1) Tell me about your open casting call for 50+ performers! Could you give me an idea of what the project you're casting for is, and why it's important for the actors to be over fifty?

This project, like all my movies, has been greatly shaped by feedback and requests from Sssh.com members and fans of my films. I get a huge number of requests for performers over 50. Beyond the requests from members, I also want to do my part to fight ageism in porn. I think a powerful way to do this is presenting older performers in a context which isn’t about fetishizing their age -- for instance, relying on the “older woman/younger man” (or vice versa) approach, which has been done to death. And not just in porn -- in mainstream entertainment as well.

It also helps to have the perfect story! It’s a story focused on second chances and finding love at different stages in the life course, which is a beautiful theme and ideal for creating erotica without relying on typical, ageist porn clichés.

One aspect of the story touches on the difficulty of dating in a world which is strangely disconnected – where people keep their phones out at the dinner table, texting people who aren’t there, while almost ignoring the people who are. I think today’s technology has in some ways made dating more difficult – for everyone in general, but most definitely for those of us who went on our first dates decades before social media and dating apps existed.

On top of everything above, I just love proving wrong the notion “It can’t be done” when it comes to porn. People used to tell me there was no such thing as a female audience for porn, too. Nearly 20 years of making porn for women later, I couldn’t be happier about having ignored the naysayers.

2) Aging is a touchy subject in our culture generally, and it seems like it might be even touchier in porn, where bodies are so on display. From your perspective as a veteran director and producer, but as someone who works sort of outside the mainstream porn paradigm, what would you say is the current attitude in the porn industry when it comes to aging performers?

The porn industry is a big place, so it’s important to understand I’m generalizing with what I’m about to say: For the most part, the porn industry treats older performers like novelty acts. They are presented as though their sexuality and their desires are something abnormal or unusual, as though older people aren’t supposed to want to have sex, unless they’re “cougars” or “dirty old men.” That attitude just bugs the hell out of me.

This is not to say there’s nobody out there presenting older performers in a respectful, honorable way, just that it’s not the norm to do so. One of the positive ways in which the industry has changed over the years is we’re getting a lot more diversity on both sides of the camera, something I hope is a continuing trend.

3) How do you feel about the "MILF" genre? Do you think it's helpful because it provides more employment and representation for older women, or demeaning because it categorizes them into a niche?

To be honest, a lot of the women cast as MILFs can only be considered “older” by comparison to the women in their early 20s who comprise so much of the adult industry’s talent base. I’ve heard quite a few performers complain they went straight from being cast as “teens” to being MILFs, with no middle ground in between.

On the one hand, I’m not a big fan of the term MILF, but on the other, I try not to be oversensitive about the way viewers express themselves or describe their fantasies. I think you need to leave some room for people to have a sort of shorthand, an easy means of describing what they like and what they want to see, and I try not to judge people for how they express those things.

4) What is Sssh.com (and any other company you're aware of) doing to combat ageism in porn?

What I do to combat ageism with Sssh is to simply present performers and the characters they play as people, as individuals, without making a big a show of their age – or their body type, for that matter. I shoot content with narratives (vs sex only) and my primary marketing approach does not focus on a niche or a category. Stories are very important to me and to my movies. I figure if I prioritize the story and the characters, and within that present good, hot sex, it sends a positive message to the viewer, without having to force an underlying message.

5) Do you think that porn is more or less ageist than the larger culture?

Wow, that’s a tough call. I think most people would reflexively say porn is more ageist than the broader culture, but if you look around the way aging is presented and handled throughout society, ageism is a problem which goes well beyond porn -- and well beyond depictions in mainstream entertainment, as well. When you think about stereotypes and media trends, it’s clear our society doesn’t respect and revere older people, so much as it pushes them aside and treats them as less relevant.

Ageism is also very gendered. This is not to say that there are not couples made up of every possible age combination imaginable, but to look at media, 99% of the world is made up of 25 year old women dating 45 year old men.

6) Do you expect to have a wide viewership for your over-50 casting call project?

It’s always hard to say how much a project will resonate with the audience or how successful it will be. I do think it will be a big hit with Sssh fans and members, just based on the enormous number of requests we’ve received to cast and feature performers in this age bracket. Ultimately, that’s what is most important to me – delivering what my fans and members ask for. Their feedback, suggestions, and requests are crucial to what I do, so making them happy is always my top priority.

7) Any other thoughts on aging and porn that you have, I would love to hear!

I’m hopeful the trend of increasing diversity within the industry turns out to be a durable one and includes lots of opportunity for older performers and directors alike. To me, this is the best part of how technology has democratized porn in the internet age. We’re not limited to what a small number of companies out in L.A. want to make anymore. If someone has the desire and initiative to do so, they can pick up a camera and create porn as they want to it to be, reflecting their vision and their fantasies – all expectations, stereotypes, and conventions surrounding age, body type, and beauty be damned!