LOS ANGELES — Mainstream style magazine i-D published an interview with adult directors Erika Lust, Jacky St. James and Bree Mills today, reporting on their strategies during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
In the article, titled “Three Women Porn Directors on Navigating a World Without New Porn,” reporter Beatrice Hazlehurst hosted a virtual round table with Lust, St. James and Mills about how they prepared for, and are coping with, the current situation.
“The adult industry has been so great about swiftly acting when anything could affect our industry health-wise, but there was a lot of confusion pertaining to coronavirus,” St. James told i-D. “I cancelled all of my shoots and as of this moment, I have nothing on the books and will be without income until the quarantine is lifted."
"Sadly, the U.S. government will not be providing any funding to people in the industry; apparently the government can discriminate against people doing legal work — even those who pay taxes. I will be focusing on screenwriting and creatively sourcing ways to make any kind of income," St. James added.
Mills explained that when it became clear that the coronavirus was a pandemic, Adult Time “put a temporary suspension in place for all our physical productions and decided to stretch our inventory to last several months longer than planned, while actively working on alternative programming to keep our release schedule interesting. This includes live series we can record with performers from the safety of their homes and commissioning custom projects from industry people who either live alone or with each other so that they shoot content while still remaining in isolation.”
Lust said she hoped the current emergency will lead “adult cinema productions to be even more responsible when it comes to performers' health and medical situation. It's actually essential to take care of their condition, history and limits, before shooting a film."
"I hope an open conversation will be encouraged in order to create a trusted sex environment on set, in which performers can feel that their safety and agency are a priority," Lust added. "Also, now that sex workers are financially vulnerable as many other professionals, I wish the audience would open their eyes to the fact that sex work is a real job, which deserves to be paid.”
The trendsetting i-D originated in London as an influential "style bible," and is now part of the Vice Media Group,
For the i-D article “Three Women Porn Directors on Navigating a World Without New Porn,” which also goes over the directors’ backgrounds and experiences as female pornographers, click here.
