Man, what what WHAT is going on in the world lately?!! It’s enough to make this (alleged) Pollyanna throw up her hands in dismay…
As I pointed out yesterday (re Violet Blue hating on TakeDown Piracy), I don’t know everything and sometimes I miss obvious things. And today, once again, I’m confronted with something that, for the life of me, I just cannot figure out… Consider:
Something horrible happened to adult performer Elexis Monroe late last November. Apparently, some shoddy dental work gave rise to a massive bone-deep infection in her face. By all accounts, this was an extremely gruesome life-and-death situation.
Elexis immediately began reaching out to her fans and community, seeking assistance wherever possible. This is not surprising – I can’t imagine anyone being ready to cover even the down payments that HAD to accompany such medical bills… like… RIGHT NOW!!
Many people rushed to help this beloved single mother, myself included (I wrote about this issue on November 27, 2012, and I don’t even know Elexis!!). Girlfriends Films also included.
Girlfriends Films, who we all know I tout endlessly as the most civic and community minded company in the adult business… [hell, Girlfriends Films is civic minded for humanity. when is the last time anyone donated $1000 a month to a charity of someone's choice?] …immediately stepped up for Elexis. You see, though (to my knowledge) Elexis has never been *officially* affiliated with the company, she has shot with Girlfriends Films endlessly over the past six or so years. She’s part of their family. (see Elexis’ IAFD credit listing here)
On January 3, 2013, I received an official press statement from Girlfriends Films that said:
January 3, 2013 – RESEDA, Calif. - Principal photography is wrapped on Girlfriends Films’ new movie benefiting Elexis Monroe. The movie is part of Girlfriends Films’ popular series, “Lesbian Sex,” which is a documentation of real confessions and unscripted sex scenes. Each of the performers in “Lesbian Sex: Volume 10” is donating half her earnings from the movie to help cover Monroe’s medical fees, an amount matched by Girlfriends Films.
Further:
As soon as word spread about the special volume of “Lesbian Sex,” Girlfriends Films was bombarded by requests from performers to participate in the movie. Touched by the outpouring of support, Elexis Monroe selected 8 ladies for the film, which she will host. The cast includes Samantha Ryan, Lily Cade, Jessie Andrews, Sinn Sage, Zoey Holloway, Aaliyah Love, Elle Alexandra, and Sovereign Syre.
(pictured: it’s a wrap!! Girlfriends Films’ founder Dan O’Connell with Elexis Monroe (in green) and others participating in her charity project)
This means that 1) when Elexis got sick, Girlfriends Films jumped!! In what looks to me like a mere five weeks (late November to the very beginning of January), a production was conceptualized, developed, cast, and shot. It also means that 2) Elexis got a big chunk of money relatively fast. Consider…
In my explorations of the adult industry over the years, I have gathered that *today* women performers are paid anywhere from $600 – $800 for a girl-girl scene. This range varies by many things, including the performer’s marketability, whether or not they have to speak in the film, and the specifics of the sex itself (ie you get paid more for anal), among many other things. Now, this is obviously not a hard and fast range – some will make more, others will make less – but it works perfectly as an illustration here.
For the sake of argument, let’s generalize and split the difference – assuming each performer was to be paid $700 for her scene in the Elexis Monroe Benefit Project, we’re left with…
[$350 (performer fee donation) + $350 (Girlfriends matching the donation)] x 8 performers = $5600
(fyi: I confirmed this rate range before posting, but drop it below the low end if you want – $500 – that would still be $4000)
This means that, in my guesstimated scenario, Elexis immediately received $5600 from Girlfriends Films and her friends’ charitable sex scenes alone!! She was also the recipient of Girlfriends Films’ December charity donation of $1000. (it’s worth noting that this donation usually goes to a charitable organization in someone else’s honor, not to an individual in need – an allowance made for Elexis)
Aaaand we’re now up to $6600.
Add in the cost of production and post-production in general – because a film had to be made from all this sex or else all this is just… illegal, actually – photography, PR, and all the hours it must have taken just to plan this and… well, I have no idea how much money Girlfriends Films shelled out to help Elexis. According to Twitter, it’s about $20,000. And though there’s no way for me to verify it, this estimated amount does not sound unreasonable to me.
(pictured: from Girlfriends Films’ Twitter feed, grabbed on 2/6/13)
$20,000 dollars given, out of pocket and immediately, for no other reason or obligation but to help Elexis.
According to all publicly available information that I can find, this is exactly what Girlfriends Films promised to do. This is exactly what the press releases from the company outlined, and this is exactly what it said on AVN on December 3, 2012 (and on other dates).
*BUT*
This not what it said on XBIZ. On XBIZ, the December 3, 2012 story read:
RESEDA, Calif. — Girlfriends Films owner Dan O’Connell said plans are in motion to shoot a special DVD of the company’s popular series “Lesbian Sex,” with proceeds going to help GFF performer/director Elexis Monroe through her medical treatment. (here, emphasis added)
Those of us who pay attention to the adult industry press are more than aware of XBIZ’s tendency to change a few sentences around in a PR in order to get their writers a byline. If it turns out that this bit is really just an overzealously (and inaccurately) altered piece of PR… well, #fail
But so what, right? Elexis received some financial support immediately, laid out directly and generously by Girlfriends Films… not, I might add, after months of waiting for proceeds from consumers (who love to steal content… oh wait…) to emerge, but IMMEDIATELY.
Apparently though, some performers involved in this project are upset. Starting yesterday, two or three (depending on where you look) performers alleged that Girlfriends did something dishonorable by doing exactly what they promised. Some quotes from Twitter:
My understanding of a “BENEFIT” movie was that a portion of the PROCEEDS go to help someone in need, in this case a friend.
If I had known or understood that NONE of the PROCEEDS were going to my friend, I don’t think I would have done it.
Production company retains all profits, not even a portion go to help friend, how is that right?
Using her illness, tricking consumers into buying thinking they are helping her, to make more money. This is vile and slimy.
I’m just not the kind of person or friend who can keep my mouth shut about an injustice because of politics or $$. That’s not who I am.
Whaaaaathefkkkk?
I guess that, without being there, we will never actually know what happened. But, going back to me being a Pollyanna – how did any of those things even allegedly occur? And why in the world would someone/several someones make such apparently unfounded, hurtful, and downright slanderous comments?
What really is this world coming to? No wonder people stop caring, helping, and treating others with respect… When you do, this sort of reactionary ingratitude is apparently what you get.
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PVVOnline – Critical Commentary on Adult Production
Dr. Tibbals,
The 20,000 was not received by Elexis. This was in man hours, as Dan put it on the GFF forum. The point here is that XBiz initially reported that proceeds would go to Elexis. For us fans (and obviously some performers), we interpreted that as proceeds from the film’s profits. THIS is why we awaited its release. If the word “proceeds” needed clarification, GFF should have done that with XBiz. I also believe there must be more to this story that the public is not aware of, and perhaps Elexis was asked not to talk about it. But, when performers band together, knowing a relationship with a company they’ve worked for, something is wrong. I personally feel misled, which I don’t appreciate. I think one day we will know the full story of why the performers are speaking out.
Best Regards
there is not “more to the story.” girlfriends films is the most ethical company i have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. they went above and beyond to help someone they care about, and now they are getting punished. the company did not put a gag order on elexis, but it does seem like fans of hers are intent on strong arming gff to give her even more money. who’s being unethical now?
Tyson, GF Films ponied up the money quickly when she needed it, not waiting for the receivables to come in (these days, companies are lucky to see a dime before 90 days, much more common seeing the first real checks come in 6 months later if at all). Given GF Films long history of civic mindedness in general, the fair thing to do would be to give them the benefit of any doubt initially. They did not have to contribute a penny but clearly directed serious money her way, at what point do the fan boy glasses come off and some realize that no one owed her anything at all?
Hopefully this is all just a misunderstanding that will be cleared up in time. Until then, drawing conclusions seemed hasty at best.
this is why you’re the best, don!!! thank you for always keeping a level head in a crazy world.
@TTyson, thank you so much for your comment. As a friend and fan of Elexis, I can imagine that this whole thing is upsetting and frustrating – you only want to support a woman who certainly brings you much joy!! That being said, I think there is a serious misunderstanding happening here… And I think this misunderstanding may be on the part of some seriously erroneous reporting, a misunderstanding between the players involved, and/or a combination of both.
I have received several press releases directly from Girlfriends Films re this benefit production during the past few weeks (I am on the mailing list with everyone else) – original, unaltered statements that say GF will match the 50% rate donation from the performers… exactly how this was reported by AVN and, to my understanding, exactly what happened.
I believe that XBIZ may have inaccurately reported on the matter though. I say this given my direct observations of XBIZ (and others… XBIZ is not alone in this practice, they just happen to be the example here) changing press releases just enough to be able to add their bylines. In other words, I believe XBIZ may have received the same press releases I am referring to, the text of which they altered and posted. This is a commonly understood and engaged practice in media (adult and otherwise) and is generally not a big deal… until an error like this occurs. Again, this is just my speculation. However, I have been observing this pattern for some time now, and you will notice that there is no statement re proceeds from Dan O’Connell in quotes in the XBIZ piece I cite above.
Certainly there could also have be a misunderstanding – or series of misunderstandings – that occurred between the performers and GFs – perhaps something was misrepresented and/or misunderstood? Though I absolutely cannot imagine GFs doing something untoward to Elexis (esp during her time of need), it is possible that something was unclear. But this is a level of information I am absolutely (obviously) not privy to.
And, all that being said, I understand that Elexis did not receive any amount close to $20,000 (I have no idea how much money she received, but I expect it’s closer to the estimates I offered via my speculations above)… but no one ever claimed she was going to or had been given this amount.
here’s my “TMI about porn from a dr” thing: in CA, the reason why it is legal to produce porn is because it’s NOT pandering, prostitution, etc. In other words, the sex being recorded in porn is for the purposes of sale, distribution, etc (vs the sexual gratification of the producer, etc – see Freeman 1988).
In order for this benefit production to happen, it had to be treated like… any other content production (which it was). Thus, GFs had to put up the thousands of dollars it costs to make a movie – cameras and lights and photographs and editing etc etc… Putting up that money so there could even be a space for this project to happen in the first place is a donation in of itself. Although I do not know the exact amounts that complete their accounting, I know that the bulk of the “over $20,000″ sum that is being referred to everywhere has to do with putting up production costs.
I honestly think this entire situation is the product of a few tiny errors/misunderstandings, and I honestly believe that Girlfriends was trying to find a creative way to get Elexis several thousand dollars as quickly as possible… rather than (for example), waiting months for a film to turn a profit and then giving her money. By then, it may have been too late.
Again, thank you for your insights – I very much appreciate them!! and please update me if you learn anything more – ct
Dr. Tibbals, may I ask why this article was written?
@TTyson – of course you may!! The answer is quite simple: it was written for the exact same reason I do all my work: to shed some light, nuance, perspective, etc on what might also be happening during the course of a social interaction/series of social interactions.
In life (adult included), nothing is all-or-nothing, one way or the other, etc. Though I get the irony of saying there is variability in EVERYTHING (haha), when humans are involved, the shades of grey are endless… at least, from what I’ve seen.
As a sociologist, this incident seems like an example wherein the nuance is being lost. As a sociologist who is very familiar with the adult industry, it really seems like such a case. For the sake of all parties involved, the adult community, and human society (so lofty, I know), these things need to be engaged. Sometimes such engagement is uncomfortable (well, for me it sometimes is), but I don’t think I would be being true to my stated mission with my work if I shied away from the more difficult issues.
This pisses me off. I think Mike South really said it best:
I am getting really tired of porn chicks feeling that when they spend their money on weed, Coach Purses, ex convict boyfriends (take your pick) instead of HEALTH INSURANCE that somehow obligates the industry to bail them out.
Guess what Mike. You don’t have to donate any money if you don’t want to. Obviously it would be best if they had insurance but how do we even know that her insurance would even cover this. They could have very well said they won’t because it’s a dental thing and we don’t cover dental procedures.