Sophie alerted me to a wonderful article posted today written by an old schoolmate of hers over at Sex Life Canada.  This piece, written by the lovely Sardonica Mars, is the introduction to a series about how porn is made on an economic level.  As she very astutely points out:

When we think of porn, we focus on the visuals, the performers and the physical act of fucking. After all, when a pair of perfect breasts is thrust in front of your face, or a giant cock is presented to you for the tasting, it’s difficult to push them aside to see what’s behind them. Nevertheless, there is an entire world beyond the fantasy realm created by porn, and it’s not necessarily a sexy one. It’s a world of cubicles, computers and conference tables. It’s a world where people keep their clothes on.

People who talk to me about “my work” focus on the aesthetics exclusively, talking about how it’s always paradise, it’s hardly work at all, and so on.  While I don’t entirely disagree, it’s important to know that there are a lot of inner workings that happen here so that the site can stay up and flourishing, which means a lot of work to make up for the fact that we’re a small homegrown company without unlimited funds and hundreds of employees at our disposal.

Sardonica‘s definitely a very smart lady, because she’s astutely observed the different categories of companies that make up the world of porn:

Ever wondered what your neighbours might be up to? A lot of them are probably just living their lives and going about their daily routines. For some people, this daily routine might involve shooting a couple of porn videos before dinner. Homegrown pornographers are self-made, self-promoted performers who often control what, and who, they do. These people are smart, savvy risk-takers and the fact that many homegrown sites have recently catapulted to fame proves that they have a lot to bring to the table. On the next rung up on the economic smut ladder is the mainstream industry, which walks the line between utilizing big-name performers and the ever-so-tantalizing amateurs. It’s the perfect place to watch the pro-am action and keep an eye out for potential up-and-comers. Finally, there is the world of corporate porn. If we made comparisons with the “real world,” we’d be talking about Coca Cola. If you go online to get off, you’ve probably heard of them, seen their banners or fantasized about one of their star performers going to town on you.

 

I guess we would fit into the homegrown category, since that description pretty much sounds like us, save from having one employee, which isn’t much in the grand scheme of things.

At any rate, you should go read the rest of the article and wait with baited breath for the next part, in which she spoke to Sophie (among other people) to find about about the ins and outs of the homemade porn business.