Jul 092014
 

candida royalle

candida royalleThis Friday, July 11th at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT on Sex Out Loud, I welcome back author, visionary, and entrepreneur Candida Royalle. Candida will discuss her newest project with award-winning Canadian filmmaker Sheona McDonald, “While You Were Gone: the Untold Story of Candida Royalle“, as well as the unprecedented longevity of the sales of her Femme film line; the three new products from her sex toy line, Natural Contours, coming out in a few months; and how she’s helping release and distribute the work of other women, beginning with filmmaker Petra Joy. Jane Hamilton (aka Veronica Hart) will also join the conversation with Royalle to discuss how they both recently received a Doctorate in Human Sexuality from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality for their life’s work. After a long and distinguished career in adult movies, working on both sides of the camera, Jane Hamilton now uses her expertise to educate women in the U.S. and China on issues of pleasure, aging and self-esteem.

This week’s show is LIVE. Find out all the ways to listen here so you can call in with questions and comments at 1-866-472-5788, join the discussion on Facebook or Twitter, or e-mail me via tristan(at)puckerup.com and I’ll read them live on the air.

In 1984, Candida Royalle came up with the idea to produce adult erotica from a woman’s perspective. The mainstream porn industry scoffed at the idea, claiming “It can’t be done.” This only fuelled her determination.

She knew they were wrong.

Three decades later, her line of 18 features continues to bring in sales revenues and Candida Royalle is hailed as a pioneer in women’s erotica.

As Royalle’s work grew in popularity, she became a media darling, appearing on talk shows from Phil Donahue to Anderson Cooper to Tyra Banks; and written up across the globe – the Times of London, the New York Times, Time Magazine, Glamour, Marie Claire – too many to list.

The international sexology community embraced her work for its egalitarian depiction of “positive sexual role modeling” and she was the first adult film producer to be invited in to membership by the American Association of Sex Educators, Counsellors and Therapists (AASECT). She’s become a sought-after speaker, lecturing at the Smithsonian Institute, the American Psychiatric Association’s national conference, the World Congress on Sexology, and many more sexuality conferences and universities including Princeton, Columbia, Wellesley College and New York University.
In June, 2014, Royalle received an honorary Doctorate in Human Sexuality for her life’s work from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality.

Building on the success of her films, and her work on female sexual empowerment and pleasure, Royalle partnered with Dutch industrial designer Jandirk Groet, and together they created the Natural Contours® line of high-style, discreet ergonomically designed personal massagers. The line debuted in 1999 and turned the world of sex toys on its head, showcasing vibrators as a “mainstream must-have” and raising the bar for all who followed.

In October 2004, Royalle authored her first book, How to Tell a Naked Man What to Do, (Simon & Schuster/Fireside). In 2006 she launched Femme Chocolat®, created to provide high quality intelligent erotica for the largely underserved non-caucasian market.

As pornography for women and couples grows in popularity, Candida continues to raise the bar. She is currently distributing the work of other feminist pornographers including European director, Petra Joy.

Royalle’s life has never been conventional. The daughter of an accomplished professional jazz drummer, she trained and performed in music, dance and art, attending New York’s High School of Art and Design, Parsons School of Design, and the City University of New York, where she was active in the women’s movement of the late ’60′s and early ’70′s. After a move West to San Francisco, she got involved with some of the original members of the infamous Cockettes, including the late Divine, to create avant garde jazz and theater productions.

In 1974, looking to finance her unconventional lifestyle, she entered the world of erotica as an adult performer and acted in more than twenty feature films. For some, this choice may have been seen as a dead end. But for Candida Royalle, this bold decision would shape the rest of her life.

At every fork in the road, Candida has chosen the path less traveled and, in so doing, has challenged herself, raised the bar and found a new way forward”.

They say “it can’t be done” and she says “just watch me!”.

Jun 012014
 
Club 90 Then and Now

Club 90 Then and Now

 

On June 26, four former adult movie stars who have become innovators in diverse fields of human sexuality will each be awarded the degree Doctor of Human Sexuality from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality (IASHS) in San Francisco. Jane Hamilton (aka Veronica Hart), Candida Royalle and Veronica Vera will receive their degrees from Dr. Ted McIlvenna at the Institute. Gloria Leonard, who died in January, 2014 will receive her degree posthumously.

After a long and distinguished career in adult movies, working on both sides of the camera, Jane Hamilton now uses her expertise to educate women in the U.S. and China on issues of pleasure, aging and self-esteem. Candida Royalle created Femme Productions in 1984 and became known for pioneering erotic cinema from a woman’s perspective, encouraging other women to follow her lead. Veronica Vera founded the world’s first crossdressing academy Miss Vera’s Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls, enriching the lives of trans people across the gender spectrum. Gloria Leonard debated some of the toughest anti-porn activists and toured college campuses as a self-described “stand up constitutionalist” enlightening students on the First Amendment. She was the first president of the Free Speech Coalition. In addition, all four women, plus Annie Sprinkle comprise Club 90, the first porn star support group, which began in 1983 and continues to this day. They credit the resulting deep and lasting friendship of their Club 90 sisters with helping to manifest their individual dreams and successes.

Annie Sprinkle was the first porn star to be awarded a Ph.D. which she earned from IASHS in 2002.  Dr. Sprinkle will host the investiture and awards ceremony. The soon-to-be graduates will each present her life’s work at the Institute’s special “Days of The Divas” (June 24-26) as part of the curriculum. Most events are invited guests only, however, the afternoon of Thursday, June 26th will feature a “Days of the Divas Display—An Open House Meet & Greet & Show & Tell,” that will display Club 90 archival materials and ephemera to which the public is cordially invited.

Founded in 1976 by Rev. Dr. Ted McIlvenna, the IASHS was the first to award advanced degrees in the newly emergent field of sexology that grew out of the sexual revolution. Wardell Pomeroy a colleague of Alfred Kinsey was appointed the school’s first dean. (Chris O’Donnell portrayed him in the movie “Kinsey.”) Says, Dr. McIlvenna, “These Divas personify, what has always been, a primary goal of the Institute which is to spread the truth of human sexual experience in all its complexities. To acknowledge the Divas’ visionary work renews our shared commitment to that goal and helps assure our continued success.”

Sep 162013
 

This Friday, September 20th at 8 pm ET / 5 pm on Sex Out Loud, we’re live and featuring an entire hour with Candida Royalle, author and expert on issues of relationships, sexuality, and women’s self-empowerment. Tristan will talk to her about her legacy as a feminist porn pioneer, her recent trip to Amsterdam for the 2013 Porna Awards, what she thinks of the current feminist porn movement, and her successful sex toy line, Natural Contours.

This week’s show is live, so find out all the ways to listen here so you can call in with questions at 1-866-472-5788, join the discussion on Facebook or Twitter, or e-mail me via tristan(at)puckerup.com and I’ll read them live on the air!

Candida Royalle: Author, Pioneer, Entrepreneur. Ms. Royalle first came in to the public eye for her internationally acclaimed line of erotic films from a woman’s perspective. Innovating the concept of “couples erotica”, she created Femme Productions, Inc®. in 1984 in order to produce adult films that spoke from a woman’s voice and could be entertaining while promoting positive sexual role modeling for couples to view together. Royalle’s work has been favorably received by both viewers and the media, as well as the sexology community. She has become a sought-after speaker, having lectured at such venues as the Smithsonian Institute, the American Psychiatric Association’s national conference, and the World Congress on Sexology, as well as several sexuality conferences and universities including Princeton, Columbia, Wellesley College and New York University. She is the first erotic filmmaker to have been invited to become a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists due to the message of “positive sexuality” in her films. Continuing to lead the way in women’s sexual empowerment and pleasure, Royalle partnered with Dutch industrial designer Jandirk Groet, whose product design repertoire ranges from Nordica ski boots to Ricoh compact cameras and Panasonic TVs to the cockpit of the Fokker aircraft, and together they created the Natural Contours® line of high-style, discreet ergonomically designed personal massagers. The line debuted in 1999 to favorable reviews in ID (Industrial Design) Magazine, Mademoiselle and Glamour, to name a few, and quickly became best-sellers in women’s mainstream health catalogs. Drugstore.com launched its sexual wellness range with the Natural Contours® line and Holland’s leading drug store chain, ETOS, features the line as part of its family planning outreach. In October ’04 Royalle authored her first book, “How to Tell a Naked Man What to Do”, published in the US by Simon & Schuster/Fireside, and in the UK by Piatkus Press. The paperback was published in February ’06. Royalle recently created a new line of “ethnic erotica for couples” called Femme Chocolat® in order to provide high quality intelligent erotica for the largely underserved market of ethnic women and couples. She is now moving on to the role of mentoring young new female directors so that they may continue the Femme line while expressing their own visions and ideas. What makes Ms. Royalle’s story particularly interesting is her rich and varied background. The daughter of an accomplished professional jazz drummer, she trained and performed in music, dance and art, having attended New York’s High School of Art and Design, Parsons School of Design, and the City University of New York, where she was active in the women’s movement of the late ’60’s and early ’70’s. In San Francisco she got involved with some of the original members of the infamous Cockettes including the late Divine to create avant garde jazz and theater productions. In ’74, looking to finance her unconventional lifestyle, she entered the world of erotica as an actress, performing in about twenty-five adult feature films. She returned to her native New York City in 1980 and stepped behind the camera to create Femme Productions® in 1984. Since then she has been a guest on numerous news and talk shows from Anderson Cooper to Dateline NBC, and has been written up in countless magazines and newspapers from The New York Times, Time Magazine and The London Times to Glamour and Marie Claire. Candida Royalle is a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, (AASECT) and a founding Board member of Feminists for Free Expression (FFE). For more about Candida Royalle and her products visit her web site at:
www.candidaroyalle.com

TristanBanner_PuckerUpVOA_728X90

Apr 102013
 

IMG_2801I just returned from Toronto and the 2013 Feminist Porn Awards and The Feminist Porn Conference, and I am still reeling. We arrived in Canada on Thursday and hit the ground running. Thursday night Good for Her presented Public. Provocative. Porn, a screening and panel that featured short films and clips by Gala Vanting, Saskia Quax, The Madame, Christian Slaughter, Julie Simone, Nica Noelle, and Clark Matthews. I’d heard a lot about Krutch starring Mia Gimp and directed by Clark Matthews, and I was really impressed by it. Mia Gimp is a star. The way the film is framed, how it flows, and the photography are all fantastic, especially for a first time director and performer! Mia and Clark are also articulate and funny, and, I wish the panel could have gone on longer.

The 8th Annual Feminist Porn Awards were on Friday night at a brand new venue this year, The Capitol Event Theater, which was really lovely. I was thrilled that Krutch won for Sexiest Short along with Biodildo, the Christian Slaughter film starring Jiz Lee that was screened the night before. I was truly surprised, and absolutely honored, to win the Smutty Schoolteacher Award for The Expert Guide to Pegging. Of all the sex ed movies I’ve made, this one is really close to my heart. Three of its stars (Dylan Ryan, Jiz Lee, and Wolf Hudson) were there to see me win (and were award winners themselves that night), and I dedicated my award to the kick ass women behind Bend Over Boyfriend.

Me, Colten, Nan Kinney, Christi Cassidy

Me, Colten, Nan Kinney, Christi Cassidy

Fittingly, Shar Rednour, femme diva, pioneering lesbian pornographer and the director of Bend Over Boyfriend presented The Trailblazer Award to Nan Kinney. Nan is a legend: she is the co-founder of On Our Backs and co-founder and current CEO of Fatale Media, the first company to produce lesbian porn by and for queer women. Nan’s speech was really moving, her partner Christi Cassidy (who runs Fatale with her) was in the audience beaming, and the crowd jumped to their feet in a well-deserved standing ovation.

This year, there were two awards for Hearththrob of the Year: Christian and Jiz Lee. I have directed Christian in a ton of films (Chemistry 2 and 3, Rough Sex, The Expert Guide to Oral Sex 2: Fellatio, The Expert Guide to Anal Pleasure for Men, The Expert Guide to Advanced Fellatio, The Expert Guide to Threesomes, The Expert Guide to Advanced Anal Sex, The Expert Guide to Pegging), and this was a big win for someone who is always overlooked by the mainstream adult industry. He was one of the first (and continues to be one of a handful of) male performers who has done gay, straight, and trans porn, who gets pegged on camera, and, as Nina Hartley once said, “lets his freak flag fly.” Congratulations Christian!

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Jiz Lee and Wolf Hudson (photo: Tania A)

 

Jiz Lee is also just as deserving. I must say if there was any one person that everyone wanted to meet, who people gushed the most, and who is widely worshipped and adored by filmmakers and fans alike, it’s Jiz Lee. They rule for so many reasons, and I am so glad to know them. I’m also excited that Madison Young’s film 50 Shades of Dylan Ryan won for best kink movie and Gala Vanting, Ms. Naughty, and Wolf Hudson all received Honourable Mentions. Carlyle Jansen, owner of Good for Her and producer of the awards and JP, this year’s director, and their crew did an amazing job once again with the Awards Gala. It gets better every year!

The next morning, I was up bright and early to prep for The Feminist Porn Conference. The Feminist Porn Conference was inspired by The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure and my co-editors Celine Parreñas Shimizu, Constance Penley, and Mireille Miller-Young. We first met and began a conversation about the intersections of feminism and pornography at the Console-ing Passions Conference in 2008 on a panel called “Sex Work in Industry and Academe.” It was the first time I had the opportunity to publicly talk to academics who were studying and teaching pornography, and it was an invaluable conversation. That conversation lead to more discussions, which lead to us co-editing The Feminist Porn Book. I created The Feminist Porn Conference to continue the dialogue that the book has sparked. Like the book, I wanted the conference to emphasize a hybrid approach, bringing together academics, cultural critics, performers, directors, producers, sex workers, activists, students and fans to explore the emergence of feminist porn as a genre, industry, and form of activism. Most importantly, the event was designed to put these folks into conversation by coupling academics with performers and producers whose work informs, inspires, or intersects with their porn scholarship.

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Carlyle Jansen, me, Nan Kinney, Carol Queen, Jiz Lee, Wolf Hudson, Mireille Miller-Young, Clark Matthews

We had some major accessibility issues at University College at UT, which I only found out about once I arrived in Toronto on Thursday. I want to thank Clark Matthews who assisted us in addressing some of these issues, Loree Erickson for bringing additional issues to our attention, and both of them for their patience and kindness during what was a frustrating, imperfect situation. I learned a great deal from the experience about what it means to be truly accessible, what kinds of questions to ask in the future, and make a public pledge to do better next year.

Interest in the conference exceeded my expectations, and we had 240 attendees. For you geeks out there, here’s what I know about who came to the conference: 31% of attendees were students, 22% identified themselves as producers, directors, or performers, 12% as professors and scholars, 12% were fans, members of the media and cultural critics made up 6%, 17% identified as “other,” and some of them specified: activist, writer, editor, therapist, sexologist, sex educator, sex worker, student and performer, researcher, programmer/curator, and sexual health clinic worker.

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jes sachse, Carrie Gray, Tobi Hill-Meyer, Carlos Batts, April Flores, Courtney Trouble (photo: Tania A)

Although lots of folks partied late into the night, most managed to get to the conference in time for the first session at 10:15. Courtney Trouble organized the panel “If I Had A Hammer: Reclaiming Feminist Porn As A Tool of Political Activism Against Oppression,” and there was a big crowd for it. This notion of porn as a form of activism is really important and highlights the multiple ways feminists can intervene and challenge the status quo. Courtney is a shining example of putting politics into action. She is strong, driven, and steadfast in her refusal to shut about issues most important to her.

Constance Penley proved why she is such a kick ass feminist rock star when she opened the Keynote Lunch with some history and context for the conference and some amazing stories of teaching porn in the early nineties at UC Santa Barbara.

Mireille Miller-Young

Mireille Miller-Young (photo: Tania A)

Mireille Miller-Young spoke eloquently about the importance of acknowledging access and privilege in spaces like the conference as well as the links between sex work, criminalization, politics, and pornography. I wrapped up by discussing why “feminist porn” is the right term for this genre, industry, field of study, philosophy, and movement and the parallels between feminist porn and the organic/fair trade movement. Then I put forth a call to action for folks to shift the cultural dialogue about feminist porn. I got a little fired up about it!

In Session 2, I was part of “Watch and Learn: Sex Education Discourses in Feminist Porn” which featured the scholarship of Kevin Heffernan of Southern Methodist University and Sarah Stevens of Ohio University whose work focuses on the sex ed films of Nina Hartley and I. I was both humbled and giddy with excitement to hear them talk about us! I cannot tell you how validating and revelatory it is to have academics talk about my filmmaking. Kevin analyzes it through the lens of early sex ed hygiene films and exploitation films, and Sarah does so from a theoretical perspective about pedagogies. Both of their presentations were fascinating, and I actually gained new insight into my own work through them. Notably, on the issue of authority (who has the authority to teach about sex education and especially about women’s sexuality), Sarah argued that I displace myself as the sole expert in The Expert Guide series when I include interviews of the performers who also serve as experts, teachers, and advisors. I strongly believe that professional porn performers do have much to teach us about sexuality from their unique point of view, so that point really resonated with me.

Bianca Stone, James Darling, Jiz Lee, Quinn Cassidy, Arabelle Raphael, Tina Horn (photo: Tania A)

I was sad to miss a panel that was at the same time as mine: To Be Real: Authenticity in Queer and Feminist Porn with Jill Bakehorn, Dylan Ryan, Jiz Lee, and Shar Rednour. Authenticity in feminist porn is one of the most discussed concepts among directors, producers, performers, and audiences and Dylan, Jiz and Shar all have great things to say about it. Jill Bakehorn from UC Davis and UC Berkeley presented her academic work about authenticity as a social construction. To me, this panel epitomized what the conference was all about: having an in-depth discussion about crucial concepts where people had very different points of view and experiences. People really raved about the ensuing discussion. I heard wonderful feedback about all the sessions (here’s a great post by Girly Juice on the con). Several people were especially impacted by the panel Tina Horn organized and moderated “Being Out Now: How Performers Navigate Sexual Morality and Media Representation.” One attendee said it was “one of the most moving, important, life-changing experiences,” and another called it “an incredible array of experiences articulated by a group of smart, self-aware, thoughtful, fascinating people who happen to be sex workers.”

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Kali Williams, Carol Queen, Emily Nagoski (photo: Tania A)

I attended “Feminist Porn XXX-Ed: Feminist Perspectives on Sexual Identity and Sexual Health in Educational and Feminist Porn” in Session 3 with Emily Nagoski of Smith College, Carol Queen, and Kali Williams. Emily’s presentation had me jotting down an entire page of notes, and she raised so many interesting questions about how feminist porn “queers” narratives about sex but doesn’t challenge them enough and often reinforces ideas about female sexuality that are not what she calls “evidence-based” or reflective of how women’s bodies, arousal processes, and orgasms actually work. She gave me so much food for thought. Carol Queen has the unique perspective of being involved with some of the earliest feminist porn and working at Good Vibrations (one of the first sex-positive shops that had a curated collection of porn for sale). Her thoughts about why people turn to porn for sex education, what role porn could play in sex ed, and how explicit sex education (or XXX-ed, as she calls it) fits into the mission of feminist porn. Kali Williams (founder of Kink Academy, Passionate U and Fearless Press) provided an interesting counterpoint when she argued that her explicit sex education is decidedly “not porn” because its intention is not to arouse but to teach. As I sat in the audience, I just really appreciated three powerful women discussing, disagreeing, and pushing the dialogue forward.

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Kevin Heffernan, Constance Penley, Bobby Noble (photo: Tania A)

 

Each room was jam-packed for Session 4 which featured Constance Penley, Bobby Noble and Kevin Heffernan talking about Teaching Porn in Academe, Madison Young’s presentation on “The Politics of Kinky Porn and Feminism,” a panel about mandatory condoms and safer sex with Lisa Kadey, Courtney Trouble and Arabelle Raphael (moderated with skill by Lynn Comella, who is the best moderator in any industry anywhere), and the screening of Shine Louise Houston’s documentary Shiny Jewels.

Me, Shar Rednour, Nan Kinney

Me, Shar Rednour, Nan Kinney

At the closing reception, we all got to unwind a little and I had a chance to get my copy of The Feminist Porn Book autographed by contributors; I now have the signatures of Candida Royalle, Dylan Ryan, Sinnamon Love, Tobi Hill-Meyer, Ms. Naughty, Ariane Cruz, Mireille Miller-Young, Constance Penley, Kevin Heffernan, April Flores, Jiz Lee, and Lynn Comella. I missed Bobby Noble and Loree Erickson, the two Canadians dammit! Bobby Noble is the Principle Investigator of The Feminist Porn Archive and Research Project at York University. I had a few stolen moments with Sarah Stevens, Clark Matthews and Mia Gimp, Carlos Batts, Madison Young, Christi Cassidy and Nan Kinney.

IMG_2793I feel so much love, gratitude, respect, and awe for everyone who took part in this historic event. As I walked through the hallways or stopped outside classrooms, I’d catch bits and pieces of the most exciting, engaging conversations. People were clearly energized and buzzing from all the dialogue; they were making connections with each other, developing new ideas, re-thinking theories, challenging themselves and others. Each presenter paid their own way, traveling from California, Texas, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, Washington, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Mexico, and as far away as The Netherlands and Australia. There was also a fantastic local contingent of Toronto folks like Nicholas Matte and several of his undergrads from UT and Bobby Noble, Toby Wiggins, and Loree Erickson from York University. The presenters contributed to the success of the event in innumerable ways. I had an extraordinary team of volunteers lead by my co-producer and partner Colten: Simon, Clyde, Frances, JP, Addi, bek, Freia, Torsten, Ilana, Tania A., Mike, Marie, Petra, and Rachel worked tirelessly all day with smiles on their faces. Rebecca Thorpe of The Marc Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies and Aaron from UT worked their asses off making sure technology worked and things ran smoothly at the facility.

There was a dizzying array of tweets about the conference (#FPcon), and I want to close with some of my absolute favorites. If you want to read all the tweets from the event, we have an #FPCon Storify (special thanks to Epiphora!).

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Mar 102013
 

fantasies_01

Internationally celebrated filmmaker Candida Royalle® continues to support the work of up-and-coming female directors with the release of ‘Female Fantasies’, the second Petra Joy feature to be distributed in the United States and Canada by Royalle’s Femme Productions®. Says Royalle, “We received such enthusiastic response to “Feeling It…not Faking it!” (the first Petra Joy feature released by Femme Productions), I couldn’t wait to release another one of her movies!”.

“…unique erotic stories that are completely different from typical porn clichés…Impressively artistic.” – EUROPEAN ADULT NEWS.

Winning awards from the Barcelona International Erotic Film Festival – “Most Erotic Film” – and the Toronto Feminist Porn Awards – “Hottest bi scene” – Petra Joy continues her exploration of women’s rich erotic fantasy life with ‘Female Fantasies’, a visually stunning tableau of sensually-shot scenes.
From being pleasured by several lovers at once to getting your just-desserts on the kitchen counter, secretly spying on some tasty eye-candy and a hilarious parody of a car-wash gone triple-X, “My films are based on erotic fantasies that women from all over the world have shared with me”, explains Petra. “I believe in a return to sensuality, and portray sex that is enriched by intimacy, creativity and humor.”

“Petra Joy lives up to her name, creating JOYOUS, uninhibited erotica for women. This film breaks the mold and creates a vision of sexual pleasure for today.” – Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D., Filmmaker, Sex Educator and Ecosexologist

Shot with non-professional real-life lovers, ‘Female Fantasies’ captures authentic chemistry and desire. Unlike traditional porn, explains Joy, “there is no list of positions to tick off, so the sensuality can develop slowly, based on the enjoyment and passion of the performers.”

“So, if you’re still wondering, ‘what do women want?’”, suggests Candida Royalle®, “sit back and have a look. “Female Fantasies” brings you a glimpse in to the inner workings of the erotic female mind”.

Petra Joy is an award-winning erotic filmmaker, photographer and writer. She began her career in television as an independent producer of a wide variety of programs from travel shows to documentaries. She is now one of the leading European female erotic film directors creating what she calls “artcore” porn from a female perspective.

Considered the pioneer of woman-friendly erotica for couples, Candida Royalle® launched Femme Productions® in 1984 and produced and/or directed eighteen internationally acclaimed movies. Currently working on her memoirs, she is the author of, “How to Tell a Naked Man What to Do: Sex Advice from a Woman who Knows (Simon&Schuster/Fireside) and co-founder of the Natural Contours® line of groundbreaking intimate massagers. A sought-after speaker featured in countless TV & print media, Royalle is a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT).

For more information about “Female Fantasies”, Candida Royalle® and the rest of Royalle’s Femme line of erotica from a female perspective, go to: http://www.CandidaRoyalle.com.

To set up an interview with Candida Royalle or Petra Joy: Inquiries@CandidaRoyalle.com

Sales will be handled by Royalle’s distribution partners, Adam & Eve Distributors. For wholesale inquiries: rthomas@pheinc.com

Oct 022012
 

This week’s episode of Sex Out Loud was recorded live at the Cine y Sexo: La Mirada Femenina film festival in Mexico City. I host an unprecedented conversation between feminist pornographers from around the world, including Jennifer Lyon Bell (Amsterdam), Marit Ostberg (Germany), Ingrid Ryberg (Sweden), Liandra Dahl (Australia), and film festival programmer Abraham Castillo, with a special appearance by Candida Royalle (U.S.). The group talks about this groundbreaking event, which was the first of its kind in Latin America, and audience reactions to their films. They discuss the
importance of sexual representation, their filmmaking philosophies, and the politics of porn.

Jennifer Lyon Bell is a Harvard-educated erotic film director and curator living in Amsterdam. For her independent production company Blue Artichoke Films, she writes and directs explicit erotic films combining authentic sex and arthouse values. They have screened all over the world at international festivals and cinemas in America, Europe, and Japan, and have won awards at both erotic film festivals and regular film festivals. Her arty erotic documentary “Headshot” screened at the Cannes Short Film Corner and London ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) where it was shown as part of the Destricted Shorts film series judged by artist/filmmaker Larry Clark. Her explicitly erotic fiction film “Matinée” has won three Best Film awards including one from the Melbourne Underground Film Festival which it won by jury prize even though the film was technically banned from the festival by the Australian Classification Board for its sexual content. Finally, her most recent film collaboration, the music-driven documentary “Skin. Like. Sun.” (Des Jours Plus Belles Que La Nuit) won the prize for Best Direction at Toronto’s renowned Feminist Porn Awards. She is finishing two new films, an intensely fiction trilogy called “Silver Shoes” and a real-life explicitly erotic BDSM documentary following the true story of a young Dutch feminist coming out as a submissive. In addition to being a film director, she curates erotic-themed film programs and exhibitions for museums, arts institutions, and festivals including The Museum of Sex in New York, Ladyfest, Pinched: Sex Love and Countercultures, and the San Francisco Indie Erotic Film Festival, and she was a co-organizer of the Amsterdam Alternative Erotica Film Festival. She also gives lectures and leads workshops on erotica, porn, feminism, and film theory at institutions from the Dutch Film Academy to the Berlin Porn Film Festival. www.blueartichokefilms.com

Marit Östberg is from Stockholm, Sweden, currently living in Berlin. Since making her debut as a porn-film director in the acclaimed porn compilation Dirty Diaries, Marit Östberg has continued to produce porn. She has become a part of the queer feminist porn scene that has evolved in Europe in recent years, directing and acting in work that pushes ideas of who and what porn might be for. Her films have been shown and discussed at various festivals around the world. Östberg has a background as queer feminist activist and journalist, and she´s been an important voice discussing and writing about sexual politics in swedish media the last decade. She sees porn as a creative way of working with sexual politics, wanting to expand the possibilities of being in the world. She says: “When queers and women take their sexuality into their own hands patriarchy is lost.” WORKS: Authority (2009) 16 min is a part of Dirty Diaries. A woman is caught by a police officer in the act of painting graffiti on a wall. She runs from the scene, with the police in hot pursuit. Perhaps the police officer knows her own fate when she sets off on the chase. Perhaps she obeys to the will of the graffiti artist. Clearly, somebody needs to be punished. In Authority sex is a dirty game, a beautiful fairy tale, it’s a threat, a promise. Share (2010) 16 min PAL 4:3. She´s longing for her lover. Pictures come to her mind. She sees her lover and her lovers lover, she wants to be where they are. She walks out of her dream, she walks out of her appartement. She knows where they are, she has the key. Share is a short porn about polyamorous love, jealousy and sharing sex with a multiple people at once. A film about sharing. Sisterhood (2011), NTSC, 47 min a documentary about making queer feminist porn. Östberg talks to the key participants in the film Share and they discuss their motivations for and experiences of making queer feminist porn. The women, who have come to Berlin from all over the western world, are inspiring in their commitment to making work that has a political agenda and through their articulate interviews present a reflexive and motivated feminist community in action.

Ingrid Ryberg is a teacher and postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Media Studies, Stockholm University. She completed her doctoral thesis, Imagining Safe Space: The Politics of Queer, Feminist and Lesbian Pornography in 2012. The thesis builds on ethnographic fieldwork, including Ingrid Ryberg’s own participation as one of the filmmakers in the feminist porn collection Dirty Diaries: Twelve Shorts of Feminist Porn (Mia Engberg et al. 2009). Her film in the collection is titled “Phone Fuck” and is about phone sex between two women. Her current research project studies the feminist film movement in the Nordic countries in the 1970s and 1980s. She is also the director of the dragking documentary Dragkingdom of Sweden, 2002.

Liandra Dahl: I am British born and raised but I have lived in Melbourne, Australia since 2002, apart from a brief 15-month visit to Amsterdam, Netherlands from 2010 until 2011. Whilst in Amsterdam I started my own independent adult website LiandraDahl.com and got married to my lovely wife. Both of which actions were prevented by anti-gay and anti-porn legislation back in Australia. I consider myself queer and I am attracted to masculine, feminine and androgynous people. I first made amateur porn in 2004 for Melbourne based Australian sites of Feck Pty Ltd as the hostess for ifeelmyself.com and I also appeared on ishotmyself.com, beautifulagony.com to support myself through a Bachelor of Arts degree. I majored in history/politics and also Classical Societies, specifically Ancient Greece and Rome. I also learnt both Ancient Greek and Latin languages whilst at university. I am interested in everything and learning new things is a mentally, physically and sexually arousing experience for me. At the end of my degree I decided I wanted to continue making porn but wished to do it as a producer and a performer. I became slightly notorious in Melbourne, Australia in 2007 and 2009 for criticizing AbbyWinters.com, a website I contributed to as an adult performer. I had written a blog outing ‘Abby Winters’ as a male owned and operated adult website pretending to be owned and operated by the fictitious female ‘Abby Winters’. I also criticized them for knowingly giving false information during recruitment interviews of amateur models. Unfortunately the mainstream conservative Australian press picked up my blog critique after being contacted by a number of disgruntled ex-AbbyWinters staff members who felt unhappy about company practices and policies but wished to remain anonymous. My comments and images were used to pad out the article. The Herald Sun, the paper that pursued the campaign against AbbyWinters.com for two years, also alerted authorities that porn was being produced in Melbourne. Up until this time I was unaware that the production of adult content was illegal in Australia, having never been informed that was the case by any of the Australian producers I had worked for. I am ardently anti-censorship and I oppose all laws that prohibit adult consensual sexuality, whether private or commercial. However, I feel that staff and performers should have been made aware of the legal status that the management and producers of AbbyWinters.com and the Feck sites were privy to at the time of recruitment. I firmly believe that with regard to working in the adult industry there must be an onus on producers to take on a duty of care toward employees and contributors that ensures all those working for them have made a fully informed choice before doing so. The rift between AbbyWinters.com and myself has since been reconciled though unfortunately the scrutiny of the press at that time forced them to move their company overseas to Amsterdam. I hope they return to Australia in the future and assist in a campaign for reform of the current legislation. As a committed voyeur I love to watch and as a confirmed exhibitionist I also love to show. As you can imagine producer/performer seemed the obvious option. On 25th December 2010 I started my own adult website LiandraDahl.com. I wanted to present my own desires in a more pluralist view of adult sexuality than I had experience with any of the Australian sites prior to this. LiandraDahl.com is a website of adult consensual sexuality that is inclusive of all gender identities and sexualities. I strive for a great deal of creative input for each shoot from the contributor that reflects their personality, what they enjoy doing sexually, their desires and their fantasies. Whilst in Europe in 2011 I shot for Erika Lust in her award winning adult movie Cabaret Desire. This was my first experience of performing in scripted adult feature movie. I enjoyed the experience of being made up and dressed immensely. Acting is very enjoyable like the escapism of bedroom roleplay sex. I was particularly pleased that I was able to select whom I would perform with myself, in fact my wife chose him for me, but she made a fabulous choice. I have also shot for Jennifer Lyon Bell in her soon to be released trilogy ‘The Silver Shoes’ an exploration of attire and desire. Jennifer is a gifted director and I hope to work with her again in the future.

Abraham Castillo graduated as a filmmaker from SVA where he received the Dusty Award and the Directors Guild of America award for Best Latin Student Filmmaker in 1998. Director, Editor and programmer he is now lives in Mexico City and dedicates his time to editing films, teaching and as Programer of MORBIDO International Film Festival of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction Films. In 2012 he collaborated with Marianna Palerm, founder and director of LA MIRADA FEMENINA, Mexico’s first film festival dedicated to the promotion, study and discussion of porn films directed by women. He is convinced that working and watching films on extreme sides of the spectrum (Eros & Thanatos) keeps him sane and healthy.

Candida Royalle: Author, Pioneer, Entrepreneur. Ms. Royalle first came in to the public eye for her internationally acclaimed line of erotic films from a woman’s perspective. Innovating the concept of “couples erotica”, she created Femme Productions, Inc®. in 1984 in order to produce adult films that spoke from a woman’s voice and could be entertaining while promoting positive sexual role modeling for couples to view together. Royalle’s work has been favorably received by both viewers and the media, as well as the sexology community. She has become a sought-after speaker, having lectured at such venues as the Smithsonian Institute, the American Psychiatric Association’s national conference, and the World Congress on Sexology, as well as several sexuality conferences and universities including Princeton, Columbia, Wellesley College and New York University. She is the first erotic filmmaker to have been invited to become a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists due to the message of “positive sexuality” in her films. Continuing to lead the way in women’s sexual empowerment and pleasure, Royalle partnered with Dutch industrial designer Jandirk Groet, whose product design repertoire ranges from Nordica ski boots to Ricoh compact cameras and Panasonic TVs to the cockpit of the Fokker aircraft, and together they created the Natural Contours® line of high-style, discreet ergonomically designed personal massagers. The line debuted in 1999 to favorable reviews in ID (Industrial Design) Magazine, Mademoiselle and Glamour, to name a few, and quickly became best-sellers in women’s mainstream health catalogs. Drugstore.com launched its sexual wellness range with the Natural Contours® line and Holland’s leading drug store chain, ETOS, features the line as part of its family planning outreach. In October ’04 Royalle authored her first book, “How to Tell a Naked Man What to Do”, published in the US by Simon & Schuster/Fireside, and in the UK by Piatkus Press. The paperback was published in February ’06. Royalle recently created a new line of “ethnic erotica for couples” called Femme Chocolat® in order to provide high quality intelligent erotica for the largely underserved market of ethnic women and couples. She is now moving on to the role of mentoring young new female directors so that they may continue the Femme line while expressing their own visions and ideas. What makes Ms. Royalle’s story particularly interesting is her rich and varied background. The daughter of an accomplished professional jazz drummer, she trained and performed in music, dance and art, having attended New York’s High School of Art and Design, Parsons School of Design, and the City University of New York, where she was active in the women’s movement of the late ’60’s and early ’70’s. In San Francisco she got involved with some of the original members of the infamous Cockettes including the late Divine to create avant garde jazz and theater productions. In ’74, looking to finance her unconventional lifestyle, she entered the world of erotica as an actress, performing in about twenty-five adult feature films. She returned to her native New York City in 1980 and stepped behind the camera to create Femme Productions® in 1984. Since then she has been a guest on numerous news and talk shows from Anderson Cooper to Dateline NBC, and has been written up in countless magazines and newspapers from The New York Times, Time Magazine and The London Times to Glamour and Marie Claire. Candida Royalle is a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, (AASECT) and a founding Board member of Feminists for Free Expression (FFE). For more about Candida Royalle and her products visit her web site at:
www.candidaroyalle.com

May 252012
 


June 5, doors 7:00 pm, pre-show 7:30 pm, show 8:00 pm
She Bop Presents The Feminist Porn Show with Tristan Taormino
“The Feminist Porn Show” is a special evening curated and hosted by Tristan Taormino to showcase feminist porn, a genre of adult film and a growing movement. Tristan will introduce the audience to the concept of feminist porn and discuss its history, then she’ll screen a curated selection of short clips from filmmakers around the world. The clip show features the work of both pioneers and newcomers, including Fatale Video, Candida Royalle, Annie Sprinkle, Nina Hartley, Jackie Strano and Shar Rednour, Petra Joy, Erika Lust, Shine Louise Houston, Anna Brownfield, Carlos Batts, N. Maxwell Lander, Emilie Jouvet, Louise Lush, Jaiya, Maria Beatty, Buck Angel, Madison Young, Nenna, Courtney Trouble, Morty Diamond, Tobi Hill-Meyer, Kelly Shibari, Loree Erickson and more. The screening will be followed by a facilitated discussion, where we’ll explore some of the current issues surrounding feminist porn. The pre-show will include a sexy performance from Felice Shays. Afterward, She Bop will be selling DVDs from the featured filmmakers, including Tristan’s films, and she will stick around to sign books and videos. And the party can continue at the adjoining Bar Bar! This event is general admission, so get there early for a good seat. Tickets are available in person at She Bop and Mississippi Studios, where there will be a $1 box office fee. If you buy tickets online, there is a $4.40 service charge.
Location: This special event is presented by She Bop, but will not be held at the store, it will be held at Mississippi Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi, Portland OR 97227
Admission: $25, buy tickets at She Bop (909 N. Beech Street, Portland, OR 97227), at Mississippi Studios (3939 N. Mississippi, Portland OR 97227, $1 box office fee), or online via Ticket Biscuit ($4.40 service charge)
Info: info at sheboptheshop.com and 503-473-8018, Twitter: @SheBopTheShop

ALSO: TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE FOR TRISTAN’S OPEN RELATIONSHIP WORKSHOP ON JUNE 3:

June 3, 7:30 pm
She Bop Presents: Making Open Relationships Work
Do open relationships really work? How do people create nontraditional partnerships that are loving and lasting? Tristan Taormino, relationship expert and author of Opening Up, shares some of the key principles that can help your open relationship(s) succeed. She’ll discuss common issues and problems-from “new relationship energy” and time management to jealousy and agreement violations -and ways to address and resolve them. Tristan will offer tips on communication, negotiation, and boundary setting, as well as how to cope with change. Learn how to get to the root of jealous feelings and transform them by embracing the concept of compersion. Whether you’re a newcomer or veteran to the world beyond monogamy, come discover strategies to help you nurture and grow your open relationship(s).
Location: This workshop is presented by She Bop, but will not be held at the store, it will be held at the Q Center, which is 3 blocks up the street from She Bop at the corner of Mississippi and Mason (4115 N. Mississippi).
Admission: $25, buy tickets at the store (909 N. Beech Street, Portland, OR 97227), by phone 503-473-8018 or online
Info: info at sheboptheshop.com and 503-473-8018, Twitter: @SheBopTheShop