How did you get interested in adult entertainment?
Hmm. Well, I was in my last year of college - really dreading going into the "real job" market. I wanted to do something interesting. In that time period, my roommate asked me to start a porn site with him...and well, that sounded just like the interesting job I was looking for. That is how the story began!
What inspired you to create BurningAngel?
When my roommate and I decided to start the porn site, we knew we wanted it to be something that reflected ourselves, and our sexual fantasies. I found my friends pretty hot - the girls I went to shows with and hung out with regularly. When I thought of sex, I did not think of a blond girl with fake boobs and an orange tan; I thought of the people I surrounded myself with. So, I made a porn site that reflected the kinda sex I was having and the kind of life I was living, rather than base it off a complete foreign fantasy.
What challenges do you face running that empire?
Oh lord. Running a business is challenging, but I will say the biggest challenge right now is getting people to pay for porn. I know everyone in all facets of entertainment is struggling to get people to pay for their product, and people forget that us pornographers have our own struggles as well.
You're often credited with the creation of “Alt Porn”; do you feel that's the case?
I guess so? Ha-ha - I can't take ALL the credit. People made alt-porn before me and there are other companies who contribute to the genre, but I think I can say without too much arrogance that I have had a lot to do with the existence of the genre. Alt Porn doesn't really mean anything other than "porn that is an alternative to the mainstream" and I do think that is what we are. Porn was very much associated with a certain look and feel and personality that BurningAngel.com has always strayed from.
And do you feel that “Alt Porn” is an actual movement?
I don't know if it is a movement...when I think of the term "movements", I think of things that probably had a greater impact on the world than what porn people watch. However, I do think that Alt Porn helped humanize the image of the "porn star" that was so untouchable in the 90s. A big part of alt porn is the community that surrounds it - and it's very common on alt porn websites for people to meet each other, date each other and hang out with each other...which used to be unheard of and is now becoming part of the norm. I think we have helped people become a little more comfortable with their sexuality - and also have made porn a piece of pop culture - and stopped it from being associated as a genre of film with nothing but old, weird, creepy fans. Alt porn definitely opened up the possibility for porn to be regarded as "cool" to a younger generation of people...which is very different from the days of Playboy Magazine. So, I don't know if alt porn is really a "movement", but we have definitely put a dent in porn...a progressive one!
You are a proponent of internet piracy of adult content; how did you get involved?
I don't know who told you that I was a proponent for internet piracy, but can you tell me that person's name and address, so I can go punch them in the face? Hahaha - I do not support illegal downloads by any stretch of the imagination.
I am an opponent. I was in a video made by the Free Speech Coalition that was on You Tube trying to educate people on why piracy is hurting the industry, and we are now part of a particular legal group that finds unauthorized publishing of BurningAngel content and takes legal action wherever our XXX photos and videos are found. But really, there is only so much I can do. The public needs to know that if they choose to download pornography for free, the production companies they love so much will go out of business, and there won't be any more porn to download!
Can you tell us a little about your feelings on this issue?
Well obviously, being a pornographer I think that everyone should pay for porn and that there should be no way for it to be free, ever. This however is unfathomable, and this is just the direction that things have gone in. I could sit here and cry about the free porn on the Internet all day but, it is not going to do anything about it. So, I can just try to make the best product that I possibly can and promote it in every way possible and cross my fingers and hope that people will want to pay for it.
What other projects do you have planned for the future?
I hope that one day we can expand the brand and make clothing, and possibly other products. I am definitely not done with my venture and I still have a lot of room to grow. I basically want to keep doing what we are doing but just do it a lot bigger and a lot better.
What is it about Tattoos that intrigues you?
I think they are a super sexy form of self-expression - and they kinda scream "bad ass" ...which I like. Some people love that waify model look, some people love that buxom blond look...well, I happen to like that dark-haired, tattooed look. I can't say that I like every tattoo on the planet or every tattooed girl on the planet, but overall, I just think they are sexy and I like the culture that surrounds them.
Do you think pinup and fetish are becoming part of the mainstream culture?
Yes. I think they became a part of mainstream culture a long time ago. I mean, you can buy a necklace at Dolce & Gabbana that says "Sex Slave" on it.
What kind of music do you like?
I like punk and metal, and the strange genre known as "indie rock" and electronic. Basically, the stuff you hear when you walk into any hipster bar. I like it all!
What do you like to do for fun?
I like to try cooking new recipes that I find, watch movies, drink wine and occasionally play Mario Bros on my Wii.