June 18, 2013

Special Edition

RUMPUS GOES TO VEGAS

The famous Ron Jeremy with a fan...

In the Jacobellis v. Ohio trial (1964), Justice Potter Stewart, US Supreme Court judge and Yale Law 41, said I know it when I see it. That man was talking about hard-core pornography and he paved the way for porn in America. Thank you, Potter Stewart and the Yale Law program that taught him. We couldnt have written this article without that decision. Do you remember the first time you discovered porn? More importantly, do you remember the first time you looked it up on purpose? You were curious at first, werent you? And what you found was enough to bring you back, shamefully, under cover of nightsweaty fingers typing furtively, furiously into a blinking Google search bar. Weve all been there. So this year, Rumpus decided to fulfill its destiny and become true journalists. With real press passes, four Rumpus writers attended the 30th

Annual Adult Video News (AVN) Awards Show and Expo held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. This is our story. *** For most teenagers watching porn in their bedrooms, meeting an adult film star in real life is only a dream. (Lets be real: its the dream.) When you see those men and women on the semi-silver screen you dont see what theyre like off screen; you know theyre acting, but you want those orgasms to come from a good place even if they are faked. On our trip, we had the opportunity to attend this sex convention and interview the porn stars that we only thought existed in Private Browsing mode. We touched down in Las Vegas, Nevada after leaving from New York City on cold, clear Wednesday in January. (Wed like to say that this article took so long to write because of all our illicit activi-

ties, but honestly, putting down this experience in words just took some time and a few drinks.) As the plane taxied toward the gate, we eagerly looked out onto the bright lights of the strip through our small window. We hopped in a taxi that carted us to a nondescript La Quinta, our college kid-priced home for the weekend. We had three days to take Sin City by storm. We got to the convention at early-as-fuck-oclock on Thursday morning, cameras and notepads at hand. We had a grueling schedule of interviews with the talent lined up throughout the day talking to porn stars is more exhausting than youd think. We weaved through slot machines and blackjack tables towards the convention halls at the back of the hotel. We stopped in the press center to pick up our very official looking passes and walked through security, badges pinned, into the Expo. The first sight of the main convention hall was underwhelming. This main hall contained the major porn companies booths and was about half the size of a football field. Down the hallway were other rooms selling particular toys and a BDSM space known as The Lair. This early in the morn-

ing, workers were still hanging up posters and porn stars were in their hotel rooms putting on make-up. *** Thursday and Friday were full of interviews. We had a few interviews with independent adult film stars like James Deen, porns leading man, but most were through Girlfriends Films, the amazing company that hooked us up with the press passes and more. Wed prepared a bunch of questionsyou know, like journalists. What is your favorite position? we wondered. Hows your sex life outside of porn? Are there any internships in the porn industry? Do you have any sex tips for Yalies? Would you have sex with me? The first interview on Thursday was with the big man on campus, James Deen. We were hoping for a few practice interviews before jumping into the cage, but this was it. James is often referred to as the new face of porn. His boyish charm and good looks have been discussed in real, glossy magazines like GQ and Esquire. While we waited for

The Rumpus staff with the hilarious James Deen.

our time slot, a beautiful woman was interviewing James and giggling the entire time. Oh, that boyish charm. We sat down in cozy couches with porn stars streaming around us. After finding out we went to Yale, he dubbed us college kids and called us that for the next few days. Throughout the interview, James humor and sincerity were captivating; it was immediately obvious why hes so popular among teenage girls. The son of two middle-class Jewish parents, James path into the porn industry certainly came as a surprise to his parents. He told us that he was listening to a radio show one day and heard that the only thing a guy needs to be able to do to become a porn star is get hard and cum on demand. Thats itand youre living the dream. James said to himself that he could do it. Like so many other stories, the rest is history. (And, with this one, theres no shortage of happy endings.) As his popularity grows, hell start to enter other ventures. At the moment, hes currently working on a mainstream steam punk non-porn film as a producer. We hope to see him around more often, and we wont even mind if hes clothed. *** We knew James clearly enjoyed his job, but we wondered about the girls in the porn industry. Do female adult film stars actually enjoy their jobs? The question plagued us. Would you, dear reader, enjoy fucking on camera for all of your family and friends to see? Probably not, and thats why youre not a porn star. Its not for lack of talent, were sure. We quickly found out that, at Girlfriends Films, the girls really do enjoyand take pride intheir work. Just like in any other industry, there must be porn stars who must hate their jobs but this company in particular had achieved the type of environment the girls are comfortable in. This could be

due to their highly professional attitudes, or the fact that Girlfriends Films are only lesbian. Whatever the reason, Dan OConnell, president and cofounder, has dreamed the impossible dream. We wouldnt be surprised if the absence of men does make the filming porn more comfortable. Each adult film star took a different path to stardom (BDSM humor, anyone?). More often than not, these windy roads seemed oddly fated in hindsight. For instance, Syren de Mer and her husband started swinging and videotaped the sessions, posting them online. Eventually, she was approached by none other than Seymore Butts, porn producer, and she hasnt looked back since. Some porn stars offered advice after going through the process themselves. Angela Sommers told us that, If you want to go into the industry, you have to be 100% sure because there is no turning back. As Aryana Augustine mentioned, too many girls start doing gangbangs and anal before being in demand, and producers wont pay you later for something you have already done. Truer words have never been spoken. When the beautiful Dana DeArmond sat down next to us for our interview, she introduced herself to us as Aunt Dana. After telling her it was Rumpus first time in Vegas, she made sure to give us some motherly advice: Drink a lot of water and dont take shots because were in the desert. And Rumpus being Rumpus, we didnt listen, and earned the hangovers to prove it. *** Do you have any funny stories? we asked. Dana mentioned she had an upcoming shoot with James and his girlfriend, Stoya. To prepare for the scene, Dana said they did a moist run one night (compared to a dry run, naturally). Theres a saying that goes a minute of preparation equals an hour in executionof course, that has nothing to do with this.

Speaking of humor and motherly figures, Brandi Love, a woman whose work we adore, told us story we could barely believe. She has worked in the porn industry for decades, and now occupies the coveted MILF category on pornsites. One day, Brandi was thinking about clich porn scenarios; at the time, even she didnt believe any could actually work. So, she decided to take matters into her own hands: She called a pizza boy. Brandi told the kid that she needed to look for money and asked him to come inside. While looking through her purse, she told him she had no money and grabbed his crotch instead, asking, Do you think we can work something out? Theyworked it out. Though Brandi proved that porn plots do in fact work in real life, she apparently wasnt able to film the scene because he wouldnt sign the 2257. Sounds like someone actually read the Terms and Conditions before signing his life away.

It seemed like an industry-wide characteristic: porn stars are hilarious. Lexi Lowe, our adorable (and adorably buxom) blonde British friend, was no exception. Before becoming a adult actress, she worked for the local department of police in Wales. She found it very boring. (Were not surprised.) Lexi, being the reasonable woman she is, took up stripping. Early on, Lexi decided to only do girl-girl scenes like many of the other Girlfriends Films contract stars. Recently though, she decided to do a BDSM shoot. Shed never done an anal scene before, and didnt have enough time to read the entire script before shooting. As the scene started, the co-star tied Lexi up and blindfolded hershe had no idea what was about to happen. Her co-star attached a leash to Lexis neck and stuck something in her ass while commanding her to crawl around. Lexi told us that the other girl was calling me a pretty little

The Rumpus staff with Lexi Lowe.

pony. After seeing the video, she told the producer, Really? You stuck a ponytail in my ass? *** After what seemed like an eternity of interviews, we finally sat down with the man in charge of Girlfriends Films, Dan OConnell. Hes a portly man in his sixties with a sincere smile, and a rotation of beautiful women ready and willing to fuck on camera. Throughout our interview with him, porn stars continually came over, giving him kisses on the cheek as they went to their respective booths. One porn star we talked to told us that the set is all female except for OConnell and many of the stars see him as a father figure. As is generally the case in porn, his path to the industry also seems somehow fated. OConnell worked in the banking industry for 27 years, until he woke up one day and realized he wanted to be a documentary filmmaker. He quit his job and went to film school. As a big-time investor, OConnell had accumulated enough wealth to buy two nice cameras, which his classmates loved to use. One afternoon, a fellow female student approached him, saying she wanted to make a documentary about lesbian sex. The girl dropped out during production, but OConnell continued on and produced his first feature documentary, Lesbians Uncovered: The Naked Truth.
A porn star with a male fan at the Expo.

The film chronicled lesbian culture, and also featured a few sex scenes. After the movie was released, OConnell received a ton of fan mail asking him to make more movies with more sex. Soon afterwards, he started making lesbian pornos with the company he started, Girlfriends Films; eventually, he made a name for himself at the AVNs. OConnell also spoke to us about what he seeks to accomplish in every film. He said. I always include an element of seduction, he said. To supplement that element, he invented the genre that became old-young in porn. For example, a mother might seduce a babysitter, or a teacher might bang a lucky student. OConnell believes that the interplay of dominance and seduction are the keys to the success of his films and his work attracted a lot of interest among viewers of both genders. We werent surprised when he mentioned that the theme sprouted from his early memories of nuns in Catholic school. This is all well and good, but whats a typical day like for a successful porn producer? OConnell oversees all stages of the process including casting, writing, directing, producing, as well as managing the company. The night before a shoot, he starts writing the storyline and characters while keeping the acting ability of his girls in mind. For him, their personalities lend themselves to specific roles: I always write Dana as the troublemaker, he told us as an example. The next morning around 7am, he continues to write and refine the script, using the necessity to finish as his inspiration. Hell then rush over to the warehouse, shoot the film for a few hours, and help edit later. What a day. Before parting ways, OConnell left us with one of the greatest quotes weve ever heard: Laughter is the best medicine, but orgasms are right up there. Truly words to live by. So, read the second part of this article with a partner while fucking doggystyle!