Adult performers are entering a new era of awareness—and their empowerment may shape the future of porn. When COVID-19 shut down the adult entertainment industry, performers fell back on many of the things they were already doing, creating and selling content directly to their fans. Realizing professional porn isn’t necessary for a lucrative career, many performers are now making even more money in a safe environment they control. For as many options as porn performers have, the directors of porn (who are not also talent themselves) have far less. Where directors and companies fit in a post-COVID-19 world may very well be dictated by adult performers.
“It’s particularly brutal for directors that are not performers. We rely on production to survive whereas performers can make their own productions at home; they can shoot videos and pictures for their fan base,” explains Jacky St. James, one of adult entertainment’s leading feminist directors. Like many of her colleagues, St. James has put her creativity to the test, turning to some of the same platforms adult performers are cashing in on, but on a smaller pay scale reflective of the non-nude content.
“It’s been tough for me particularly. I‘ve had to be innovative and creative. I started an OnlyFans account but the appeal of following me is that I’m just providing knowledge about the industry. I’m not showing any nudity or any adult films on my site so I don’t have a big following, but fortunately it helps me pay the bills,” says St. James.
Advertised as “an inside look into the adult industry from someone BEHIND the camera,” the subscription offers consumers direct access to the multi-award-winning director. Describing how her lack of hardcore content is still heavy on the porn, St. James elaborates on what her followers seek. “A lot of my followers ask for advice, how to get into the business or how to write a porn script. I’ve had several one-on-ones, where we’ll spend an hour and we just talk. It’s a way to connect and also make money. I also have performers on where we talk about their favorite mainstream movies.”
Acknowledging the changing landscape, St. James is fairly confident there will still be a place in porn for directors despite how non-essential some performers deem them. “Production companies get people’s faces out there, they help grow people’s popularity. On the other side of that, when someone comes to shoot with me they walk away with guaranteed money, and with OnlyFans you don’t know what you’re making unless you’re in that top tier,” explains St. James, arguing for the value of making guaranteed money on set verses hustling for the unknown.
But the promise of payment may not be enough to entice performers back to set. Three years after allegations of sexual assault enveloped the reputations of James Deen and Ron Jeremy, arguably the most iconic male performers of their generations, new alarms are being raised among female performers.
No longer financially dependent on traditional studios, women in the industry are speaking out on social media, exposing a rash of predatory behavior from companies, directors, and in some cases their agents. Liberated from institutional misogyny, performers are creating content and cashing in on themselves for once, and not without a discernible sense of schadenfreude.
In discussing a number of issues within the industry, Allie Eve Knox describes how a former agent’s lack of due diligence placed her in a potentially dangerous situation. “This person turned out to be a fan. He wanted to tie me up and put his hands in my pantyhose. He had all these weird things—weapons he’d carved with knives, and giant purses full of condoms and sexual-enhancement pills,” recalls Knox. “I realized this was not a calendar shoot like it was supposed to be. I realized this guy doesn’t want to take my photo. He wants to tie me up and touch me. It was very weird and creepy.”
“I quit shooting as a result of these problems and started shooting my own porn,” reveals Knox, who describes herself as more of a content creator than porn performer. “Porn is one of those things where when you get into it, you weigh your options. You lose family, friends, you will never have particular jobs in the future, you will get a lot of hate…then you get into it and six months later your entire career is derailed because an agent put you in an unsafe situation. Or you work for a company that doesn’t protect the talent.”
The major adult studios’ patterns of problematic behavior, and what Knox implies is a complicit attitude on behalf of the industry trade magazines, compelled her to strike out on her own. “I don’t give a fuck if people are going to blacklist me now, or if they aren’t going to hire me. I’m still going to make money out of my bedroom so I don’t have to go back to pro-porn to make money,” she says. “I think a lot of performers are waking up and seeing that that’s the case. They can do the same thing from home and be safe without having to go through an agent or feeling unsafe on a set.”
Adult performer Gabriella Paltrova has had similar scarring experiences that have left her questioning adult industry standards for performers, and yet the decision to speak out weighs heavily. “I’m torn between wanting to fight for what I believe in, or maybe this is a war I shouldn’t even bother with? Maybe the mainstream porn industry is already digging its own grave,” she observes, envisioning a performer-driven marketplace.
With the fear of backlash eradicated, so too has the incentive to return to mainstream porn.
“I don’t blame them—I wouldn’t go back to mainstream porn. I’m just saying not all of us are horrible and evil. Some of us try to do the right thing. We just want to work and go home,” says Mike Quasar, the veteran pornographer. “This has literally been my life for 30 years. I know how to treat people with respect. I know they’re having sex with each other, it’s not a tennis match, and there are going to be situations that are misunderstood.”
In an effort to convey autonomy on his sets, Quasar says he’s upfront with the performers, and especially the women on his sets, explaining: “I’m very clear to say, ‘You can say cut, you can say stop, you don’t have to worry about me getting mad or about ruining the scene, you can say stop or whatever it is you want to say to cut.’”
As Quasar points out, people behind the scenes directing and producing mainstream porn keep getting older but the women rotating in stay about the same age. “As you become a little older and have tenure in the business, you have to take responsibility for how you conduct yourself—but some people haven’t learned that lesson. That wasn’t a lesson I ever had to learn,” muses Quasar. “Anyone who’s surprised that porn attracts bad people was maybe a little naïve to begin with. It’s an industry that thrives on young girls.”
