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How the coronavirus pandemic is changing the pornography industry
In an average month, Alex Jett stars in and directs 15 to 20 sex scenes for pornographic films. But with a March 15 moratorium on the adult entertainment industry because of COVID-19, the 30-year-old Californian has been working remotely, shooting home videos with his three roommates, also adult performers, as freelance projects.
Just as in Hollywood, the coronavirus pandemic has stopped production of the multibillion-dollar porn industry, pushing performers into dual roles as star-director in DIY home content, ironically while the demand for XXX-films increases with home isolation, according to statistics from the website PornHub. Taking into account mask and social-distance requirements, performers, whose incomes hinge on physical contact and exposure to bodily fluids, wonder when, if at all, it will be safe to work again.
“[Right now], I don’t even know how you shoot porn without it being insanely high risk,” Jett tells Yahoo Entertainment, later adding, “There’s a lot of panic in the industry, more so for production than performers, who have other avenues of generating revenue … basically, all you need is a cell phone and you can make money if you’re attractive and well-known.”
From what we understand about COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus pathogen, it’s spread through respiratory droplets from sneezing, coughing or talking, or by touching a contaminated surface and then touching the eyes, mouth or nose (though the CDC recently noted it “does not spread easily” through surface contact). However, sex as a conduit is pending — a small Fertility and Sterility study of 34 men with mild COVID-19 symptoms did not show traces of the virus SARS-CoV-2 in semen. But a JAMA Network Open study of 38 semen samples from men hospitalized with the virus found six that contained SARS-CoV-2. But the small sample size suggests more studies are needed “about virus shedding, survival time and concentration in semen,” wrote the study authors.
The porn industry’s best defense against the coronavirus might be its commitment to safer sex — in California’s San Fernando Valley, where many adult films are shot, the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health requires that employees (although not independent contractors) wear condoms and that cleaning crews wear gloves. Sex performers also undergo mandatory STD testing every two weeks, thanks to the Performer Availability Scheduling Services (PASS), created in the late 1990s by former adult film actress Sharon Mitchell and administered by the adult industry trade association Free Speech Coalition (FSC).
During this waiting period, performers decide which jobs are worth the risk. Silvia Saige, who formerly worked in radiology and stand-up comedy and is now an adult film actress, calculated her decision to drive from her home in Los Angeles to Arizona to shoot a sex scene in a hotel, her first since March 8. “I know [my co-star] and her daily habits, so there’s a personal trust,” she tells Yahoo Entertainment.
Actress-writer-director Kayden Kross and her colleagues are producing home videos with resources provided by Vixen Media Group, which distributed $250,000 worth of package deals to performers working from home, including cameras, lingerie and sexy props. “We are all extremely optimistic,” Kross tells Yahoo Entertainment of life after COVID-19. “The great thing about the adult entertainment industry is, you can always pave your own path. … Overall, I’m seeing a lot of cohesion from peers in the industry, and we have all built a great support system, given the situation.”
And many just want to return to work. “My dad joked, you better have a plan B,” Jett tells Yahoo Entertainment. “I don’t have a plan B … any profits I’ve made went into buying [camera] equipment.”
Noting that employment options for mainstream video jobs during the pandemic are limited, Jett adds, “I have this set of skills and no way to apply them to anything else … this has to work out.”
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https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/how-the-coronavirus-pandemic-is-changing-the-pornography-industry-192203735.html