Good Vibrations Magazine

Last month I was blog-hopping along and linked my way onto www.redhandedporn.com, a pay site where you have access to six episodes a month showing six different performers masturbating away! Instantly I sensed how unique this pay-for-porn site was from many of the others I’d stumbled upon and wanted to know more.

Since May is Masturbation Month AND we are a sponsor of the Center for Sex and Culture’s Masturbate-a-Thon, I though it would be entirely appropriate to delve a little deeper into this site and the woman who founded it.

Introducing Boots Boccaleone!!

How long has www.redhandedporn.com been active? How did you come up with the concept? Were you involved in the adult industry before redhandedporn?

Red Handed Porn is the first project of The Good Porn Company. We started production and programming about two years ago, but didn’t open the site for business until mid-January of this year. We started making porn because we wanted to see real people having real sex. We veered towards masturbation because we wanted to give these real exhibitionists a way to participate in porn without risking sexual disease. Since then, the site has been evolving on its own. Our performers and volunteer staff have stretched and reformed any notions I had about masturbation through their amazing creative efforts. I am regularly surprised during the course of shooting, and I like it that way.

When did you first start watching porn? Do you have a favorite movie? Performer?

Well … I was 35, 2 years ago. I never watched porn until I started making it. I really find anorexic women and fake tits unattractive. Put those two characteristics together and my silicone cock just wilts with disappointment. I didn’t invest much energy into seeking what might be available until I accidentally happened into this career. I don’t yet have favorite performers or movie because I am still pretty uneducated about the industry. Sometimes I think this is a huge hindrance to making a profitable porn website, and sometimes I think my ignorance allows me to make more entertaining porn because I am not saddled with all the expectations of the industry.

I read on your site that you used to work as an mechanical engineer – how did you get from there to running a porn site?

Really, my first and only job in mechanical engineering was working on the largest particle accelerator in the world … really! I loved the work, but I hated the way my co-workers treated me. Between the physicists, engineers and tech guys, women and people of color were scarce and usually someone’s administrative assistant. My co-workers were visibly uncomfortable, unsure how to proceed now that the boy’s club also contained a woman. There were other genuinely well-meaning guys who were stunned and fascinated about having a woman in their midst. I really didn’t want that attention either, I just wanted to be a competent person doing a job. I started engineering because of a passion for green transportation. I started to get pretty distressed about the sexism as soon as I started working. I decided I was going to have to find a job where I would be the only engineer.

So, I looked on craigslist and the first job I saw fitting the bill was for fuckingmachines.com. They wanted an engineer to design better machines for their models to use in shoots. I spent a couple weeks thinking it over and trying to decide if I wanted to be involved in the porn industry. A lot of my friends had subscribed to kink.com sites or had been at kinky events in their space. So, I sent them my resume. When I showed up for the interview the job description had changed and they were now looking for a director/engineer. It sounded like fun, so I decided to give it a try. Really quickly I realized there was stuff I appreciated about their porn, and stuff that I thought could be better. When they decided not to hire me, I really wanted to take a stab at making the kind of porn that would appeal to me.

Why focus on masturbation? What do you feel is special about watching people masturbate as opposed to watching two people have sex?

The thing that I find hottest in sex is watching someone get really turned on and come. When you watch someone masturbating you get to see what truly gets them off. They don’t have to compromise for their partner, and we work hard to avoid their pandering for our cameras.

I think too there is an education value in what we do since we document people’s masturbatory fantasies. I find myself surprised by both similarities and differences to the ways I have masturbated or seen partner’s masturbate.

Redhandedporn features a lot of performers who are not usually represented in mainstream porn – trans, genderqueers, larger bodies, people of color. Can you talk about finding people willing to filmed? Do you seek out diverse representations?

Initially we had a really hard time finding performers. I think it is a hard thing to trust a stranger with your body and sexual representation. Providing a truly good time for performers has been a mandate from the beginning, and word quickly spread amongst exhibitionists that we were a respectful venue for pornographic work.

Sexy is really a skill. It isn’t about your equipment; it is about what you do. There are huge numbers of people who are amazingly sexy and exhibitionists too who fall outside the typical porn look. They are looking for an outlet and we are looking for them. It is a perfect match.

I do think about the diversity of our performers. We release six episodes a month, and it is my hope that at least four of them will be really hot for any given person. Tastes are so diverse that we really have to be broad in our scope. I also hope that all of our work will be entertaining. We feature expansive and candid interviews at the beginning of each episode. They are the types of glimpses into a person’s sexual history that are rarely heard outside of bed. I think that adds value to our site.

Did you ever direct mainstream movies? What was your training or was it all DIY?

I have never participated in mainstream production or post. I learned those skills in the early 90’s when I got involved with San Francisco’s cable access channel. I did a wide variety of positions as a floater before I worked with some friends to produce a show of our own focused on youth activism. It was embarrassingly enough called “Hellavision”, and was sponsored by some young and local communists. San Francisco supervisor Chris Daly was one of our producers. We dissolved in strife over the role of art in activism right about the time that a cable company was interested in running our shows to a greater audience.

My first degree is in fine art, painting. I spent years and years self-employed as a graphic designer before I started doing engineering and programming. Red Handed Porn has been a project where I have been able to combine all my skills … except engineering.

DIY sites with adult content are popping up all over the website. What sets redhandedporn and other DIY sites apart from the mainstream porn producers and culture?

It isn’t just adult sites that are popping up. News, entertainment, video, blogs and other interesting sites are popping up over the internet, and they have huge attendances. Audiences are moving away from TV and movies towards these more genuine and original forms of expression. It is a new fresh take. Alternative porn offers these same things to the hackneyed porn industry.

How is the site doing? What kind of response are you getting from the media?

Well we have only been in business for four months. April the site got enough members that we are covering our basic costs. That was a milestone. Hopefully sometime soon, I can start pulling a salary too.

I don’t know if our site will ever be a huge or even medium sized. The thing about alternative media is that it stands beside the mainstream, providing options. It doesn’t really take over for the mainstream. Also, the deeper I get into porn the more I am sensing that shame and exploitation is integral to the experience of porn. Most porn consumers don’t want sex-positive representations.

My goal isn’t to be a millionaire though. I have lots of ideas for new porn sites and what I would like from Red Handed Porn is enough thriving that we can continue and expand.

So you are a co-sponsor of the Masturbate-a-thon. Is this your first time being involved with the Center for Sex and Culture? The Masturbate-a-thon?

Yes, this is our first time working with the Masturbate-a-thon and the Center for Sex And Culture. So far so good. I am hoping that the CSC will get the money it desperately needs from this event.

Thanks Boots! It was great getting to know you and hopefully we’ll see you again real soon!