LOS ANGELES—Trouble Films owner and performer Courtney Trouble have taken on a job during the current shutdown — virtual screening party host. She has been holding online porn-viewing parties “every couple of weeks,” via the AVN Stars platform. But her upcoming event will be her first backed by a “major sponsor,” Trouble told AVN — the streaming service Adult Time.
The event is set for Saturday, May 30 and will kick off with a panel discussion that includes performers Karla Lane and April Flores, helping to fulfill her goal with the series of streaming parties, “to keep talking about the inclusion of marginalized bodies in mainstream porn, as we seem to be at a real breaking point with how fat people, people of color, trans people, disabled people, and other fetishized people are getting real roles in real work, and making really cool (content) on their own that holds up to some of what people might see in the movies or on Pornhub,” she said in an email interview.
Following the discussion, which is set for 11 a.m. — an earlier time slot than her previous AVN Stars events — Trouble will host a live watch party, screening her scene with reigning three-time AVN Female Performer of the Year Angela White, titled “Love, Lust, Respect,” which was released earlier this year.
But unlike her previous events, this one is free to view on AVN Stars, though tips will be accepted, as the screening is a fundraiser for the Free Speech Coalition Performer Emergency Fund.
“Adult Time has picked up on what we are doing, and because we wanted to have a conversation around porn literacy and ‘Love, Lust, Respect’ in particular, having Adult Time take care of the performers involved at help us raise money for FSC is what's going to make this event even more successful,” Trouble said.
Trouble’s inspiration for her online screening series came from her inability due to the coronavirus lockdowns to host her annual San Francisco Pride Party.
“These impromptu porn parties must be some kind of way of me reaching out to that community,” she said. “I've gotten some feedback that this community building has been powerful for other people as well, so along with AVN Stars, I'll be doing these screenings and panels all summer long, at least.”
It’s quite a commitment, considering that she hosts the watch parties from her personal laptop computer.
“The technical issues of broadcasting from a laptop are insane. I'm actually not sure how it's done I just know it gets done,” she told AVN. “I have to use a MIDI audio splitter, an OBS software application, and two different chat rooms to get it done. Oh, and Zoom. Ugh. But it gets done!”
Photo courtesy of Courtney Trouble
