This interview is from 2020 and appeared in the Daily Mail.

3. Can you tell me a little about the process of launching Sssh.com. As it was the web’s first feminist porn site, did you encounter many obstacles?

The only real obstacle was the perspective of many of my peers in the adult industry. Many men -- because my industry peers at the time were mostly men -- felt that I was wasting my time and barking up the wrong tree by making porn with women viewers in mind. There were also some shared thoughts about making content that was an “alternative” to the more conventional porn that was widely available at the time. I didn’t listen to any of it though, so their resistance to the idea was largely irrelevant. It was an irritating attitude to run up against, sure, but it didn’t stop me from making films or growing my site’s fan base.

Later, when the broader adult industry started to come around to the fact that women watch porn too, I did sort of shake my head at people acting like this was some amazing new discovery, but mostly I just welcomed the epiphany on their part. It meant there’d be more opportunities for women to get into adult filmmaking, which I believe is good for everyone involved. The more diversity you have behind the camera, the more diverse the choices will be for consumers. However, though many consumers continue to opt to choose porn that taps into conventional tropes or themes (which is fine -- diversity must go both, or many, ways), existing consumers find new forms of content they enjoy and new consumers discover content that pleases them where previously there was none. And as more consumers come to the space, more adult studios will feel safe in breaking old molds and exploring more interesting territory.

4. What did you originally hope to achieve with Sssh.com? Have your original expectations matched its reputation over 20 years on?

In many ways, Sssh has exceeded my original expectations. If you had told me 20 years ago that I’d be winning awards at mainstream film festivals, or that my films would even be accepted by such film festivals for consideration, I would have said you were clearly talking about someone else.

My hope when I launched Sssh.com was quite humble, really. Maybe I could build a small community of women who would enjoy the site, offer feedback on and ideas for my films -- which, given that the “feedback” I was seeking was based on fantasy and a form of sexual confession, which… the gender issues there alone and the trust this required is significant and a whole discussion in of itself -- and enjoy an outlet for expressing themselves and exploring a side of their sexuality that society mostly discourages women from tapping into. Back then, I never thought about whether Sssh would still be going (and growing) 20 plus years later. I was always so focused on the next movie, I really wasn’t thinking about the long term.

5. Why do you think it’s important for female pornographers to take up space in the industry? What impact could a continued male gaze have both on female viewers and female actors?

I think it’s important for the same reason it’s important that there are women who write novels, or make mainstream films, or work in the sciences, for that matter. It’s about diversity of perspective and making sure women are well-represented in all walks of life. If we’re not there in the adult industry, crafting depictions and shaping the way women are portrayed in porn, then we’re ceding the playing field to men pornographers and consumers. We’d be right back where porn was when I started making films, in other words – a relentlessly “male-dominated” space.