Adult entertainment entrepreneur Camille Crimson
For years, the only oral sex on the Internet featured gagging, chocking and “face-fucking” (for the uninitiated: a sexual act wherein a man actively thrusts his penis into his partner’s mouth). But Camille Crimson changed all that with The Art of the Blowjob, a website devoted to intimate portrayals of sex. The films and stills on her website, depict her performing oral sex on her boyfriend. Her cameraman and co-star, Mike Flirt, uses soft lighting and creative angles to turn pornography into a work of art.
The 37-year-old’s artistic approach to blowjobs has been applauded by feminists and producers alike. For her work, she was nominated for the Feminist Porn Award in March of this year.
The Toronto Standard’s Elizabeth Hames spoke with her about entrepreneurship in the adult entertainment industry, and the softer side of porn.
What is it like to be an entrepreneur in today’s adult entertainment industry?
It’s an interesting climate. There used to be a lot more small sites. Now it seems like there are just huge companies buying everything else up and a few of us left who are doing something different. As a result, you do have to work hard to get noticed next to all the big guys, but if you do something different, you can get a lot of attention and respect for it. It forces you to keep innovating and pushing yourself to make something creative, beautiful and in tune with what people want. Balancing that with your own values and limitations can be a challenge, but a very rewarding one if you can get it.
I’ve spoken with other performers who keep their own website. They say the Internet gives them an independence and control over their image that wasn’t afforded to performers in the past. Would you agree?
My shooting schedule is based on when I’m actually in the mood to shoot, so it’s much more authentic in that respect. Especially when dealing with something as personal as sex, it’s great to be able to engage with it on my own terms.
Why did you choose to get into adult entertainment?
It just made sense because I’m in a wonderfully fulfilling sexual relationship with a great dynamic and I wanted to share that vision of happy sexuality. Since my boyfriend’s background is in film and photography and my background is in the technical and design side of making websites, our skills fit perfectly. Basically, we get to be ourselves, have really passionate sexual experiences and have our creative passion project be our jobs.
Why was it important to you to show people the softer side of pornography?
I don’t know if I’d necessarily even call it the softer side, more like the beautiful side. The mainstream idea of porn is very rough and generally takes for granted that the scales will always be tipped in favour of male pleasure and the male gaze. Even with the type of porn we make, which is centered around a typically male-oriented act, showing that giving pleasure can be arousing and can be a valid choice for a strong woman… Well, that’s a very important thing.
Tell me about starting your own business, from the beginning.
I’m a coder and I was making mainstream sites for others up until about 2005, but when a big contract fell through, I had it with flakey people and decided to follow my bliss. My long-term boyfriend and I had already been playing around with erotic photography in our private life, since he has a background in fine art and film, and we knew that we’d be happy doing that. It takes a lot to put a business together and make it profitable, so we had to work very hard to get it off the ground, but we were up for the challenge because we really wanted to do something different in porn. It’s a real leap to decide to get naked online. Once you do it, it feels like there’s no going back, but it’s a risk I’m glad I took.
Do you work exclusively with your boyfriend?
I do. I don’t want this to be about me performing sex with just anyone. I want it to be about my deep and genuine connection with my long-term partner. We have included a few shoots with special women over the years, because that is a side of myself that we enjoy from time to time in our personal life, but only with the right person. At the core, though, it’s almost exclusively just about the two of us.
What are some challenges you face as a business owner?
It’s quite a juggling act to go from blogging to social media to affiliate management to coding to focusing on business development. Sometimes I find myself getting stuck focusing on just one thing, so I need to work hard to finish everything I need to get done in a day.
How do you get people to pay for your product when so much adult content is available for free online?
I think it’s about creating something that’s aesthetically beautiful but still real. We focus a lot of the filmmaking and the quality of the photography to make something that feels worth the money, but fundamentally it’s about the personality, the genuine love and the joy of sexuality.
Tell me about the DVD you’re releasing with LFP. How did you come to work with them?
The people at LFP caught wind of the article I wrote for Hustler magazine, checked out the site, and contacted me. It all happened really fast and it was very flattering. We’re doing something very different and it’s incredibly encouraging to see that such an iconic mainstream company is willing to support us and share what we do.
Have you ever considered leaving Montreal for Los Angeles?
Definitely not, because this is just about our private sex lives and we produce everything in house — literally. We’re happy to shoot in our own home without anyone else in the room. It preserves the intimacy. L.A. would be the polar opposite. Besides, Canada is my home!
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Next week the Business of X-Rated series will look at the 2012 Feminist Porn Awards (April 18 -20) by chatting with adult film producer Nenna Joiner, who is helping to transform her community.
Elizabeth Hames is on Twitter. Follow her @elizabethhames
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