It’s funny how when industry people think of extreme content, Kink.com often comes to mind. When we at Kink.com think of extreme content, we think of women having their butts spread open to where you can see the backs of their throats, or being covered in gallons of jizz—quite different from our material, to the point you wonder if there's a real person under there. But I’m willing to label what we produce for Hogtied.com or SexAndSubmission.com as “extreme” for the sake of this commentary.
We produce BDSM and other fetish content under very clear guidelines: All the models know exactly what to expect and all our directors know the models’ limits. At Kink, we never coerce or harm our talent, nor do we shoot our content in a way that would imply this. We carefully screen our models to ensure that they either are into the kind of material we shoot, or that they have a strong interest in experimentation.
Before jumping into dishing out advice, let me ask everyone: Who hasn’t tied up his or her partner to the bed posts at least once (or been tied up) to engage in some play sex? I’m using this to illustrate the absurdity of considering “risky” material to be a woman tied up and penetrated by a man. This and other “guidelines” for what to shoot and not to shoot are what producers run away from. Consider whether there is any logical explanation for not shooting half the things on the Cambria list. If we can’t apply logic to our decisions as to what’s acceptable or not, then this is not a free society.
I strongly believe there should be guidelines to what can and cannot be shot. In fact, we wrote them out ourselves and posted them on our sites—guidelines rooted in common sense, not in fear of big brother. We even made them available to visitors to our sites, and it’s as much to reassure our prospective models as it is to prepare anyone wanting to join our sites about what they can expect to find.
Nevertheless, many mainstream producers view bondage and SM producers as being a threat to the industry; as attracting the unwanted attention of the federal prosecutors. Any self-respecting SM producer will tell you they produce this material because it’s a safe and consensual expression of a certain kind of sexuality that’s widely practiced—; there are clubs and support groups all over the world. This is not some kind of chamber-of-horrors environment. (Bondage is as distant from real torture as lovemaking is from rape). Successful BDSM content producers don’t get into this business just as a way to make money; you simply can’t be successful at this unless you are into it. This is a form of artistic expression that takes a lot of practice to get right. (Artistic? Miller test anyone?) Because of the inherent difficulties with producing good fetish content and the relatively narrow target audience, the competition is limited to very few producers. This, of course, is good in the sense that Kink.com has been able to capture the lion’s share of the market and flourish; however, we’re left holding the bag when it comes to mainstream producers’ negative perceptions about fetish, regardless how inaccurate they may be. Don’t think that what we produce is male-directed content for a male audience: Half our directors – as well as half our total employees – are women. This should silence any critics from perpetuating the falsehood that what we do is degrading to women.
Although hardly any producers in the Valley maintain a condom-only policy, Kink.com does. It’s virtually impossible to find mainstream porn where the final action doesn’t result in the male ejaculating in the woman’s mouth. We specifically forbid this in our productions because of the risk of spreading diseases that can’t be screened for, like herpes. So, mainstream Valley porn producers, look in your own backyard before you pass judgment on others.
It’s difficult to assess the differences in ROI or conversions between the content that Kink.com produces and that of mainstream adult. Just like in any industry, there are mediocre companies and successful companies. In adult there are companies that run the spectrum from mediocre to great, whether they produce fetish or mainstream content. I’m going to guess, and it’s just a guess, that since BDSM content appeals to a smaller audience, there are fewer dollars to go around, and therefore there is bound to be less competition. Add that to the fact that you can’t simply hire a cameraman, male and female talent, and ask them to have sex on the couch; thus, the playing field narrows even further. But this means nothing without consideration of traffic. Ratios mean very little when you talk about traffic in general: Traffic that converts well on Playboy.com will surely flop on our sites, and vice versa. Our success came as much from the quality and uniqueness of our content as it did from careful cultivation of our traffic.
But let’s take another look at the risks of producing “extreme” content. Currently, the only guidelines offered by the U.S. government are antiquated indications of what is considered acceptable. How is any producer going to be able to apply the Miller test to his or her product? The answer is simple: We can’t. And the government has no interest in making these guidelines clear; keeping them obscure gives federal prosecutors an easy way to file obscenity charges. It’s not the individual prosecutor that foots the bill when one of us is dragged into court; it’s the taxpayers. It’s not the prosecutor who loses when the charges don’t stick; it’s everyone but the prosecutor. The taxpayer foots the bill, and the defendant has to pay for his own defense, whether he wins or loses. I’m a strong believer that we in the adult industry, and anyone interested in free speech and personal liberties, have to come together and make our voices heard. We are all taxpayers and responsible citizens. It’s time we took this country back from the conservative policies and ignorance that influence the outcomes of many cases. (It would behoove you to join the FSC.)
It’s also true, though, that we have to be mindful of perceptions. It doesn’t make sense to run a business without careful consideration of how mainstream businesses, with whom we inevitably have to deal, may see us. Banks, IPs, and processors all want assurance that they are dealing with responsible companies and people. Fortunately, we have never had real issues with our banks or ISPs, although we have changed providers when no-adult policies have been implemented, and we, as well as every other client, has had to move elsewhere.
So, what is considered “extreme” is a matter of perception. We at Kink.com certainly don’t see ourselves in this category. But quite possibly in the end, while we may all think that what we produce is fine and acceptable, we will not be judging what we do—a federal grand jury will.
Tony Pirelli is head of operations at Kink.com, producers of highly trafficked sites like FuckingMachines.com, Hogtied.com, and SexAndSubmission.com. Pirelli has been with Kink.com since 2001, directed FuckingMachines.com for more than three years, and created the Kinky Dollars affiliate program (used to be CyberNet Bucks). Since 2004, Pirelli has concentrated on marketing, business development, and risk management. Future plans include starting production of feature films and launching a satellite/cable channel.
