Porntrepreneur Joanna Angel, and her rock n’ roll take on adult entertainment, Burningangel.com, is white hot, but is she stoked enough to get keep our credit cards logged in even when we can’t pay for cable? What’s a porn-hungry consumer to do while shut in with swine-flu paranoia and a pile of unpaid bills? I stalked — I mean interviewed — Ms. Angel and asked her how porn is weathering the recession shit storm.
Flavorpill: How’s business?
Joanna Angel: Thankfully, business is doing OK. My company is making more money now than it ever has before. However, it is frustrating to know that we probably could be doing three times as well if the economy was in better shape.
FP: What have you been hearing through the grapevine regarding the state of the porn industry? How are things say at the strip clubs right now?
JA: Here is my educated opinion. From what I understand, strip clubs aren’t as busy as they used to be. If you are a feature dancer, like myself, and have a built-in fanbase, your fans will still come see you dance in their town. In the past when the economy was better, a feature dancer could come to a club, and fans would most likely spend money on some of the house dancers while waiting for the feature dancer to perform, whereas now the fans will probably just to come see their favorite porn star and leave.
FP: How’s the burlesque scene doing?
JA: Burlesque dancers usually get paid a flat fee for performing for the evening, so I don’t know how affected they are. I would imagine some of them are just getting less bookings than they used to, but the Burlesque dancers I know have day jobs doing something else and doing the shows are more of a fun hobby than anything else.
FP: What about escort services?
JA: From what I hear, it’s a pretty terrible time to [be an] escort. It offends me that people assume porn and escort agencies are recession proof. That implies that you think of sex as an evil addiction, and not something FUN. Porn is not heroin. People are not going to buy porno instead of buying food. In a bad economy, when someone is trying to budget their money, porn is going to be one of the first things to go, because it really is a form of entertainment and so are escorts.
FP: Are adult entertainers being asked to do “more” than they may be comfortable with since times are so tight?
JA: It costs more money for girls to do “more” so actually it’s the opposite. People don’t have the kind of money to throw around right now to say, “Hey I will give you an extra $500 to do anal today if you want.” In fact I was budgeting out a movie last night, and the first thing I did to cut corners in the movie was to take out the anal scenes and make them just regular boy/girl scenes.
FP: Are there more newbies entering the adult entertainment world trying to make what they think is an easy buck?
JA: I definitely get more model applications now than I ever did. I think this partly has to do with the recession, and partly just because porn has gotten a lot more mainstream than it’s ever been.
FW: Is competition between talent getting more intense right now?
JA: Competition amongst talent has always been intense. I don’t think it has gotten any worse.
FP: What do you think the next big thing will be for adult entertainment media?
JA: I think everyone is kind of going through the same thing now, music, print magazines, porn. I mean, there has to be some kind of magical answer to solve the mystery of how to get people to pay for your product when you can find something very similar to it in so many other places on the Internet for free.
FP: Any hot new talent we should keep an eye on?
JA: Hmmm… Well we have a new girl on Burningangel.com named Andy San Dimas who is super hot and everyone really likes. Also Misti Dawn, Jessie Lee, and Draven.
FP: What’s next for Burningangel.com?
JA: Well, if you join BurningAngel.com you can now get access to [7 additional] Web sites: Joannaangel.com, Heavymetalpussyparty.com, Fuckmeinthebathroom.com, Altpornsucks.com, Bigboobsarecool.com, Povpunx.com, and Cumonmytattoo.com. All those super awesome websites for $20 is a great deal!
FP: I am so there.