Consent porn video

Dana Vespoli Interview: The Controversy Behind ‘Consent’ (VOD Exclusive)

Controversy has followed the movie Consent ever since it first appeared on the industry radar earlier this year, but that was never director Dana Vespoli‘s intention. Instead, she wished to explore issues of agency that have become increasingly prominent in the overall national conversation over the past several years. The movie combines incisive interview segments with intense sequences of rough sex, followed by post-scene discussions about the intricate byplay of consent and communication in such movies. Adult Empire recently had a chance to chat with Vespoli about the movie, which debuts on AE as a VOD exclusive (through 9/30/19)! Learn the movie’s origins plus the fate of the Consent James Deen scene that stirred much of the video’s controversy in the first place.

Describe the general concept of the movie Consent.

It’s a controversial subject. I was surprised that [Consent] became the title of the movie, given just sort of the climate we’re in now, with the #MeToo movement and everything. The concept? It’s a rough-sex movie. We found talent, male and female, that enjoy rough sex – rough sex in their personal life, rough sex scenes, etc. – and we talk about the idea of consent with regard to rough sex. There’s a lot of people that don’t think that you can be a woman and enjoy rough sex, that you can’t possibly have your head on straight and enjoy rough sex, and therefore it somehow precludes consent. That’s how the movie came about.

Talk about the development and origin of the movie.

It came from a discussion I had with John Stagliano last November. Periodically on Twitter, there would be different feminist journalists, different people talking about consent and the #MeToo movement. I noticed when any sex workers would try and chime in, they’d be shut down: “You don’t count. You’re not a feminist.” Or there would be [comments like] “Porn by its very nature is misogynistic and horrible.” And I’d say, “Hey, feminist pornographer here weighing in!” [They would respond] “Well, you don’t count,” “Then you’re not a feminist,” and these kinds of things. So it came up in a conversation with John Stagliano. He was talking about the type of scenes Evil Angel is known for: a lot of rough sex, a lot of very extreme stuff. He said that sort of raises the question, do you women have agency or not? Why can’t a woman enjoy extreme things without being slammed by “persisters,” basically. We talked about the idea of a documentary movie. We started talking about other female performers that we knew and their thoughts on things. I mentioned that there were quite a few that I would see joining in on these conversations. So he proposed doing a movie and asked if I wanted to be involved. And then Consent was born!

How did you cast the movie?

The casting was really a case of which performers do we know that enjoy rough, rough sex scenes. We came up with a list and from there I spoke to the talent and asked who would they want to work with in a rough-sex scene. Each of the women had a short list of male talent that they liked. We saw who was available and went with it.

Did you always intend to appear in one of the movie’s sex scenes?

That was the plan. I think also making the point that I’m someone who has done her fair share of rough scenes, going all the way back to 2003. It made sense to be involved.

Producer John Stagliano said, “I don’t like to run away from controversial subjects. I like to run toward them.” Do you share that viewpoint?

I don’t try to be controversial. I can’t help it! I’m a pretty philosophical person. I think about things a lot. I’m also kind of socially awkward and kind of shy, which may or may not be apparent. I quietly try to think things out and try to understand them. John is just a little more brazen! Though yes, I was concerned about the controversy around this movie. I just like to kind of toil and do my work! But to be fair, I tend to be drawn toward controversial subjects.

Why was the James Deen/Casey Calvert scene dropped from the movie?

Casey Calvert, who’s an incredible performer, an incredible, amazing person, she did a scene [for the movie] with James Deen. She had asked to work with James. And James has a controversial past – I think that’s common knowledge. But it was important to respect her wishes and have him in the movie. They did a scene and she did a great interview. In the end, we had to pull the scene because we felt like the negative attention that was being given to the scene and to the company was a disservice to the rest of the movie and what the movie is actually about, which is women’s stories and their experience with rough sex and their attitudes about consent and agency. So unfortunately we had to pull that scene. But Casey had a tremendous interview and at some point we’ll kind of figure out what to do with what we shot.

The movie features extensive interview portions. What were those like to shoot?

It felt like an experiment. It felt like an investigation. I felt like we were doing research! [ . . .] That was more of an issue with editing. I was really nervous. We don’t want people to be put off!

Scene one features Manuel Ferrara, your former husband. Is there any residual awkwardness at all when you work with him on a movie?

I’ve shot him in so many scenes! I’ve shot him in scenes for his own movies. He’d call me up and say, “Hey, can you shoot a scene tomorrow that I’m in?” No problem. A long time ago, before I ever picked up a camera, he showed me the fundamentals of shooting. So he trusted me to be able to shoot his scenes and he’s shot me in scenes, for the same reasons. It’s very smooth. We’ve seen each other perform for years and years and years, so being on set with him is fine. When he’s in a scene and I’m shooting it or I’m on set, I know that it’s going to go exactly as it should. It’s reassuring!

 

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