VIVID’S CHEMISTRY FROM TRISTAN TAORMINO WINS AVN AWARD FOR BEST GONZO RELEASE

LOS ANGELES – (January 16, 2007) – Chemistry, a takeoff on reality shows that films seven porn stars left in a house for 36 hours with cameras rolling but no script, won the AVN Award for Best Gonzo Release at the 2007 adult film awards ceremony.

Conceived and directed by New York newspaper columnist Tristan Taormino (she writes a weekly column on sex for The Village Voice), Chemistry was released in 2006 by Vivid Entertainment, the leading adult film studio. AVN dubbed the movie a “new-style gonzo.”  It is Taormino’s first film for Vivid andChemistry 2, is being released this month. She is currently at work on a new generation of sex education films for the studio.

Taormino, who was covering the ceremony for The Village Voice, was on hand to receive her award. “I was completely shocked,” she said.

Taormino is the niece of famed novelist Thomas Pynchon. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa in American Studies from Wesleyan University and is the author of three best-selling books and editor of 14 anthologies. She has been featured in over 200 publications and has lectured at top colleges and universities including Yale and Yale Law School, Brown, Columbia, Smith, Swarthmore, Vassar, University of California at Santa Barbara, Colby College, Sarah Lawrence College, and NYU, where she speaks on gay and lesbian issues, sexuality and gender, and feminism.

The award was one of several picked up by Vivid and Vivid-distributed studios in the AVN competition. Others included:
–          Best Editing – Film – Jenna’s Provocateur  (Club Jenna/Vivid Entertainment)
–          Best Interactive DVD – Virual Vivid Girl Sunny Leone (Vivid Entertainment)
–          Best Sex Scene Coupling – Film – Janine and Manuel Ferrara in Emperor (Vivid Entertainment)
–          Best Supporting Actor – Film – Kurt Lockwood, To Die For (Vivid Entertainment)
For more  information or interviews with Tristan Taormino, contact jackie (at) vivid.com or  212-338-0050

Adam & Eve and Tristan Taormino Host Backdoor Betty 3 Party

February 1, 2006 (New York, NY): Award-winning writer and sex educator Tristan Taormino will host a sexy, star-studded party to celebrate the release of the second edition of her book The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Womenand the new adult video from her production company Smart Ass Productions and Adam & Eve Pictures, Tristan Taormino’s House of Ass on February 26 at 8:00 pm at Crash Mansion in New York City.

The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women, which is published by Cleis Press in San Francisco, has sold over 75,000 copies since its release in 1998. It has been featured in dozens of publications from Jane and Redbook to Playboy and Penthouse. Tristan has promoted it on The Howard Stern Show, The Discovery Channel, HBO’s Real Sex, and MSNBC’s Scarborough Country where former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough called Tristan “the self-described poster girl for anal sex.” The new edition of The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women includes over sixty pages of new material, including new chapters and new illustrations.

Tristan directed Tristan Taormino’s House of Ass for adult powerhouse Adam & Eve Pictures. Shot near Mountain Center, California (three hours outside Los Angeles), this reality-TV inspired video, she invited a group of porn stars to a secluded house in the mountains for the weekend. Tristan wanted to see what would happen if they could relax and let their guard down. Each housemate was scheduled to do one scene with another person, then encouraged to have sex with other housemates of their choice. Throughout the weekend, they told secrets, dished about each other, and were brutally honest as they talked directly to the camera in the Confessional. They gave sex tips in the hot tub, talked about their fantasies, and had sex in every room of the house, culminating in an unbelievable orgy. The video stars video stars Joanna Angel, Justine Joli, Sarah Blake, Keeani Lei, Mr. Marcus, Talon, and Scott Nails.

At the Backdoor Betty 3 party, Tristan will welcome adult superstars Joanna Angel and Justine Joli who will be on hand to greet fans and sign autographs. Joanna, founder of BurningAngel.com and one of the leaders of the alt porn movement, just signed an exclusive directing and performing contract with VCA Pictures. Justine is one of the most sought-after performers in the industry and is known as the “Lesbian Queen of Porn.” “These are two of the smartest and hottest women working in porn today. I am thrilled that they will be there to help me celebrate,” says Taormino.

Tristan Taormino’s House of Ass features the music of several bands, including New York-based indie band JonesTown, who will be performing at the party. “One of the things people joke about is that the music in porn is so cheesy. I wanted to change that,” says Taormino. “We’ve never been asked to have our music on a porn video, but it seemed like a good fit,” says Freddie Mac, lead singer of JonesTown. “I like to think that our songs tap into the most basic of human emotions and impulses. I couldn’t think of a better way to be ‘exposed’ to a whole new audience, to tap into those impulses on a whole new level…now if only I hadn’t missed that casting call…” Also appearing is singer-songwriter Bridget Everett who just performed her one-woman show at Joe’s Pub. “I saw her sing these amazingly smart, hysterical, raunchy songs about sex, and I just fell in love,” says Taormino. “Wait until you hear her ode to anal sex-I still can’t get it out of my head!”

Backdoor Betty 3 is February 26 at 8 pm at Crash Mansion, 199 Bowery, NYC. For more information, contact colten (at) puckerup.com or visit Puckerup.com.

Sexy goodie bags sponsored by: Puckerup.com, Adam & Eve, Cleis Press, Astroglide, Babeland, Eros Boutique, The Smitten Kitten,BurningAngel.com, JustineJoli.com, Sphincterine, HoneyBun,WackyJac.com, JonesTownNYC.com, and AtLeastItsPink.com

About Tristan Taormino (http://puckerup.com): Tristan Taormino is an award-winning author, columnist, editor, and sex educator. She is the author of True Lust: Adventures in Sex, Porn and Perversion; Down and Dirty Sex Secrets; and The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women. She is a columnist for The Village Voice, Taboo, Velvet Park, and the former editor ofOn Our Backs. She is the director, producer, and star of two volumes of The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women. She has been featured in over 200 publications including The New York Times, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Entertainment Weekly, Details, New York Magazine, Men’s Health, and Playboy. She has appeared on CNN, HBO’s Real Sex, NBC’s The Other Half, The Howard Stern Show, Loveline, Ricki Lake, MTV, Oxygen, Fox News, The Discovery Channel, and on dozens of radio shows. She lectures at top colleges and universities including Yale, Brown, Columbia, Smith, Vassar, and NYU, and she teaches sex and relationship workshops around the world.

About Joanna Angel (http://www.burningangel.com): Joanna Angel is the co-founder and president of the punk porn website BurningAngel.com and she is considered one of the leaders of the alternative porn movement. The membership-based website features over 10,000 pictures, over 100 Burningangel.com girls, band interviews, streaming videos, essays, and models’ blogs. Joanna directs, produces and stars in her own videos for Burning Angel (which are distributed by Pulse Distribution) and she is an exclusive director and performer for VCA Pictures. Her first feature for VCA, the comedy Joanna’s Angels, received four AVN Award nominations in 2006. Joanna won the award for Most Outrageous Sex Scene for her self-produced short Re-Penetrator.

About Justine Joli (http://www.justinejoli.com): Over the last four years Justine Joli has appeared as a cover or centerfold for nearly every men’s magazine in creation, including layouts in Hustler, Taboo, Penthouse, High Society, Cheri, Oui, and Club. She has appeared in over seven Andrew Blake titles and had one named after her. She has logged more appearances with Danni’s Hard Drive than any model to date and continues to be a guest on the show. In 2004 she signed an exclusive toy contract with California Exotic Novelties. In 2005, she became the official spokesperson for Michael Ninn’s company Ninnworx.

About JonesTown (http://www.jonestownnyc.com): Fast emerging as one of the hottest new rock bands in New York City, JonesTown is fronted by songwriter Freddie Mac and driven to glory by Timmy Rockmore on guitar, Steve Paelet on bass, and Ross Kantor on drums. Rock ‘n Roll Experiencedescribes them as “Musically addictive and ready to rock they deliver, both live and on record.” JonesTown’s songs will make you bang your head and shake your ass, all at the same time.  “Open Up,” from their 2005 releaseWhen It All Comes Down has been used as the official theme to Bike New York’s Five Boro Bike Tour. Their music is now being taken for a different kind of ride as a part of Tristan Taormino’s House of Ass.

About Bridget Everett (http://www.atleastitspink.com): Bridget Everett is currently performing her one-woman show, “At Least It’s Pink,” a first-person recounting of her misadventures as the local slut in her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas. In this cabaret-style mix of dirty tales, witty original songs, and 70s and 80s pop, Bridget recalls colorful childhood experiences with almost embarrassing candor. She is accompanied by Kenny Mellman (better known as “Herb” to Justin Bond’s “Kiki”) on piano. Michael Musto calls her “A large talent. Wynonna Judd meets Melissa Etheridge via the local bar floozy, on a rocket ship out of Twin Peaks.”

Tristan Taormino Forms Smart Ass Productions

January 31, 2006 (New York, NY): After nearly a five-year hiatus, Village Voice sex columnist and AVN award-winning director Tristan Taormino returns to the world of adult video at the helm of her new production company, Smart Ass Productions.

In 1999, Tristan made a splash when she directed, produced and starred inThe Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women for Evil Angel. Co-directed by Ernest Greene and John Stagliano and shot by Stagliano himself, the video received five stars from AVN, two AVN Awards (including Best Anal Release), and an XRCO Award. She followed it up with The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women 2 in 2001, and that title was nominated for Erotic Film of the Year at the Erotic Awards in the UK. In the past several years, she has concentrated on building her sex education empire, which includes penning columns for The Village Voice and Hustler’s Taboo Magazine, authoring popular sex books, lecturing at top colleges and universities, and teaching sexuality workshops all over the world. She’s thrilled to be returning to porn. “I have always had one foot in the adult industry since I write about it often,” says Tristan. “I have watched as more women have stepped behind the camera, and I have been newly inspired to do the same.”

While women and couples have finally been acknowledged as a viable segment of porn consumers, the majority of videos marketed to them are plot-driven features. Through her workshops and other public appearances, Tristan has the opportunity to talk to hundreds of different people. “Plenty of men and women tell me that they love all-sex and gonzo videos, but could do without some of the elements of the most popular titles in those genres. Plus, they’re tired of seeing videos where the women either don’t come or their orgasms are clearly fake.” That’s where Smart Ass Productions comes in. No outrageous stunts. No degradation. Instead, the focus of Tristan’s videos is fresh and accessible performers, hot, spontaneous sex, real chemistry and real orgasms for everyone. “I want the best and brightest performers to come together in a sexually-charged, intense environment where they can let their guard down and show a different side of themselves. Also, one of the complaints I hear most often from women is that the guys aren’t attractive, so I am on a mission to have hot guys in all my videos!”

The first Smart Ass production she directed is Tristan Taormino’s House of Assfor Adam & Eve Pictures. Shot near Mountain Center, California (three hours outside Los Angeles), this reality-TV inspired video stars Joanna Angel, Justine Joli, Sarah Blake, Keeani Lei, Mr. Marcus, Talon, and Scott Nails. Joanna does her first interracial scene in the video. “She did a scene with Scott the first day which was really great,” says Tristan. “The next day, she told me that she liked Mr. Marcus and felt there was chemistry between them. Their scene was totally spontaneous and really hot.”

Tristan plans to direct several titles in 2006. Although she joined forces with Adam & Eve for Tristan Taormino’s House of Ass, she does not have an exclusive deal with the company. “The experience I had with John Stagliano and everyone at Evil Angel was incredible. I really enjoyed working with Adam & Eve on House of Ass. I would love the chance to work with both of them again,” says Tristan. “Plus, there are several other companies I’ve followed throughout the years that I think are creating really great stuff. So, I am keeping my options open.”

Tristan Taormino’s House of Ass hits the streets February 24. The video’s debut coincides with the release of the second edition of The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women from Cleis Press.