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?

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!

Guess what!  I’m in Hustler!  I did a big interview with them a few months ago for this feature, which is in the February 2012 issue.  I could not be more pleased.  After receiving a little box of text in an issue back in the summer, they wanted to do a longer piece devoted to the site and our unique take on porn, so that’s what this is.

I didn’t want to just scan it and put it up here, since I don’t want to be taking away from their revenue streams, but I encourage you all to go out and get a copy, since it’s a great read and it’s very well-written.  You can say that you’re reading it for the articles and actually mean it!

So, thank you to the wonderful people at Hustler for talking with me and giving some press for the beautiful porn movement.  It really is an honour to grace your pages.

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.”

I’ve been friends with Dustin of Life According to the Bathroom Wall for over a year now, as well as his lovely wife Heather of My Sexual Journey.  They’re really fun, sweet people with a real zest for sexual life and an obviously wonderful bond together.  It’s great to see a couple like this exploring their full sexual potential for the rest of us to witness.  Dustin has recently expanded to include interviews of his blog, so I thought I’d share an excerpt from our interview together:

A lot of women, including fellow porn star Misti Dawn, who play video games refer to themselves as “girl gamers”. I personally hate this term. If you play video games, you’re a gamer period. Thoughts?

I’m a geek, but I’m more of a shy coder geek. I do love sci-fi andgaming, but I don’t try to capitalize on it and use it as a way to make people find me sexier. I think that the whole idea of every girl with glasses being a “sexy geek” or every girl who plays games is a “gamer geek” to be a reductionist tool to sell porn.

Back to porn. Let’s say a larger production company, such as Adam & Eve or Digital Playground, decided they wanted to do business with you. How would you react? What would your prerequisites be for agreeing to a deal with one of these companies?

Since I’ve done business with Hustler, I’m never 100% closed off to the idea of entering into agreements with larger companies, but I wouldn’t want to compromise my ethics in the process.

Most of the work you do for Art of Blowjob, due to the nature of of what’s being filmed, is done using a POV (Point Of View) format. Despite the fact that this can be very hard to do and, more often than not, doesn’t look all that great, you and Mike pull it off beautifully. What’s your secret?

Well, he’s a great filmmaker and we’re good at editing. It’s just about being creative and thinking outside the box to get the right shot…we’re not going to give the secret away, though.  ;)