Award-winning director Tobi Hill-Meyer has launched a Patreon campaign for the trans women-focused site Doing It Online in an attempt to increase accessibility while also ensuring sustainability.
An erotic documentary site that embraces both pornographic content and in depth interviews, Doing It Online has become a valuable resource for the trans community. In response to that, Hill-Meyer has begun using Patreon to allow for a pay-what-you-can model in addition to memberships directly through doingitonline.com.
"I’ve had more than one person tell me that my work has been the thing they hold onto during times of feeling suicidal. When that’s the case, I don’t want this to be inaccessible to anyone," said Hill-Meyer when asked about the shift. "But it takes money to keep this going. I have high hopes that the Patreon model and sliding scale memberships will be the solution.
"When trans women are made into a punchline, it’s always about how we have sex," she added, "so it was really important to me to address the issue of sexuality head on and create the opportunity to be represented on our own terms.
"A lot of companies like PayPal and Youtube don’t allow explicit sexuality. I had to sell it through porn distributors, but it’s not what those audience were expecting. Patreon finally lets me sell my work as what it really is: art with an important message."
Journalists interested in discussing this bold move with Hill-Meyer can reach her here.
