DIY Arts Funding Through Porn
Last night was the premiere screening of “Horsey”, a collaboration between Amber Dawn, myself (as Horsey) and Juli (another talented filmmaker friend who worked both cameras seamlessly). The screening was a part of The Coast is Queer at Vancouver Queer Film Festival. It’s a night of local short films and is always really well attended and loved by those who attend. The night was a great success. There were lots of amazing films and plenty of fantastic supporters.
So, one of my biggest challenges with running my business, Good Dyke Porn™ is that I tend have trouble promoting it. Especially, approaching people to hand out flyers or talk about the site. But, given that this film was originally created for GoodDykePorn.com then it presented a perfect opportunity to let people know about the site. I got some promo cards from HotMoviesForHer and put together a little flyer specifically outlining how to see more of “Horsey” and the current deals we’ve got running. I got permission to hand them out to people at the screening and it was suggested by my business coach and friends to say a few words about the site and the deals when it was my turn to talk before the screening began. This was definitely travelling outside of my comfort zone, but this site is currently my whole frickin’ life and I felt prepared to do what I could to appropriately promote my work.
The flyers were well received. They got 30 free minutes at HotMoviesForHer.com and some people were coming back for more when they missed getting one on their first pass. I didn’t mind standing there handing out the flyers because I got to say “free dyke porn?” as I handed them out and most people were happy to take one. I accidentally gave one to a non-festival goer and she looked a little confused at first but then came back and told me she realized what it was and really appreciated that I gave it to her.
Then comes the moment of truth: getting up in front of the full theatre and talking, first about the short film itself and then about Good Dyke Porn. When it was my turn I got cheers from the audience, which made me feel very supported, especially since I wasn’t actually there “with” anybody. I briefly described the film I was representing and attempted to promote but was playfully and politely shutdown before I got anywhere. I understand why that happened. Promoting a “business” can be tricky at these sorts of events and I wasn’t an official sponsor or anything. But, like most times, I thought later what I should have said in that moment. I would have liked to’ve said a brief thanks to the members and customers of Good Dyke Porn because without their support the film never would have been made.
Prior to the screening we listened to a speech about the devastating state of arts funding in British Columbia and some good news about the success the film festival has received from personal donations. The message was clear: In these hard times, give your support with money whenever you can. In the moment, when I was facing the crowd, I didn’t think to tie this into my work. But, now, I would like to give my thanks.
Thank you to everyone who has ever bought a membership online or a DVD in a store or purchased clips or watched Video-on-Demand or even clicked on an affiliate link to another site. Because of you, I rented a couple of cameras, bought a suit and some supplies, paid my co-star, gave the camera operator a bit of cash, took us all out for dinner and, with the help of Amber Dawn, eventually turned the footage into a beautiful festival short film. Everything I create is 100% funded by you, the customer. I give my time and effort and I look forward to my own financial rewards somewhere down the line, but until then I am delighted to donate my time to continue to be creative with sexually explicit material. And hopefully, I can continue to show these films at festivals around the world.
I would also like to thank Out on Screen, the brilliant hard-working team behind Vancouver Queer Film Festival for supporting my work for the past three years. I look forward to many more creations and screenings in the future.
If you would like to see the work that we do at GoodDykePorn.com and have the ability to make a purchase, here’s how:
- Buy a Membership for only $20 and see everything we’ve filmed to date: Sign up here.
- For a limited time I will be giving away our “Best of” DVD – Volume 1 to everyone who signs up for 3 months – this will help fund future “Best of” volumes that are ready to go to print: Sign up here.
- Buy individual clips at Clips.com: HERE
- Watch as little or as much as you want at HotMoviesForHer.com video-on-demand: HERE
- Contact me with viable trades, alternate forms of payment (besides the dominant payment option of credit cards), or just to give me words of encouragement: at bren@gooddykeporn.com
Thank You!
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