LOS ANGELES—The creator of Baeb.com says the new high-end website has been a work in progress for more than a year.
“It’s my passion project,” veteran producer/director Rick Shameless tells AVN. “I’ve been working on it since early 2016, just taking my time developing the idea and the direction of the brand. I think we found our groove somewhere between reduced storylines and good hardcore sex.”
With today’s debut of a scene featuring the sensational tandem of Riley Reid and Lana Rhoades taking on Markus Dupree, it’s clear Shameless & Co. have found their rhythm.
“We’re just trying to shoot the girls in a different light and letting their character speak a little bit more,” Shameless explains. “I try to envision how I would want to see the girl portrayed and develop the scene along that line.”
Baeb soft-launched earlier this year and already has banked more than two dozen scenes, showcasing a who’s who of sought-after girls, including Elsa Jean, Janice Griffith, Anya Olsen, Alexa Grace, Adria Rae, Nina North, Blair Williams, Gina Valentina and Lena Paul, among others.
Today’s update has all the makings of a can’t miss occasion with Reid, the 2016 AVN Female Performer of the Year, and Rhoades, the 2017 AVN Hottest Newcomer, in a scenario called “Step-Sisters of Beverly Hills.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of research with pairings and listening to the girls about who they want to work with,” Shameless says. “If you’re really attached to a product and want it to be something special you want to talk to the people you’re involving in the scene. I want this to be more of a collaborative process.”
Now in his 13th year in adult entertainment, the versatile Shameless has worked on hundreds of movies for several top studios, doing still photos, videography or producing and directing himself.
The native of Los Angeles brought more than a decade of experience as a freelance fashion photographer into adult, learning his craft by assisting photographers such as Patrick Demarchelier and Bruce Weber in New York, where he lived for two years. Then he began working closely with Paul Jasmin, who mentored him early in his career.
The virtual one-man band behind Baeb.com produces, directs, casts and styles the site's content, while seasoned videographer Craven Moorehead also shoots camera with Shameless.
“There is always a theme with the shoot,” Shameless says. “We’re trying to do setups more realistic, like how do people feel about sexuality right now, how are people hooking up today? What are the scenarios in which people meet and actually have sex?”
Those ideas have led to themes such as Janice Griffith’s scene, which is called “Instagirl Puts Out”; Lena Paul stars in “Flirting in French”; and Elsa Jean in “Submissive Spinner.”
Baeb will feature fresh new faces as well as established stars, according to Shameless.
“With the girls who are already popular we try to shoot them in ways that people aren’t used to seeing them before,” he says. “Just because somebody’s been around and been shooting for a period of time doesn’t mean you can’t take a fresh approach to shooting them and have the appeal be completely different.”
Shameless says his wardrobe and styling is more “understated”—the goal is to tap into the girl’s “raw sexuality."
“The majority of everything we’re doing is boy/girl stuff,” he adds. “We have some surprises for our members but what we’re focusing on is boy/girl sex.”
Baeb makes social media a priority, doing fan outreach on platforms such as Twitter and Periscope with live Q&A’s and behind-the-scenes moments.
Each girl has a model page designed to maximize her opportunities to promote her scenes.
“We also have a model program for them where if they promote us on social media they get paid for the traffic they send like a basic affiliate program,” he says. “I just think the girls have a lot of reach with their fans and they should be rewarded for helping us grow.”
Baeb, which updates once a week, is also the first site in the NSFWCash.com affiliate program with others to come. Shameless says Megan Stokes ([email protected]) is representing Baeb for broadcast and distribution opportunities.
Girls who shoot for the site become what Shameless is calling "Baeb Bombshells."
“We think these girls we’re shooting are the modern-day bombshells," he says. "That term kind of embodies the kind of girls we want to shoot. They’re not necessarily your typical beauties but we try and shoot them in a light that shows them as the modern-day bombshells they are.”
