However, I was contacted by one of the exhibitors, Digital Playground. They were interested in having me do a few interviews with their “talent.” To make it more convenient for me to do so, they offered to get me a press press to AEE. I told them that my journalistic interests ran more towards computers than adult films. They didn’t mind. They assured me that there would be a “techie” angle, including news of a forthcoming iPhone app. What the hell. I agreed. It figured it could be fun.
Interviewing a porn star might show up somewhere on my list of 1001-things-I-would-like-to-do-before-I-die, but I would have given it very low odds of ever happening. Appropriately enough, here in Las Vegas, I beat the odds.
Before arriving at AEE, I did a bit of background research. First stop: Digital Playground’s Web site. In most ways, it seems little different than the dozens of other competing sites on the Web — a bit classier in design perhaps but otherwise much the same. However, beyond the collection of pornographic photos and videos that these sites all offer, Digital Playground aspires to deliver something that is a step up: more polished, bigger budget feature-length films. These films have apparently been quite successful (Teachers, the company’s most recent major release, is currently in the top 5 of AVN’s Overall Sales list). Two of their films (Pirates and Pirates 2) became so popular that Digital Playground created less-explicit R-rated versions of them — so that they might be seen by a wider audience.
[I have not seen any version of the Pirates films, but it’s hard to imagine that there is much left to see after the graphic sex scenes are deleted. These scenes, after all, are the main point of the films. I know this, because in the interest of being informed, I did watch Teachers. The plot is minimal to non-existent and the acting ranges from decent to poor. For my taste, the sex scenes go on far too long and are too graphic. I don’t say this because I was offended by them. But because they lost any erotic value for me long before they were over. I kept wanting them to move on to the next scene already. I guess I am not their target audience.]
The higher quality production values of films such as Teachers are evident. You can tell that Teachers took considerable time, money and technical talent to produce. As another example, for their next “big budget” film (Fly Girls), Digital Playground did location shooting in an airplane interior, rather than using a cheap studio mock-up (as would be more typical for such films). Still, in the end, these are pornographic films; no one would confuse them with even the raunchiest R-rated movies coming out of Hollywood.
Digital Playground lists about a half dozen women as “contract stars.” There is a certain cachet within the industry associated with this exclusivity status. For Digital Playground, these are the women who star in the company’s big-budget films, as opposed to the much larger stable of women who appear in these and all their other videos.
Figure: Digital Playground’s booth at AEE, showing several press interviews in progress.
With this novice’s understanding of the porn business now under my belt, I showed up at Digital Playground’s AEE booth, ready to do my interviews. Aside from the women walking around in revealing outfits and the posters in the background, the atmosphere here was surprisingly ordinary. All the people I talked to were friendly, in a subdued business-like way — without any hint as to what the business actually was (see photo above).
Joone and Jesse Jane
I first sat down to interview Joone, the owner of Digital Playground (his full name is Ali Joone, but he prefers to go with just the single name). He told me about the company’s forthcoming $1.99 Jesse Jane iPhone app. Jesse (see photo below) is currently Digital Playground’s most well-known contract star. The app has already been approved by Apple and should be available soon. Given all the hassles with Apple’s approval process, especially for anything the least controversial, I was a bit surprised. Joone explained that there is no nudity in the app, just Jesse in swimsuits and such. What makes this app different from the other “sexy” iPhone apps already in the Store is its “interactive” feature: you can insert a photograph of yourself into a scene with Jesse Jane — making it appear as if you were actually with her at the time of the shoot. Joone didn’t have a demo to show me, so that’s all I can say about it for now (to see a video of Jesse talking about this iPhone app, click here).
Figure: Jesse Jane, the porn star featured in Digital Playground’s forthcoming iPhone app.
Regarding the tame nature of the app, Joone added that, if you want more graphic images, you can always visit their Web site — a site that has been fully-optimized for the iPhone, with special features such as menus at the top and bottom of the screen that remain stationary while you scroll through the content in the center.
Given the hoopla surrounding 3D televisions over at CES, I asked Joone if he was looking ahead to this market. He certainly was. In fact, they are already shooting films in 3D. However, they won’t be released until after 3D televisions are more generally available for sale. As is typically the case with adult entertainment, Digital Playground intends to be at the bleeding edge of this latest technological innovation.
Raven Alexis
My other interview was with Digital Playground’s newest contract “porn star” Raven Alexis — featured in No Love Lost and the upcoming Fly Girls. Digital Playground wanted me to talk with her because she was their “techie” star. Raven told me that this meant she was skilled in Web design and HTML coding. Raven said she had done all the work behind her two personal Web sites (ravensplayhouse.com and ravenalexis.com).
Where did she learn how to do all of this Web stuff? It started six years ago, when she was a pre-law student at Boise State University. While playing in World of Warcraft tournaments there, she became friends with a group of players who taught her the beginnings of Web skills. She took off on her own after that.
But how did this lead to where she is today, making movies for Digital Playground? This began with a photographer friend who asked if she would do a photo shoot. She agreed. She found herself “empowered” by the act of posing naked in front of a camera and having other people eager to see the results. Eventually, she decided to abandon her law career goals in favor of one in the world of adult films. It was she who contacted Digital Playground about the possibility of contract job. She chose them specifically because, after looking around, she felt that Digital Playground was the best of the companies out there. They hired her and the rest, as they say, is history.
Figure: Raven Alexis, Digital Playground’s contract star and Web expert.
Sitting across from Raven, who was one of the more conservatively dressed woman present at the booth that day (see photo above), and discussing HTML coding — it was hard to imagine that this is the same woman, looking quite different, who performs oral sex and engages in sexual intercourse in her pornographic videos. A bit of a surreal experience; one I will not soon forget.
The rest of AEE
While at AEE, I briefly walked around the rest of the Expo. Just so you know: none of the women at any of the booths were topless or bottomless. Apparently, the law prohibits this. A few came very close to crossing this line, but none actually did so. The Expo consisted primarily of several booths from the makers of adult films (such as Digital Playground), where attendees lined up for a chance to meet and have a photo taken with their favorite porn star. Beyond that, there was a booth showing sex dolls (from the company who made the doll featured in Lars and the Real Girl), another with an animatronic sex robot (which looked not at all life-like to me), and an assortment of booths featuring sex toys of every imaginable variety (as well as a few that might be beyond your imagination).
On a humorous note, the Expo opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by porn star Bree Olson. She had a bit of unexpected trouble cutting the ribbon (as seen in this video).