What does it mean to produce ethical porn? Or to produce porn ethically?
For many, the crux of ethical porn is what appears on the screen. It's a reaction to the traditional, dominant mode of porn, with highly conventional standards of attractiveness, highly male-centered and heteronormative sex, and a structure so traditional that it mades Kabuki seem improvised. (And that's the kind of porn I make.)
I disagree with that as a definition of "ethical" porn, because it puts the focus on the product rather than the method of production. I prefer to call productions that are pushing the boundaries of what porn can be progressive rather than ethical. There's no reason a company cannot be both progressive and ethical (most progressive porn companies are also ethical as a part of their credo), but they are separate things. A lot of porn production companies, sadly, are neither.
This is a summary of what needs to happen for a porn production to be considered ethical. It has nothing to do with what ends up on the screen; porn is a fantasy, an alternate reality, and not every alternate reality is a progressive one.
But no matter what ends up on the screen, what happens on-set can be ethical, or not. Here's what it means when it is ethical.
Summary
- Pay people fairly, and on time.
- No surprises.
- Treat people decently.
Pay people fairly, and on time.
Pay people fairly. Mainstream porn has established pay guidelines. An ethical company needs to pay people about this much. For example, I typically pay:
- For a female performer, $800 to $1,200 for a single sex scene, including the rest of the day for non-sex performance.
- For a male performer, $500 to $600 likewise.
That's as close to a standard union rate as exists in the porn business. If a company is paying less than that, they are pushing the edge of ethics.
I'm very uncomfortable with any company paying significantly below those rates. I'm especially uncomfortable with the idea that niche, progressive, or feminist porn can pay people less because they are niche, progressive, or feminist. Those are good causes that I completely support, but a good cause does not pay rent.
As a personal decision, I don't negotiate down the rate for performers. If I can't afford someone, I can't afford them, but I don't want the first thing that a performer thinks walking on set to be, "Oh, look, it's the guy who pushed me down $200 on my rate." Negotiation over rate isn't automatically unethical (as long as it is done up front, not on set), but it's worth it to me to start off without that extra bit of tension.
Pay on time. The performer needs to walk away from the shoot with a check. One of the jobs of a producer is to make sure the money is there before everyone show sup; if you can't pay people immediately, you can't afford to make the movie.
Never, ever pay people "when you get money from the movie"; the performers are not a bank to loan a producer their production cost.
Sometimes, larger companies need to handle performers as employees, and cut checks later. Do so very promptly, as in within a week.
And, it should go without saying, never bounce a check. Ever.
Agree on rate before the shoot. Make sure that there is a clear understanding of how much the performer is going to be paid, and stick to that. No one should ever walk onto set only to discover that they are only getting $900 when they thought they were getting $1,200.
No surprises.
No surprises as to who the talent will be working with. Talent should always know who their co-stars will be, well before the shoot. Last minute changes sometimes happen, but they should only happen because of real problems, and the other talent needs to know as soon as possible. Some performers have "no" lists, and those have to be respected.
No surprises what the shoot will involve. Both the kind of day it will be (a lot of dialogue, just straight to the sex), and the kind of sex (girl/girl, anal, whatever) needs to be communicated to the talent well in advance. No one should be surprised as to what they are expected to do.
Respect limits. If a performer doesn't want to do something, that should be the end of the conversation. Everyone has limits: respect them. This is especially important in BSDM porn; make sure that everyone knows how to do whatever is being done safely.
14 day tests. At this stage in the business, everyone involved in a sex scene should have a valid STD test, from an industry-standard laboratory, no more than 14 days old.
Treat people decently.
This is more than just not yelling at people (although that's painfully common in porn). Porn performers are professional athletes; treat them like professionals.
Have decent craft service. I'm amazed how many producers either don't feed their cast and crew at all, or have something stupid (a bag of chips). Performers work hard; have decent, healthy food for them. I spend about $175 per day on craft service for 2-5 cast members and 4-5 crew members (including me), and that goes a huge way towards good will on set.
It's not hard to ask in advance what people eat, and if they have any dietary issues to be accommodated (Los Angeles is, after all, ground zero for food tripping).
Give people breaks. If you are shooting a movie with lighting changes and location setups, this may happen naturally, but be sure everyone is getting a little bit of downtime to check their phones, take a stretch, and stay fed and hydrated.
Have worker's compensation insurance. Movie sets are dangerous places, and people can get hurt. If someone gets hurt on set, it's up to you, the producer, to make it right, both legally and ethically. I carry worker's compensation insurance from State Fund for all of my cast, crew, and employees. If you do not do this, you are both being stupid from a business point of view, and not really running an ethical company.
Towards ethical porn.
It's not hard to shoot porn ethically (although it is more expensive). It's time the industry started taking ethics seriously, and the place to start is in how the people who make the porn are treated.