Porn in 'A World Without Men'
Bree Mills, 36, wears a lot of hats.
As the head of Gamma Films and vice president of content for Gamma Entertainment, a Montreal, Quebec-based web technology company, she produces, directs, and writes for Gamma Films Group, including the production studio known as Girlsway, a female-centric line of adult content that's found success by targeting a niche market and turning its consumers into co-creators.
On a sunny day in Los Angeles, Mills sat on an outdoor deck, talking about the business of making lesbian porn. Downstairs, her exclusive contract director, who goes by Stills by Alan, directed performers Natalia Starr, a statuesque blonde wrapped in a throw blanket because the house was cold, and Whitney Wright, a green-eyed brunette from Oklahoma who entered the business in August and who, when asked how many scenes she'd done thus far, replied, "So many." Their scene, in which Wright was pretending to seek employment from Starr as her assistant, had been written by one of Girlsway's own consumers.
As Mills spoke, the sounds of an adult movie being made drifted upstairs. Nowadays, Mills isn't alone, as a woman behind the camera in Porn Valley. The current spate of women creating X-rated content include directors Jacky St. James, Mason, and Dana Vespoli. Kelly Holland is the CEO of Penthouse Global Media, Inc. It may still be a man's business, but the women are coming.
"Girl-girl content was never taken seriously," Mills says. At Gamma, she recalls, "I spent a lot of time studying what surfers were looking for. We were able to produce a case for lesbian content being commercially viable. 'Lesbian' has become the number one most searched niche in adult today."
While her audience is mostly straight men, in her movies, she says, it's women who "drive the show. It's kind of a world without men. When we put men in, we minimize their face."
Your customer is your curator
Both scenes Alan is directing today were written by Girlsway fans. Some site subscribers are active members of their online forum. These days, 50 percent of the ideas for content that Mills and her crew shoot come from consumers, she says. "Girlsway has become its own universe," she says. Passive users are "becoming curators. They're taking a creative seat in the process."
Online, competition is fierce. There's a limit to how many subscriptions to adult sites consumers are going to purchase. Creating high-quality content that goes beyond the merely explicit is a key component of her strategy. "We are fighting for attention," she says. "It's really: Who's going to have the most interesting thing? The setups, the story, the seduction--that's what they want.
Women are doing it for themselves
Of her own experiences as a director, Mills notes, women have the potential to get better performances out of female talent. "There's a certain amount of trust between a female director and female talent," she says. "It makes things feel safer."
Starr, who is 24 and has been in the adult business for five years, likes working on lesbian adult content sets. "It's more friendly," she says. "It's more like fun and friendly and happy. Usually, when we do a scene with a guy [a male performer], he just wants to destroy you."
It's another day on the job
In an office, Alan, who is 40 and has been working in adult since 2003, directs Starr and Wright. As the women shoot dialogue that will set up the premise for their scene, he offers gentle direction. "That feels a little weak sauce," he advises, at one point.
Later, in the bedroom, three video cameras are arranged around a bed covered with a floral bedspread. At a crucial point in Starr and Wright's scene, Starr howls. The cameras stop shooting. She has a leg cramp. "Time out!" she announces.
Then it's back to work.