Category: people

Richard Avery- Photographer

Friday, 22 June, 2012 by Darren

Richard Avery’s interest in photography began at his tenth birthday and his devotion to the craft helped mold him into the arresting photographer he is today. Toting his trusty Hasselblad camera, he credits his inspiration as coming from such artists as Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Peter Lindberg, and David Bailey as well as what he refers to as his “grrls”—the sexy and compelling models that haunt his striking photographs. Avery, aside from having a reputation as an excellent chef and ever-so naughty lover, is also reported to be devilishly handsome—though only those who have met him would know. This wickedly talented photographer seems to have almost as good a talent for avoiding the lens as he does wielding it.

Avery’s fashion photography first came into public eye in New York during the mid-90s. Bold, simple, imaginative, elegant, and edgy, it soon caught the attention of adult star Juli Ashton, head of Ashton View Promotions, who felt that the innately erotic edge of Avery’s work could easily translate into something groundbreaking for the adult industry. In early 2006, Ashton and Avery announced their partnership and launched Juliland.com to promote his work and bring a fresh, fashionable style to the world of adult entertainment. Using beautiful adult actresses like Bobbi Starr, Dana DeArmond, Lexi Belle, and Justine Joli, Avery began creating a new world of modern erotic photography that caused the adult industry to sit up and take notice. Currently based in Los Angeles, Avery travels the world to photograph the finest talent the adult industry and fetish community has to offer.

Peter Acworth

Saturday, 16 June, 2012 by Darren

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I met Peter back in 1999 soon after he had relocated from New York to San Francisco. At that time he was running a company by the name of Cybernet Entertainment, which operated just a few adult bondage sites: Fucking Machines and Hogtied. He greeted me in a room of programmers, artists, technicians, and editors. There were blue and yellow wires hanging from the celling and servers stacked on desks. Empty cans of Red Bull filled the wire mesh trashcans and the dull humming sound of computers filled the large brick room. Their offices on Mission Street showed all the signs of your typical Silicon Valley start up, with the exception of the bondage chains and floggers hanging from the server rack. We met in a small corner office, which he shared with a co-worker, and conducted our meeting behind a portable desk that he had unfolded just for the occasion.

Over a double-shot of espresso, he shared with me his believes on business and his vision for creating an environment based on teamwork, creativity, and efficiency. Today that vision has turned to reality and Kink.com has become one of the largest and most well respected adult companies in the world. Peter has not only been an inspiration to myself, but to the adult industry as a whole. I was both honored and humbled to interview Peter for the book The Unsexpected Story and hope you have a chance to read more about this influencial individual. There was a great story done on Peter Acworth by The New York Times Magazine titled A Disciplined Business.

California Exotic Novelties

Saturday, 09 June, 2012 by Darren

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When Susan Colvin began working for an adult toy company in the early eighties, she was one of only two women in management positions industry-wide. Today her company, California Exotic Novelties, is one of the top novelty companies in the world. While working at CPLC, a full-service adult products distributor, Colvin found herself rapidly facing unemployment when it was announced that the company would be shutting down do to a costly legal battle with the U.S. Justice Department. As CPLC’s general manager, Colvin was held personally liable and convicted of interstate distribution of obscene materials. It was at that time that Colvin and the management team decided to disband the company and break off the novelty arm of the business. In 1994 Colvin purchased the line Swedish Erotic from CPLC and began building her novelty empire.

The problem she quickly discovered was that the packaging was intended for a primarily male audience, something that would severely limit the sales of adult toys. In a male dominated industry, Colvin decided to redesign the entire process, from packaging, to product design, to shipping. She insisted that the packaging needed to be more tasteful and discreet, while the toys needed to have wider spectrum of shapes, colors, and functions—things pleasing to her target female audience. Under her guidance and leadership, California Exotic Novelties (CEN) was born.

Credited with the creation of the original Rabbit Vibrator, CEN now carries products for both men and women, running the spectrum from the standard vibrators and dildos to masturbators, pumps, love dolls, fetish toys, and manuals and instructional DVDs. CEN has also partnered with sex educators like Sue Johanson, who designed the “Talk Sex Royal” line (tagline: “Innovation, Luxury, and Passion”) and Dr. Laura Berman, as well as adult stars such as Alexis Amore, Tyler Knight, Julian and rock star Phil Varone, whose line introduced the first ever rock star mold and pierced dildo.

Susan Colvin was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2011 for her work in the adult toy industry and California Exotic Novelties continues to create new, well-built, and tasteful novelty products.

You can read more about Susan Colvin and California Exotic Novelties in the book The Unsexpected Story.

Allison Vivas

Saturday, 02 June, 2012 by Darren

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Even though she majored in linguistics, businesswoman Allison Vivas was more attracted to tackling the field of internet marketing, taking occasional side jobs in marketing as she worked on her degree. When she graduated from the University of Arizona in 2001, Vivas began to search for a marketing-related job that would let her engage in the work she enjoyed so much.

At the age of 21, Vivas became the seventh employee of TopBucks, an adult webmaster company. In charge of their marketing and webmaster relationships, Vivas rose quickly through the ranks, landing the position of Marketing Director. In 2004, TopBucks began producing its own content and created the PinkVisual brand to manage it, placing Vivas on the project as Marketing Coordinator. Within two years, Vivas the President of PinkVisuals, becoming the driving force behind the innovative film company.

Over the years, Vivas has led PinkVisual to increasing success, bringing attention to both herself and the company. In 2010, Vivas was named one of the Top 10 Women in Male Dominated fields by online knowledge forum BigThink.com, was featured as one of the “World’s Best Persons” on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and has participated in education panels at various events and internet-themed enclaves as the Adult Entertainment Expo, the XBIZ Conference, InterNext Expo, CybernetExpo, and South by Southwest Interactive. She also was awarded the XBIZ Woman of the Year award twice, in 2010 and 2011, and more recently received their Free Speech Coalition Award in 2012.

You can read more about Allison Vivas and Pink Visual in the book The Unsexpected Story.