About christina Cicchelli Expertise if you are seeking information on how to break into the adult industry, how to use pornography to enhance your sex life, how to find pornography that turns you on, and also how to make a living as an adult performer - then I'm the lady to speak to!
Getting into the adult industry can be easy, but to survive in the industry and find the best direction for yourself in this field is essential. As a former porn actress, I understand the pitfalls and successes that the porn industry has to offer. Pornography is a business, one that is patronized by a majority of us - whether it's by downloading a piece of an adult movie or buying a book by Jenna Jameson. You, too, can become a part of this industry. But, avoiding the mistakes and scams will make it easier for you. Also, knowing the pay rate and how to successfully chart your career will help you stay focused while having fun on set.
For those not interested in getting into porn, you might want to consider how adult films can help your sex life. Maybe you're searching for the right type of smut to satisfy you and/or your lover for a night, or maybe you want to make a private movie of your own. Contact me for help and guidance.
PLEASE DON'T ASK ME ABOUT LEGALITIES, LICENSES, PERMITS, OR ABOUT WHAT YOU LEGALLY NEED TO START YOUR OWN PORN BUSINESS -- i will prove unhelpful. Sorry.
Experience Christina Cicchelli is a "Sexventurer" of sorts; she's spent over five years as a sex worker and has experience in a myriad of industries, including phone sex and professional domination. As a Mistress, she has worked in several NYC Dungeons and also visited devoted clients on an independent basis. As a phone sex operator, she maintained a large amount of callers who sought her guidance, creativity, and experience in fetish and role-play.
Christina is best known for her career as a porn actress. Under the non de plume, Simone Valentino, she's performed in a handful of films. She received an AVN nomination for “Best Actress” for her role in Afrodite Superstar and also won “Best New Starlet” at the Feminist Porn Awards in 2008 for her role in Audacia Ray's The Bi Apple.
Christina is a columnist for $pread Magazine and writes about all things fetish in own blog, A Fantastic Nightmare. She is also Betty Dodson and Carlin Ross’s resident Fetish Blogger on their sex-positive website (Dodsonandross.com) and coaches individuals and couples who seeking kinky inspiration in the bedroom.
Publications $pread Magazine
Dodsonandross.com
A Fantastic Nightmare (My personal blog)
Education/Credentials College of New Rochelle
Graduated May 2007
Degree: English
Awards and Honors 2007: "Best New Starlet" - Feminist Porn Awards
2008: "Best New Actress - AVN Nomination
Past/Present Clients Black Mirror Production
Femmes Productions
Waking Vixen
Porno Jim
Adult Film - Content production vs. Subscription Website
Expert: christina Cicchelli - 9/1/2009
Question QUESTION: Hello Christina,
My wife and I have enjoyed making private amateur sex videos (with consenting adults of legal age) for some time now. We would like to share our talent/art with the world but don't know if it is better to start our own subscription website vs. selling our content to distributors for use on their website. We realize that by doing the later we would only get a one time fee vs. ongoing revenue from subscriptions. But designing, hosting, and maintaining seems like an expensive venture, and we're not sure if in this economic climate if we could be able to get enough subscribers, especially with all the free sites out there. Perhaps we could also make money from affiliate programs but not sure how lucrative that is.
Which path would you suggest for new pornographers?
Do you know of any distributors or websites that purchase new content?
We've spent hours on Google and can't find any.
Thank you
ANSWER: Hello Aries,
In the time of recession, the sex industry is hit hard in all areas and all aspects of the porn business. So, it's a very uneasy climate already (haha). But, if you have time and an extra, stable job, then you should definitely try to build your adult business. Like any person starting their first business, don't expect to see profit right away. Plus you will need to stay committed to your work in order to see profit in the first place. If you think you can handle it, then go for it!
There are definitely pros and cons in either form of content sharing. Consider this:
Your Very Own Paysite:
PROS:
*Creative freedom - You can feature just about anything on your website. It could be phone sex, blog entries, used underwear for sale, essays, books, etc. You can sell yourself in a multitude of ways!
*Set your own pay rate - you can create a subscription program with perks or put a price tag on your content and merch so viewers can purchase at will.
*Complete control over content - You and your wife can provide webcam shows, introduce story plots, have a cast of characters at your disposal. You can even snag some free content as filler
My favorite paysite to use as a reference is tastytrixie.com - she is absolutely incredible. She uses her entrepreneurial skills in a number of ways, from blogs to fun giveaways and so much more.
CONS:
*Must be very considerate of legal forms, model releases, and any other permits you need - If you've already produced movies that you want to use as content, then you need to make model release forms for everyone who performs (including you and your wife). You have to get copies of everyone's identification (Driver's ID or birth certificate) and make sure it's signed and legally notarized so it's official. More information here - http://www.adultchamber.com/page/adult-website-legal-issues.html
*Will need to be web savvy - unless you're familiar with web design and programming then you will need to hire a designer for experience!
*Need to keep your website updated on a daily basis!
*Need to keep in touch with members (answer inquiries, address technical issues, etc)
Sell Your Smut to Distributors:
PROS:
*You only have one client - the Distributor - so you don't have to worry about subscriptions and adult memberships
*Since you don't need a paysite, you can become flexible with how distributors can pay you
*Set your own pay rate!
CONS:
*You still need to set up a professional website that will provide samples and clips of your content - so you may still need to invest in a web designer
*Unlike your paysite, a content provider's job isn't to market themselves as performers. So your creativity is limited.
*Your content needs to be fresh and updated regularly... which means you can't purchase or download content from anywhere else.
*You still have to work about the same forms and permits, since you'll have naked models on your website
No matter your choice, as you can see from the (dis)advantages of either opportunity, you will have to worry about obtaining and keeping 18 usc 2257 forms (documentation that provides age identification for all models), building your website, and finding a way to regulate your pay and keep people coming back to your website.
You can also start an affiliate website, which offers webmasters a chance to use banner/link exchanges to increase traffic to their respective websites. I'm not so sure if this is lucrative; however, you can offer it as an option for either a paysite or content provider program.
A great website to check out is Adult Chamber http://www.adultchamber.com/ - they have excellent resources for the beginning webmaster. They also provide listings for just about everything you need to make your business successful - from adult hosting sites to domain names and more.
Either option requires commitment, time, money, and passion. If you possess all of these factors, I say go for it!
Hope this helps - let me know if you need anything else!
CC
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for the wealth of information.
How much does a typical adult subscription website typically earn? I've had a heck of a time finding stats for this on the web. No research anywhere than I can find.
I contacted some websites and distributors and I could earn anywhere from $200 to $1000 per film depending on whether or not it was exclusive or not. It seems much easier producing and selling content to distibutors rather than marketing your own website for subscriptions.
I think we may start out producing films for resale and go from there. The money is much easier!
I guess the one thing that we like about having our own website with our own exclusive content is that we control the material and who gets access to it, as well as our privacy. We are a little uneasy about sharing our real life ID's and names with distributors all over the web.
Thank you!
Answer Hey there Aries,
The reason why you wouldn't be able to find research is because each webmaster sets their own pay rates and each have their own pay plans for members. Also, smaller, mom-and-pop websites compete with other bigger paysites, so they might have a lower rate to start (but then bulk up the prices of merch - panties, t-shirts, etc). So, as you may have seen before, how much one can make is entirely dependent on you. If you can offer affordable subscription packages, plenty of regularly updated content, and easy access between you and your members, then you can acquire anything from $500 a week and up.
The nature of the business is that you have to provide authentic identification to everyone you work with. If you don't trust the distributor with your real name, then you probably shouldn't work with that distributor anyway. Also, if you noticed, the website to the adult content provider that I mentioned before has an easy checkout service. You might want to work a little closer with your distributors so you know who each of them are. There are a number of ways you can go about this. What you also need to remember that it's very important for distributors to have your information. When they purchase your content, it is required that they receive 18 USC 2257 forms to substantiate that the models on their website (the models that you recorded and photographed) or 18 and over.
If your privacy is valuable to you (more so than the money), then I would suggest starting your own business. However, as you may know, your privacy is already pretty jeopardized by going into the adult business.
Either way - it sounds like the two of you are definitely on the right foot.
