Cause who knows how much money there actually is in smut peddling anymore.
I get a lot more PR emails than you ever see on this blog, but sometimes good sounding stuff does come in and I think “hmm. Maybe someone wants to know about this.” This was one of those things. I’m going to include the entire release here, but pay special attention to the bit at the bottom if you’re a filmmaker or know somebody who is. If they’re just tossing around “financing” or “distribution” money, you may want to get in touch:
SAN FRANCISCO — NakedSword.com was a pioneer of the adult internet, and today remains one of the top producers of gay adult film. But in rapidly changing adult marketplace, the company is looking to expand its identity — as a producer and distributor of LGBT independent film.
This month, the company launches a new division, NakedSword Film Works (NSFW for short) and has already begun securing rights to both full-length features and shorts that deal with gay sexuality. Unlike its traditional hardcore fare, NSFW films do not need to have explicit sex or even nudity, only “to further the conversation about gay sex.” The company’s first original production, 100 Boyfriends Mixtape (above), a semi-autobiographical film from queer performance artist Brontez Purnell, is now live on the site.
“We have a large, engaged audience hungry for creative original stories.” said Tim Valenti, founder of NakedSword.com. “Hardcore is everywhere, but films that deal with sex and sexuality in a frank manner are much harder to find. Most distributors find sexual subjects difficult to handle, and we’re in a unique position to change that.”
NakedSword’s first foray into independent film came in 2011, when the company produced Travis Mathews’ I Want Your Love. The ground-breaking film was praised in the New York Times, heralded as a leader in “new queer cinema” by the London Guardian, and established NakedSword as an unlikely champion of independent film.
For NSFW, NakedSword has partnered with I Want Your Love producer Jack Shamama, who produced both 100 Boyfriends Mixtape and the upcoming NSFW film Role Play, as well as NewFest programmer Adam Baran, who is curating shorts from LGBT festivals. NSFW has already debuted Rob Aquino’s acclaimed Catharis, and Hattie Goes Cruising, Konstantin Bock’s documentary about a 70-year old African-American gay man; a remaster of Antonio Hen’s pioneering En Males Compañías (Doors Cut Down) will debut on the site this month.
The move comes as the company seeks a foothold in an adult marketplace that has struggled with piracy and overproduction. NakedSword, once dubbed “the Netflix of gay porn” by the San Francisco Chronicle, sees the glut of free and amateur content plaguing the industry as an opportunity to redefine itself, while not straying too far from its roots.
“We wanted to get back to the original sense of adult,” says Shamama. “Not in the explicit sense, though we don’t shy away from that, but as something complex and and mature and interesting.”
An interview with director 100 Boyfriends Mixtape director Brontez Purnell about the collaboration can be found here.
An interview with NewFest’s Adam Baran about the new NSFW shorts program can be found here.
Filmmakers who wish to inquire about possible financing or distribution should visit Nakedsword.com/nsfw/
For screeners, passes, upcoming release slate, or interviews with anyone involved with NSFW, please contact:
Mike Stabile
Media Relations, NakedSword Filmworks
mike@polarimedia.com
213.797.0050
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