With directors like queer alt princess Courtney Trouble, kinky feminist pioneer Madison Young, creative photographer/filmmaker extraordinaire Carlos Batts (and his muse April Flores), GV’s very own sexologist Dr. Carol Queen Ph.D leading a sex ed series, and many more to come… well, let’s just say they’ll be a lot of good releases coming to a video store near you!

Here’s the official press release:

Press Release

MEDIA CONTACT: Andrea Burnett
(650) 207 – 0917
andreab@goodvibes.com
www.goodvibes.com

GOOD VIBRATIONS LAUNCHES NEW VIDEO PRODUCTION COMPANY

“Good Releasing” to Produce 20 Films by 2010

SAN FRANCISCO (SEPTEMBER 18, 2009): Good Releasing (www.goodreleasing.com), the new sister company to the legendary San Francisco-based retailer, Good Vibrations (www.goodvibes.com), is proud to announce their new video production lines, “Reel Queer Productions,” “HeartCore Productions” and the “PleasureEd Series.”

Headed up by Producer Coyote Days, who was recently named one of the “40 under 40” by AVN, Good Releasing will bring relevant, intelligent titles to inspire and enhance one’s sex life and sexual health. The company will provide authentic, edgy, adult movies as well as explicit educational films. They will support established and emerging independent artists, creating diverse content to fill niches in the industry while presenting under-represented erotic realities.

Good Releasing is currently comprised of three individual lines:

Reel Queer Productions documents authentic, edgy, queer sex and culture featuring established and emerging independent artists and under-represented erotic realities. Filling a niche in the industry, these titles are relevant, intelligent and inclusive of the many sexualities that identify as queer.

HeartCore Films offer artistic alternatives to formulaic features with films by independent artists with fresh, diverse content.

The PleasureEd Series is a collection of sexually explicit educational films. These titles are hosted by Good Vibrations’ staff sexologist and noted expert/author, Dr. Carol Queen. Ph.D.  Queen recently received an Outstanding Achievement Award from AVN, recognizing the person who has most positively contributed to the pleasure product industry.  The PleasureEd films include information from recognized sex experts, as well as personal experiences from real people. In addition to instruction, authentic pleasure is depicted to inspire and enhance viewer’s sexual exploration.

Says Good Vibrations’ COO, Jackie Strano, “Good Releasing’s titles showcase authentic and hot adult entertainment full of helpful information, lustful and unabashed sexualities, unapologetic desire, genuine pleasure, and screen burning chemistry.” 

The first titles to be released are:

Reel Queer Productions:

Roulette (June 2009)

Nostalgia (August 2009)

Speakeasy (September 2009)

Queer Manor (October 2009)

Seven Minutes in Heaven (October 2009)

Fluid (working title) (November 2009)

Roulette: Dirty South (November 2009)

Fluid 2 (working title) (December 2009)

Runaways (working title) (December 2009)

Roulette: Berlin (December 2009)

HeartCore Films:

Glamazons (September 2009)

Behind the Red Door (October 2009)

Frisk Me (October 2009)

Mandy Candy (November 2009)

Damn Spot (working title) (November 2009)

Thin Line Between Art & Sex (working title) (December 2009)

PleasureEd Series:

Going Down: The Official Guide to Fellatio (November 2009)

Going Down: The Official Guide to Cunnilingus (November 2009)

Back Door: The Official Guide to Anal Sex (December 2009)

Gush: The Official Guide to G-Spot Sex (December 2009)

Adds Strano, “We have launched Good Releasing with a very aggressive goal. Our plan is to release 20 films by the end of this year. Our films will offer viewers a unique selection of wide-ranging topics that provide open-minded information for a diverse audience, with special emphasis placed on mutual respect, enthusiastic participation and pleasure.”

Says Coyote Days, “We are working with the very best contemporary and cutting edge artists and filmmakers to direct our films. Courtney Trouble, Madison Young and Carlos Batts will be directing the first eight films and we are in conversation with Kimberly Kane and Morty Diamond for future productions. April Flores, Jiz Lee, Kimberly Kane, Syd Blakovich and Lorelei Lee are just a few of our featured performers. We are elated to be able to launch this new generation of films and provide something very unique to our customers.”

About Good Releasing

Established in 2008, Good Releasing offers various lines of adult titles and educational films and represents independent artists creating authentic and diverse content. Lines include PleasureEd, Reel Queer Productions and HeartCore Productions. Visit www.goodreleasing.com for more information.

About Good Vibrations

Good Vibrations is the San Francisco-based retailer trusted for more than three decades to provide a comfortable, safe environment for finding sex-positive products and educational materials to enhance one’s sex life. Good Vibrations offers products through its website (www.goodvibes.com) and retail stores. Good Vibrations is the recipient of the 2009 Outstanding Online Retailer Award from AVN.

Good Releasing Contact Information:

Media: Andrea Burnett

andreab@goodvibes.com

Retail Orders: Jamie Martin
jamie@goodreleasing.com

Production: Coyote Days
coyote@goodreleasing.com

###

Narcissister’s Hot Lunch. Photo: Tony Stamolis

Narcissister

What was the inspiration for your film?
I do a great deal of visual research at the Picture Collection in the Public Library in Mid-Manhattan. During one session, I found a 70’s era photo montage in the Erotic folder of photograph of a naked woman collaged into a photograph of a hot dog bun. The artist had also squirted red and yellow paint onto the image. The image struck me in diverse ways–the eroticism, the gross-ness, the rough technique, the offensiveness.

At this time I had also been looking at the paintings of Mel Ramos and was also interested in his concept of presenting women as consumable objects so blatantly. I am also interested in the theories behind Margaret Atwood’s “The Edible Woman,” although I am only vaguely acquainted with them.

Finally, I really love that song “Hot Lunch” from the Fame soundtrack. I heard it when I was out dancing one night and was emboldened to finally make this piece I had been thinking about.

What did you hope to accomplish with it?
A new depiction of the concepts described above but from a woman’s perspective. As with all my Narcissister projects, my goal is to create accessible, entertaining work that has strong aesthetics and is layered with deep meaning and resonance, especially for women.

What makes your film erotic?
The physicality, the subject matter, the forms, the fluids, the oddness of it.

Why do you think a festival like this is important?
Eroticism is empowering! Any opportunity to “lift the veil” of shame and secrecy and to broaden the common definition of what is erotic is essential.

Thank you and best of luck to Narcissister , who’s film will be premiere at the Good Vibrations Indie Erotic Film Fest competition screening at the Castro Theatre on September 17th (for more details and tickets, visit gv-ixff.org). More about Narcissister can be found at narcissister.com.

What’s more, Dark Garden — who makes amazing corsets — will be there with models ON PEDESTALS at the pre-screening cocktail party. So come to the Center for Sex & Culture in San Francisco! See you there. : )

Check out the trailer (click “trailer”) and other information at bdsmdocumentary.com.

Here’s more info about the event, from gv-ixff.org:

BDSM – It’s Not What You Think! screening, DVD release and Q&A with the film’s participants and producer Erin Palmquist

Tuesday, September 15th

Enter the world of BDSM from the inside with this special screening with documentary filmmaker Erin Palmquist, creator of BDSM: It’s Not What You Think! at the Center for Sex and Culture. Admire the fine fashions of Dark Garden corsetry as models perch on pedestals at the pre-screening cocktail party. Director Q&A to follow the screening, hosted by Dr. Carol Queen, Ph.D.

PLUS! Fantastic raffle!  See details on event page!

When: Tuesday, September 15th
Time: 7:30 pm
Cost: $10
Where: Center for Sex and Culture
1519 Mission Street between 11th and South Van Ness, San Francisco, CA
sexandculture.org

www.BDSMdocumentary.com

darkgarden.com

GV: How did you find out about Good Vibrations Independent Erotic Film Festival?
Allegra: When making a film where good vibes products were heavily featured we joked about getting Good Vibes to “sponsor” us. When I saw a flier for the fest I was delighted.

GV: Is this your first film? If not, what have you directed/produced, and how do they differ from your festival submission?
Allegra: This is Allegra Hirschman’s Directorial Debut, but Co-director April Hirschman has directed several other popular shorts. Shady Bi, a short spoof on advisory warnings told of the the “dangers” of bisexuals to jeopardize the tentative bonds of monosexuals (straights and gays) to get along. Shafted is different because it is character driven while still being campy and fun.

GV: What do you hope audiences will get from your work?
Allegra: We hope audiences come away with a smile on their faces as well as a little food for thought. Our film is meant to humorously poke fun at the conformity of some elements the gay rights movement that has directed its efforts in representing gays as “just like everyone else” often leaving certain groups behind. A custody battle over sex toys is a scenario that serves as a reminder that queers are still a sexual minority group and some of us are not willing to give up the sexual elements of our identities for some pottery barn sponsored brand of cookie cutter inclusion in mainstream culture.

GV: Who are your stars, and how did you meet them/invite them to participate?
Allegra: Shafted is cast and crewed entirely by our closest friend and loved ones. We are fortunate that they happen to be amazingly talented, very sexy, and willing to work for home cooked food. Also, one of our dear friends, Princess Donna, is a famous porn star.

GV: Were there any funny or unexpected moments while filming?
Allegra: Filmmaking consists almost entirely of unexpected moments when you are starting out. Everyone donating their sex toys to the project and then retrieving them lead to unexpected hilarity.

GV: What are your experiences at our stores and products?
Allegra: I have always loved Good Vibes and have had many dear friends work there.

Thank you and best of luck to Allegra, who’s film will be screened at the Good Vibrations Indie Erotic Film Fest competition screening at the Castro Theatre on September 17th (for more details and tickets, visit gv-ixff.org).

About Cam Shot, by Éric Falardeau:
Cam Shot (2008, 4 min.) is a black and white erotic and fetishist film. I wanted to pay a tribute to the amazingly gorgeous women in expressionist film. Therefore, it is a visual essay about lighting, contrast, texture, and make-up. It was filmed in front of a black velvet backdrop with a single spot on the actress (a Lowell 500W). She has dark and white make-up over her whole body so the contrasts are really visible. I think the ratio is almost 16 to1!!! I almost exclusively shoot my projects on Super 8 mm film for two reasons. First, it gives a ‘’professional’’ look to the film simply because the viewer’s eyes are used to watching real film in theatre and they associate video with TV and documentary.

When shooting Cam Shot, I decided to use Kodak Tri-X black and white reversal film 7266. I wanted high contrasts: deep black and high white. This film stock enabled us to shoot with low lights while getting all the sharpness, fine grain and details needed to achieve the look wanted.

For Cam Shot, I asked the laboratory – Exclusive Film Lab in Toronto – to push the film one-stop to heighten the contrasts between black and white. It was easier and more effective than using a red filter. It really darkened the black and blast the white, thus giving the film is high contrast, expressionist and fetishistic visual. It gives the leather costume and body make-up more texture, reflectance and visual impact. We also shot the film at 18fps to give the shot an inner little slow motion effect. It adds to the film’s sensual and erotic aspects.

GV: How did you find out about Good Vibrations Independent Erotic Film Festival?
Éric: I’m living in Montreal. I did my master thesis at the university on porn film, so I knew
the Good Vibrations shop’s website from the research I made at that time. After I made
Cam Shot, I was looking for great erotic art films’ festivals and remembered reading
something about the GVIXFF on there website. I decided to bite the bullet and gave it a try!

GV: Is this your first film? Did making an erotic film come out like you anticipated?
Éric: In fact, it is my fourth film. But it is my first erotic film. I was really proud of how it
turned out, but I owned a lot of it to make up artist Véronique Dumas and actress Cyan D.

GV: What do you hope audiences will get from your work?
Éric: I just hope that people will have a lot of fun watching Cam Shot because it is a little silly
movie. I made it for the pure pleasure of watching black and white film. And as a weird
homage to the climax of Behind the Green Door!

GV: Were there any funny or unexpected moments while filming?
Éric: Yeah, doing the close-ups from under the breasts was kind of weird for me and the actress. Also, we laugh a lot because the actress had a hard time removing the paint used
for her body painting. I think it took her a week or so.

GV: What is your favorite sex toy to use in a film?
Éric: Film itself!

GV: What advice would you give to first-time erotic filmmakers, or filmmakers in general?
Éric: Inspiration is everywhere! First thing of all, I think that one must read a lot to find inspiration. Books are a good guideline for plots’ structure and storytelling’s devices when one writes his script. As a DOP I tried to look closely at how light is worked in paintings and photos. Of course, as a director I want to see as much films as possible! A writer reads books to write better and a filmmaker watches films to make better ones. The bad ones are sometime the best to learn from to see what not to do or just find good, badly or unused ideas.

GV: How does the film you submitted reflect your views on sex, and was there anything you learned in the process of making the film?
Éric: Sex is a playful thing. It has to be fun. People take sex too seriously. I think my film is about that. Please, be silly!

GV: What projects are you working on now/next?
Éric: I’ve just finished my new short, Le Cycle (The Cycle). It will have its premiere in Spain
in November. I’m also raising funds for my next short film, a stop motion animated film
entitled Crépuscule (Dawn). It will be shot in HD for a subsequent 35 mm blow-up. I’m
looking for ways to fund my first feature length film, Thanatomorphose, which I want to
shoot in 16 mm or Super 16 mm. Both are art-house horror films. The first one is more
fantastic and mythological while the second has a realistic plot and setting. When will
they be done? It all depends on funding!!!! But one thing is sure, I’ll make them
whenever happen. If there’s anyone out there interested…

Thank you and best of luck to Éric, who’s film will be premiere at the Good Vibrations Indie Erotic Film Fest competition screening at the Castro Theatre on September 17th (for more details and tickets, visit gv-ixff.org).

FREE!

Friday, March 13th IXFF Exposure party @ the Center for Sex and Culture (CSC)

Lights, camera, action! On behalf of our Independent Erotic Film Festival 2009 (IXFF 09), Good Vibrations invites you to the erotic film networking event of the year. Directors, editors, lighting, talent and more will gather to enjoy a special panel presentation on erotic cinema at the Center for Sex and Culture, featuring Shine Louise Houston of Pink and White Productions, Kent Taylor of Raging Stallion, Carlos Batts and April Flores, Max Royale, and more!

Enjoy complimentary beverages, a live DJ, and a community of film makers.

In addition to seeing your sexy scene on the big screen at the historic Castro Theatre, Good Vibes is also offering a grand prize of $1,500!

Deadline for entry is June 30th. Check out www.gv-ixff.org for more info.

Exposure Party for Independent Erotic Film Festival 2009 (IXFF 09)

When: Friday, March 13th

Time: 7:00 – 10:00 pm
Where: Center for Sex and Culture
1519 Mission Street

San Francisco, CA 94103

http://www.sexandculture.org/

August 16th, at the Castro Theater, Good Vibrations presented the premiere screening of Margaret Cho’s latest film and first narrative feature, “Bam Bam and Celeste” to a packed house. Introduced by special guest emcee, KRON-TV’s Jan Wahl, Margaret Cho appeared on stage after the screening for a Q & A. As a special surprise, the San Francisco Human Rights Commission proclaimed August 16th as Margaret Cho day in San Francisco and representative Cecilia Chung presented Ms. Cho with a plaque.

Watch the GVTV episode!

A call for submissions & a look at the winners from last year!

Good Vibrations, the legendary destination for sex-positive pro A call for submissions & a look at the winners from last year!

Good Vibrations, the legendary destination for sex-positive products, announces The Second Annual Good Vibrations Amateur Erotic Film Competition.

Submit your erotic-themed film to our Amateur Erotica Film Competition and you may end up a star!

Submissions must be 10 minutes or less. All participates in the film must be over 18 (we require a 2257 form), and you must reside in one of the seven major Bay Area counties. Submit your film in mini DV, VHS or DVD format. For all of the official Rules and Regulations visit goodvibes.com.

The top winning entries will be shown on the big screen of the Castro Theatre on October 11, 2007.

The deadline to submit your entry in Store or at our office is September 10, 2007. Mail to: 938 Howard Street, Suite 101, San Francisco, CA 94103, Attention: Camilla, or drop-off at one of our San Francisco Bay Area locations.

*NOTE THIS IS A PAST EVENT SUBMISSION ANNOUNCEMENT. – GV Magazine

The San Francisco International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival — the oldest, biggest, and probably most fabulous queer film festival in the world — has never been shy about showing sexually explicit flicks. And that’s as it should be. Queer people spend more time examining our own sexuality than most other folks; dicks and cunts are an integral part of our figuring out just who we are. So it was gratifying that once again, amidst this year’s murky lesbian mysteries, chirpy gayboy comedies, and the stand-up-and-cheer story of a Thai transvestite volleyball team, the Festival programmed a clutch of crotch-centric shows of the sort that, years ago, lost the Fest its NEA grant.

While past Festivals have often unspooled male-male fuck films, this year’s hottest porn flick was the all-woman Sugar High Glitter City, the latest clit-pic from dyke-a-licious couple Shar Rednour and Jackie Strano. Made by dykes for dykes, SHGC eschewed the soft-focus, airbrushed aesthetic of Playboy’s “lesbian” pictorials in favor of something a lot more down, dirty, and edgy. Women of varying races and body types (though skewing toward the 20s) cavorted in nasty, gritty closeup, provoking moans of appreciation from the women in the sold-out house. To be sure, the form of the film was hardly ground-breaking; the dystopian plot about a society in which sugar is outlawed was just the thinnish pretext for a series of girl-on-girl encounters featuring fisting, dildos, and dominant dyke daddies. Switch the sexes of some of the actors and it would have been just another het porn flick. But SHGC sure did deliver the girl goods, in soaking-wet, orgasm-filled profusion.

Less “pornographic,” but no less graphic, Peter Barbosa’s documentary, Out in the Open, explored gay men’s penchant for public sex, alternating talking-head interviews with hardcore scenes of sex in the bushes, bookstores, and backroom bars. Aiming at both head and hard-on, the film scrupulously presented various viewpoints on monogamy, sluttishness, and the self, all the while treating the packed house to hot shots of glory hole sex.

Then there was The Phantom, the dark tale of a Portugese garbage man (really!). A long way from the saccharine pleasantries of Will and Grace, it featured the star’s big schlong getting blown in loving close-up.

And a documentary called The Pain Game, detailing the considerable talents of Mistress Cleo Dubois, headed up a stimulating late-night program of S/M films, delighting them that’s into whips and chains.

But perhaps the hottest tickets, sexwise, were back-to-back retrospective looks at dirty movies, one for the fags, one for the dykes.

Thomas Waugh, a Canadian professor and the author of Hard to Imagine, guided a theaterful of horny guys on what he called “a rollercoaster ride through eight decades of gay and bi male porn.” And quite a ride it was. While many a queer pornhound has seen what Waugh pointed to as the first above-ground gay male skinflick, The Boys in the Sand, the evening’s real treasures came from way back before the era of Stonewall and the de facto decriminalization of porn. Tracking down rare archival footage, Waugh found totally queer images in early “straight” stag films.

One major astonisher was a French film from the 1920s based on the opera Madame Butterfly. This time around, Butterfly’s faithful maidservant consoled her with cunnilingus, while Lieutenant Pinkerton’s male servant sucked his master’s less-than-faithful dick. Too bad the film was silent; a bit of Puccini would have been perfect. Other putatively straight stag films, such as Piccolo Pete and the strip poker opus A Stiff Game, included a bit of male-male cocksucking as a means, Waugh theorized, of “inoculating” straight male viewers against homo-desires while titillating those whose tastes ran to dick.

Such is the murkiness of smut history that Three Comrades, the earliest all-male stag film Waugh has found, may date from any time between 1928 and the 1950s. Whatever its vintage, the flick’s blurry images of fucking, sucking, and rimming were instantly familiar to the audience of gay guys.

Waugh zoomed through the decades, from the rise of 8 mm, to the rise of commercial aboveground 1970s porn, to the triumph of video, which, Waugh pointed out, turned queer porn “into a domestic masturbation aid rather than a collective community-builder.” Bemoaning the rise of superficial mainstream product featuring “synthetic, self-hating, headless penises,” Waugh noted a recent rise in niche genres and specialty companies, even as rapid globalization has universalized “the Big Mac, the cum shot, and the shaved scrotum.” It was a fascinating trip through gay smut, though the audience groaned whenever the clip stopped short of the cum shot, and several patrons of the arts later complained about the shortage of something more… orgasmic.

The women then had their turn with “Lesbian Porn 101,” a program presented by sex educator Laura Weide. The place was again packed, but then, as one audience member pointed out, “Whenever the Festival shows lesbian porn, it’s standing-room only.”

“How many of you like to watch porn?” Weide asked the audience. Many hands shot up, lots of cheers. “And how many of you have seen a lot of movies you’ve liked?” This time, tellingly, a mere three or four women raised their hands.

Weide did her best to remedy that. While Waugh’s presentation had been chronological and academic, Wiede’s was topic-based, offering a sampler of everything from dildo-packing dyke daddies to a scene of a Survivor-like tribe of tribal dykes practicing “ecstatic breathing.” Like Waugh, Weide extolled authenticity, contrasting amateur and woman-produced porn with the “uninspired Baywatch ripoffs” of the commercial mainstream. “Performing cunnilingus the way it’s shown in most mainstream films will get you kicked out of bed real quick,” she said. And Weide did clarify one previously contentious issue: the distinction between “erotica” and “pornography.” It’s all, she said, in the decor. “If the characters in the movie have good jobs and a kidney-shaped pool,” she said, “it’s erotica. A plaid sofa and ugly shag carpeting equals porn.”

If “Lesbian Porn 101″ was little more than the sum of its (dripping, wide-open private) parts, it was still an exhilarating view of images of queer female sexuality, from the cowgirl loopiness of Hay Fever (according to Weide,”the silliest lesbian porn film ever made”) to a jaw-dropping scene of a butch fucking her bottom with a dildo impaled on her stiletto heel. Every orgasm prompted a delighted cheer from the crowd; a straight-at-you shot of a gushing ejaculation brought down the house. If anything, the women’s program was even sexier than the guys’, and the women went home happy and, one presumes, horny.

For all their strengths and weaknesses, the fuck-based programs in this year San Francisco Festival exemplified its organizers commitment to keep the “sex” in “homosexual.” In the rush to queer assimilation, while we fight to get married in church, enlisted in the army, and let into the Boy Scouts, it’s nice that what goes on below the belt is still foregrounded in the Festival.