is communicated with the rest of the cast.

The biggest problem right now is the issue of piracy and the free tubes. Users need to be made aware of the ethical implications of watching pirated material. There are so many reasons that adult content is behind a paywall. It costs money to create a safe sex environment and money to make the film. It costs money to pay performers, crew, post-production and the director; to create fair working conditions for talent and crew, lunch for the day, and comfortable accommodations if required. I urge everyone to start paying for their porn if they can. Sex work is a real job, and performers deserve to be paid fairly. By paying for your porn, you are contributing to their livelihoods and their ability to do their job properly. You are helping to ensure that smaller studios that are committed to fair labour practices, are able to continue making the porn that they want to make and that sex work is done in a safe environment.

We are used to adult movies made by men, where you have close up genital shots, emotionless storylines, where the man’s presence is represented only by his penis and women live sex as something that is done to them instead of actively participating in it. I want to portray healthy sex relationships on screen and to capture the whole feeling of sex – the passion and the pleasure of everyone involved – not just a mechanical shoot of it. My sets are made up of 80% women and we have a big crew, which may look very different for a performer coming from mainstream sets. For female performers used to small crews made up of solely men, this means a lot in terms of feeling in a friendly, supportive and safe environment.

I guess my previous reply was more referred to your second question than to your first one. I'll try again.

As mentioned in another reply, "ethical" refers to the production practices implemented when making films. A lot of what makes porn is happening behind the scenes. "Ethical" is a broad, ongoing, even subjective concept. "Ethical" to me includes how performers are treated, how the movies are made, how they are edited and distributed.. There are different layers that aren't always visible on your screen when you watch porn. It's vast, and there's so much that goes into it.

Ethically produced porn typically exists behind a paywall or is subscription-based. This is because of the money that goes into production. There are so many people involved in ethically-produced porn vs. other sets, from what I have garnered when talking to the performers I work with. They typically say they feel like they are treated as stars when they work with us, experiencing a level of care they don't usually experience. There can sometimes be as many as 50 people on set vs. 2 or 3 on other mainstream sets.

Our most important value in terms of ethics is that we want to ensure everyone feels safe and comfortable throughout the process. There are talks throughout the day and before filming. With the help of our Intimacy Coordinator (you can ask her any further questions here u/avril_ic_EL), we explore consent and boundaries from the very beginning of the whole production process. We discuss what they would be comfortable doing and not OK doing while leaving room for nuances as and when they arise. When we're on set, we check in again with performers to see if anything has shifted since we last spoke. There's also a plan if we need to support further or if anyone is suddenly not feeling OK for any reason.

Who are the people who create porn and how porn is distributed also has an impact on the messages we send out. For example, on free online porn sites, lesbian porn is made very much for a male audience. Therefore, it's not relatable for lesbian people, but much more intended to fetishize them. Giving leading roles to queer directors, producers, and performers so that they can create sex scenarios that feel relatable for the queer community is not only about "wanting diversity"; it's about changing dominant, patriarchal narratives. It's about defying the status quo of mainstream sexual representations. Diversity might sit in the "feminist and diverse" porn spectrum, but being aware that queer people should be the ones representing queer desires, that females should be the ones representing female desires, and giving them money and a platform to showcase their talent and spread their messages... that, to me, it's also pretty much about work ethics and political values.

Hope this helps a bit more to respond to your questions :)

I understand these concerns. I would like to do some more research into cryptocurrency options in the near future. As an adult company it’s very hard to find banks and payment processing companies who are willing to work with us. Right now we use the billing provider, Epoch, which guarantees a 100% safe, secure and confidential process. We do not disclose any user-specific info to third parties and it will not appear publicly on our websites. The protection of your privacy really is a priority for us.