The initial trailer is ready for Cianna P. Stewart’s new documentary It’s Not Porn: Behind the doors of a modern pin-up company. As a reminder, the basic treatment is as follows:
In the world of erotic photography, sexy women are objects whose pictures garner huge profits for other people. A handful of young entrepreneurs have decided to upset this system, putting control into the hands of the models & photographers, challenging who defines “sexy,” and creating a new revenue model for the next wave of the internet. Will they succeed? And what happens when regular women become known as online pin-up stars?
Cianna is still looking for investors to help complete the film, which she hopes to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in March 2010; so if you happen to know anyone willing to buy shares, head over to Thumbnail Productions and get in touch.
The company being profiled, Zivity has been garnering a fair amount of attention in the press lately, and the quality of the photoshoots are outstanding. If you think you’ve got something to offer, then head on over and apply to be in the beta … it’s currently free, but when the site comes out of public beta early next year, it will be subscription-based; probably around $10.00/month.
I’ve got ten invites to give out, and I’ve been hoarding them … but if you want one, let me know (and why).
An old friend of mine in San Francisco, Cianna Stewart (one of the Sexiest Geeks Alive), is becoming quite a prolific independent filmmaker … her latest project, just going into production, will be a documentary about Zivity.com, a new online social network for connoisseurs of pin-up photography.
Cianna’s basic treatment of the film is as follows:
It’s Not Porn: Behind the doors of a modern pin-up company
In the world of erotic photography, sexy women are objects whose pictures garner huge profits for other people. A handful of young entrepreneurs have decided to upset this system, putting control into the hands of the models & photographers, challenging who defines “sexy,” and creating a new revenue model for the next wave of the internet. Will they succeed? And what happens when regular women become known as online pin-up stars?
Now if I can just figure out a way to get an invite to the beta.
Cianna is looking for investors to help finance the film; so if you happen to know anyone willing to buy shares, head over to Thumbnail Productions and get in touch. For those that want to support, but can’t afford to the extent of investing, donations will also be accepted, with a thank you to be determined (I’ve suggested a private premiere screening, or a copy on DVD) …
This was one of the most fascinating movies I’ve seen in a long time …
I was first drawn in by the description of the film on Netflix.com, which describes the film as:
Director John Cameron Mitchell delivers an unbridled look at the New York City underground, focusing on a group of hipsters who frequent a downtown club renowned for its lascivious ways. Through graphic polymorphous sexual couplings — and using an ensemble cast composed largely of first-time actors — the film chronicles each character’s erotic journey of self-discovery in a raw and riveting fashion.
Other than the above description, I knew very little about the film other than that it appeared as a suggestion on Netflix due to other films I have seen, and I just stuck it in the queue because it seemed interesting.
Then, last night, IFC showed the final, “Extremes” episode of their Indie Sex series of short documentaries. The documentary discussed how sex has been portrayed in independent film throughout the years, and how in recent times, filmmakers are really pushing the envelope even further by incorporating unsimulated sex into their films. Some call it pornographic, but others call it art … I think it really comes down to how the sex is portrayed.
In any case, one of the films discussed in this episode was, in fact, Shortbus …
The film itself has an interesting amalgam of characters, including a married couples-counselor/sex-therapist (played by Sook-Yin Lee) who has never had an orgasm herself, a gay couple who are wondering if they should open up their relationship, and a dominatrix who has troubles connecting with people on an emotional level.
I didn’t really expect the sex scenes to be quite as graphic as they actually were; but the manner in which they were filmed really did bring it out of the world of pornography, and into the realm of art. This flim wasn’t your typical XXX fuck-fest, but really explored the characters’ development and motivations; the emotions were very real, as were the orgasms, both male and female.
Included on the DVD version which I watched is also a documentary called “Gifted and Challenged: The Making of Shortbus”, which is quite captivating in-and-of itself.
Cianna’s basic treatment of the film is as follows:
Just got done watching the film 
