Camille Crimson

Today has been a really refreshing, recharging day to get creative and inspired for lots of great things to come.  I know I say that often, but it really is true.  We’re so lucky in this company to have the combination of creativity and drive that continually pushes us forward.  We’ve come leaps and bounds and we’re only getting started.

I recently shared some tips with Porn is my Nirvana all about how to make it in the adult industry.  I’ve included a few of the questions and answers here:

How would you advise a woman who wants to have sex in front of the camera and be successful at it?
You need to do it for the right reasons. Someone who is doing it to be famous or make a quick buck can be identified, and people would rather work with someone who is good investment, at least when it comes to more reputable companies. Know your limits, research the going rate for porn performance in your area and don’t go below that. The best thing to do is to find the porn that speaks to you and contact them about modeling. Get some simple shots taken to share. Look into possibly getting an agent. You could also go through cam work as another entrance into the market. Even make up some business cards and go to an adult industry event. There are lots of ways to get attention. When it comes to being successful after that, it’s all about being a self-possessed person.

 

Is it tougher for men to get paid work as a performer?
Absolutely. More men want to do it, there’s a lot of pressure to be of a certain size and to stay hard. If you’re not in LA, you’ll find it hard to find a job, much less any jobs. Unless you genuinely have the passion and drive to put up with a lot of low-paying jobs to make your dreams come true, being a man in porn is not for you. The focus is primarily on women, and male stars are the exception, not the rule. It’s unfortunate, but true. I mean, if you want to be a gay performer, that’s a whole other can of worms, but I don’t know as much about that.

 

I want to start my own adult website but have no idea where to begin… register a domain, and then…?
Get the content, know your brand, set up a payment processor, set up an affiliate program, get samples of your content out there, publicize your site to industry blogs, have a strong social media presence… There’s a lot to it. That’s why it helps to have a company that you’re working with. It’s a lot for just one person.

There are more tips on Porn is my Nirvana, so go check.  Has any of this inspired you?  Have any of you ever wanted to make a run at working in the adult industry in some way?

Haha! Yes, that is Sophie with Ron Jeremy at the XBIZ Awards.

As you know, we had Sophie representing us at XBIZ and, I must say, she did a great job. She even had to improvise and make extra business cards because she did so much networking that she ran out, despite having an ample stack as she left for LA.  She’s written up a great summary which can be seen on WhackMagazine, but she’s also included a little personal note about her time there as it specifically relates to the work we do:

I’ve got to say, XBIZ was amazing, but it wasn’t just because of the chance to hang out with sexy people and do a lot of business… A big part of the reason why I loved being there so much is because I love the company I’m representing. I’m a huge porn consumer and I’m a fan of a variety of different approaches, but when it comes to working in porn, beautiful porn is the only kind for me. Whenever I hand people my card, they respond with delight, mostly because they are very well aware of the sites. On the rare occasion that they haven’t heard of our work, they’re immediately intrigued by the concept of beautiful porn created by people who have an incredible connection.

 

Even though we feel very small in our little company, the influence is far-reaching and it is genuinely changing the face of the industry. The keynote speech at the conference broke down the potential for success in the adult business, and the facts about content producers were as clear as day. If you’re putting up the same old stuff and not caring at all, you will not get anywhere. Give up now. But if you’re making something fresh and new, reaching out to your audience and putting love into your site, now is the best time to be making porn! People will care about what you do, they’ll be so refreshed by your approach and it will flourish. There aren’t nearly as many companies as you’d think who really take this to heart, so it’s wonderful to be a part of a company that lives and dies by these ideals.

 

We didn’t win. That kind of sucked. I was poised there with my camera, adrenaline pumping, shaking like a leaf as our category came up, preparing to take a shot of our name on the screen. It never did. Maybe it’s because we’ve received so many accolades already, but there was a part of me that genuinely believed we’d win. I was disappointed, but the fact is, we’re a small company. We’ve only been working towards really getting our content out there in the past year to two years. The fact that we were up with so many well-known multimillion dollar companies is something to be grateful for in and of itself. But I hope we’re up for the award again next year, and hopefully a few more where that came from. This kind of porn is worthy of recognition. We’re already making impressive strides, but the day will come that our name will be at mainstream awards.

It’s so heartening to know that word is getting out about what we do, and I share the optimism that we will continue to climb that hill, sharing more and more widely that porn can be beautiful.

A wonderful journalist named Robert Seitzinger decided to take to the blog This or That to dispel the myth that porn has no artistic merit.  He proved the possibility of beautiful, artistic porn using Lilyanne, Sophie and myself as examples…  Pretty flattering, no?

Sites such as YouPorn and RedTube allow anyone with a handheld cam to share their sexual endeavors with the world. Most amateur clips give traction to the argument that porn is a cinematic enterprise with zero artistic value, that porn serves only to get viewers off, and no beauty can be seen in videos of blowjobs, female ejaculation, foot fetishism, or any other sexual activity.

However, art porn is a growing segment of sexual cinema. Viewers and performers are evolving their stance on what adult film can accomplish. More than money shots or spank material, art porn emotes and depicts honest intimacy between partners as it incorporates production value beyond the sound of grunts and moans, shaky camera work, and poor lighting.

 ”On an aesthetic level, people really appreciate the artistry,” Crimson says. “On a personal level, people really love knowing that we’re a real couple sharing our passion.”

“The potential for creativity is boundless in porn,” Delancey says. “The fact is that so few people actually try to explore those avenues, so the people who do are real pioneers. Even though it’s a huge industry, there is so much room for innovation and pioneers really are recognized.”

“Sexuality is made to be connected with love, and what we are trying to do with our work is reconnecting this broken link in pornography” – Lilyanne Bloom

2011 has come and gone, and I think it’s really been one of the most amazing years of my life, if not the most amazing.  There have been so many incredible developments with the company, and we just continue to grow and flourish.  We won a Feminist Porn Award for best website, we got picked as the best blowjob site by Rabbits Reviews, we got at DVD deal with Hustler which is now almost near completion, we launched Pornographic Love to huge success, I’ve been featured in Hustler twice, I’ve had all sorts of amazing interviews and reviews, I started my own advice column at Peeperz, we launched the portraits section on The Art of Blowjob, we got nominated for an XBIZ Award for Specialty Site of the Year and now I just got named Fleshbot’s Crush Object of the Year…  I’m probably forgetting something, but just off the top of my head, that’s already an incredible year, isn’t it?

I know I say this time and time again, but I really couldn’t have done it without you all.  I’m so incredibly lucky to have such amazing, passionate people in my life who all care about porn and sexuality the way I do.  Through the site, I’ve met so many wonderful friends and I really do consider you all as such.  The support I get from you guys absolutely pushes me further and further towards my increasingly ambitious goals.  I have lots more goals and plans up my sleeve for 2012, so I’m definitely not spent yet.

I hope that 2012 will be an incredible year for all of you.  I have a feeling it will be!

In the grand tradition of Bobbi Starr, Faye Reagan, Stoya, Sasha Grey, Dana DeArmond and Joanna Angel, there is a new Fleshbot Crush Object of the Year…  And it’s me!  That’s right.  The amazing people at Fleshbot have voted me as their biggest porn crush, and I could not be more thrilled:

Dude, it’s Camille Crimson. Of course she’s the Crush Object of the Year. Her blowjobs grab us by the eyeballs and never let go, the settings and costumes she chooses for her scenes make us feel cozy one minute and at her mercy the next, and for some reason, she deigns to hang out on Fleshbot and engage us in conversations. How can this be? How is she so cool? And yet so nice? And yet so hot?

This has been a big year for Camille: she and her main man, Mike, are always expanding the scope of their work, they got their friends at Pornographic Love up and running, and The Art of Blowjob was honored by the Feminist Porn Awards! We wish we could say what makes Camille and her crew so special—we’re dying to know how a gorgeous Canadian redhead, a blowjob, and some sleek cinematography add up to more than the sum of their parts—but we can only assume that it’s magic.

This is making me blush and smile and all giddy.  Giddy enough for a late night blog post.  ;)  I want to thank all the amazing people at Fleshbot – Lux, Ottimo, Florabel, Sailor, etc…  For using their wit, charm, knowledge and perseverance to change the landscape of porn.  Bravo!

As for today’s update, it’s pretty great.  It’s building off of Wednesday’s photoset, and playing with a little bit of a Clue theme.  I am Ms. Crimson, after all.  It’s called Ms. Crimson in the Library with the Blowjob because the blowjob is definitely my method of choice for getting the job done, doing the deed, taking care of business…  Whatever you want to call it.  It’s part voyeur, part POV, all awesome.  You can check out the trailer, but you know you only get the happy ending with the full video.  ;)

There’s a great new blog out there that mixes the pleasures of beautiful fashion, sensual food and everyone’s favourite topic… Sex!  It’s called Pleasurable Things and it’s really taking off.  Do you know how I know that?  Well, for starters, there’s a feature there about beautiful porn, interviewing Lilyanne and myself.  I wanted to share a bit of it today because I really think it’s exquisitely written and really well conceptualized.  See for yourself:

A group of women-led, erotic websites has been blossoming in Montreal. Working under a strong belief that pornography can and should be beautiful, the sites’ producers are making photos, videos, and web text using a particularly engaging, artful aesthetic. Their work includes both women and men in a variety of situations, but with a focus on female agency and pleasure.

…

The beauty of the sites is twofold: part composition and part realism. Photos and videos are shot with well-planned lighting, shallow depth of field, use of slow motion, skilled editing and tasteful colour grading. At the same time, the people shown are beautiful, normal people with genuine human connections. Their scenes and shoots consist solely of what truly turns them on so that all of their reactions and orgasms are real.

Making such thoughtful, artistic sites sounds laudable, but is it really tenable as a business? Are there enough viewers willing to pay for quality production when there is so much free porn available?

Crimson says that yes, “because of the overwhelming similarity in free porn, many people are searching for something different and something that feels more true to life, while also feeling a little more quality. That’s where sites like mine come in.”

 …

This market of confident porn consumers includes more women than ever in past. In Fleshbot, a leading website about sexuality and the adult entertainment industry, Crimson says: “my site is a way of showing that women can have agency as both givers and receivers of pleasure. Any time a woman is enjoying sex, doing it on her own terms and doing it the way she wants, it’s a feminist act.”

One of the nicest aspects of these sites  is the enjoyment that the company’s owners get out of making them. Quite apart from large porn studios, Crimson is intimately involved in all stages of site creation and content production as well as in running the business.  She describes what a great life this makes for:

 “I’m unbelievably lucky because I get to be my own boss, I get to be myself for a living, I get to be creative, I get to code, I get to have sex, I get to work with my boyfriend, I get to work from home…It’s a very rewarding lifestyle.  At the same time, because I have so much invested in it, I only get out of it what I put in, so it’s a lot of work.  At the end of the day, it’s worth it.”