So, today I film another scene with myself as the co-star. As far as porn scenes go this one shouldn’t be too difficult.

My mission: To make out with a hot woman. No sex, just hot and heavy kissing.

I have chosen to accept my mission, but I have to admit, I’m nervous. I always get nervous before a shoot, even if I’m behind the camera. I want it to go well. I want it to look hot. I want people to like it. As the one behind the camera, I worry about doing a good job, but as the “performer”, I’m extra worried. Although, when I’m preparing myself to have sex on camera I get terrified. Today, I’m nervous.

My co-star and I don’t really know each other very well. She’s new to the whole porn thing and we’ve never kissed each other before. I was going to have a make out rehearsal just to make sure we kissed well together. But, scheduling is always a challenge so I just figured, “let’s capture our first kiss on camera”. So, that’s what we’re going to do.

We’re going to take it slow, chat a bit, have a glass of wine and let the sexual tension build a bit while we move towards the inevitable. Personally, I’m naturally shy and have a tendency to blush, so I’ll try to embrace that side of myself and let it feed into the energy. For this scene I’m really hoping to capture the energy. There won’t be any fleshy close-ups (except of our faces, I suppose) so the visuals will be more subtle. This is where the energy is meant to come in.

I’ll be working with a new camera operator, who I have full confidence in. My co-star is smokin’ hot and I love to kiss. Sounds like a great way to spend the evening. Soft-core queer porn, here we come.

So, I figure if people are going to be sharing the videos then I want to put a watermark of “GoodDykePorn.com” throughout the film so that when they do see it, and love it they will know where to find more and then hopefully choose to make a purchase. But, now I’m having second thoughts about that. I was watching some videos recently and the watermark is quite annoying. For the people who do purchase the clips or buy a membership they shouldn’t have to be distracted by the watermark.

Now I’m thinking I could put the logo at the beginning and the end of the clips so that the films are clearly identified as Good Dyke Porn™, but free from distracting watermarks throughout the rest of the video. Of course, someone could cut off the front and end slugs (that’s film lingo), but why would they? It they want to share then they just share. I don’t see much “stealing” of the ownership of images. And, that would be pretty easy to catch. But, I suppose it is possible. That’s not my main concern though.

After going back and forth over this, the thing that finally tipped me over the edge was the perspective that I don’t need to physically brand every single image that passes through Good Dyke Porn’s database. The sex that I capture on film isn’t “mine” per se. Except the scenes that I’m in. I’ve purchased the rights to the images so that I can run a business that shares these beautiful images with the world.

I want people to know where these films come from and I want this business to be able to continue to produce such beautiful films. And, perhaps that beauty can be completely unobstructed for your continual enjoyment. What do you think?

Photo by Trevor Jansen, click image for complete photo set.

Wednesday night was the Naked Truth Adult Entertainment Award Show. It was the first of its kind in Canada and included a really interesting and diverse group of people from various areas of the adult industry.

I think it was a really great start to an event that will hopefully continue on for years to come. The Naked Truth website is an online social community for all types of adult entertainers, business owners and support workers. The categories and award winners were quite varied: from Favourite Pussy Squirter to Favourite Sex Worker Advocate, from Trojan Condoms and Dita Von Teese to Tamara O’Doherty (Favourite Academic Advocate) and Good Dyke Porn (my earnest, yet minuscule porn company). The unlimited scope of nominees, and the under-advertised voting system could have been the reason we managed to be voted Favourite Adult Website (in the whole wide world!). (That, and we’re The Best, of course.) But, I think that is what made this awards show so interesting and fun. It brought people together who wouldn’t normally be included in the same program. And, like Mz. Scream, the winner of Favourite Pussy Squirter, said, “It’s nice to be recognized, to have this pat on the back for those of us who work so hard and put ourselves out there for the enjoyment of others.” We all had our own way of contributing to the pleasure industry. I was delighted to meet them and I’m happy they know me now, too.

Of course, like any great sexy event, the queers where out in full force.
Here is a sample of the out and memorable award winners and performers in attendance:

• Esther Shannon – Favourite Feminist Advocate
• Zoe from Zoho Salon – Favourite Hair Stylist
• Jenny Magenta – working the red carpet, interviewing, and being glamourous as usual (go to Jenny Magenta Town!)
• Aedan Saint – Spoken word Artist and Mr. Gay Vancouver XXX who performed the closing number. (more about Aeden)
• From the Good Dyke Porn™ camp we had myself, Bren Ryder, Honey B, and the hot couple from ‘Pizza Delight’ scene, Big Booty B and Papa Big Cock.
  *We picked up two awards: Favourite Adult Film Company – Performers Choice and Favourite Adult Website (as mentioned above).

I’m sure there were more but I don’t know enough about them to know their queer status.

For a complete list of the winners go to NakedTruth.ca!

All in all it was a fabulous evening. Samantha Mack was a hilarious host and kept the audience laughing and engaged for the whole 4 hours. There were definitely some flaws, but it was the first one so I’m sure it will only get better and better every year. If I was choosing the course of direction for future shows I would take advantage of the Canadian or Vancouver aspect and narrow down the nominees to relatively local stars. Honouring Dita Von Teese, Belladonna, Jenna Jameson and AVN is cool, but they’re not likely able to attend. As the show gains attention and sponsorship, then, eventually bring in the expensive stars from around the world as guests.
*Just my two cents.*

It was a complete honour to be included in this celebration of sex and the work we do to bring it to the people.

Susan Davis – Favourite Sex Worker Advocate – summed up the importance of the night beautifully in this video by The Georgia Straight.

Facebook is great for promoting blogs and websites and events and all that good stuff, but I definitely don’t use it to its full potential. Relatively speaking, I don’t have a lot of “friends” on my profile and it’s an interesting mix of people: close friends, ex-girlfriends, acquaintances, family, porn people, long lost friends, fans, randoms, and Internet connections.

The profile page has become more of a personal page rather than a business page so I decided to make a separate Bren Ryder fan page – except they don’t call it fan pages anymore. Now, you don’t need to be a fan to “like” me. I’d like to use the Page of Bren Ryder for blog updates and GoodDykePorn updates and news. Although, I’ll continue to add the usual links and info to my profile because I want to share my life with my friends. And fans are still welcome to friend me but for more up-to-date show-biz info then Like-ing the Page is a better option.

Currently, my blog has a low readership. Why? Because I hardly ever write for it. You can’t read what’s not there. That’s going to change as I get into the habit of writing about this experience of being an independent dyke pornographer who practices various experiments in productivity, ponders butch visibility, spiritual journeys and the evolution of queer porn.

Follow me on Twitter: @BrenRyder

“Like” me on Facebook.

Be my Friend!

And/Or Subscribe to my blog in a Reader (RSS).

I’m still here. Still making porn for dykes and the likes of you. Still perpetually experimenting with ways to be more productive and streamlining my business so that it’s delivering what I intend and satisfying my need for simplicity and, you know, enjoying life, being happy.

I have mixed feelings about my business right now. I doesn’t make me much money – just enough to top up my personal accounts when I’m a little low. It involves about a million details and keeps my Todo list perpetually stacked. Which, is fairly normal for a lot of people, but I fancy myself a simple butch and sometimes I wonder if it’s worth the hassle. The good news is that I don’t lose money in the deal. And, of course, I do get to film people having sex.

Sometimes I feel like shutting it down completely and just sticking to a regular job – go to work, come home, relax, and not have to get on the computer for the whole night. Running a business by yourself is like being in school, it’s all homework and I always feel like should be working on something. Except I don’t have any enforceable deadlines and little accountability – well, except to my millions of adoring fans.

I go back and forth between thinking about shutting it down completely and, the other extreme, expanding it and seeing if I can actually make some money out of it. It is porn after all, there must be money to be made.

I love filming, and I love editing and I’ve basically turned my favourite thing into a job, but I suck at accounting, marketing, promotion, and, um…business. So this is the point where I get to reach out to my community and get help from those who are good at those things and want to do their part to bring good dyke porn to the world. Except I suck at doing that too.

I’m not ready to give up on this thing yet. I’m working on some ideas that will allow for better access to individual scenes and various options for memberships and prices. My main priority is customer satisfaction. Shooting new sex scenes in a small community isn’t always possible on a consistent basis. And, frankly, I don’t want to stress over it. I’m looking for that sweet spot: the place where I don’t stress too badly, still get to create the work, and consistently fulfill the customers expectations of what I’ve promised to deliver.

Traditionally, November has been one of my worst months out of the year. Bad things happen, mood is low, and it feels like a very long month. December I like. It’s a time to kick back, party with friends and family, look back over the year and make plans for the new one.

This November I’m going to take on a few projects that I’m hoping will make November a better month.

November is novel writing month (NaNoWriMo) so I’m taking this opportunity to try my hand at writing again. I wrote for the Three-Day Novel writing contest which was super fun. My goal early this year was to write my Porn Manifesto. So, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
Along side with writing this manifesto, I’m going to document – journal style – all the things I do this month related to creating porn and running my website, GoodDykePorn.com. So, whether this month turns out great or not I’m hoping that writing about it will make it interesting, anyway.

Earlier this year I made a list of 101 Things To Do. And there is still plenty on that list that I still need to do.
I have a huge TO DO list and I’m going to tackle as much as I can in November. That way, I have something to write about, a limited time frame to push myself and hopefully an alignment between my vision (manifesto) and my actions (journal).

Here is where we’re starting:
This past week has been November-esque in the sense that I have lost (more like misplaced) a lot of media that I need for the website. Specifically the footage that I intended to post on the site this past weekend. I’m hoping that by the end of this week I’ll have it all worked out and be done with “unfortunate luck” for a little while.
[To see the live performance version of the upcoming scene - go to the Updates Page on GoodDykePorn.com.]

Also, we’re essentially starting from nowhere. I haven’t been writing on this blog for a while and the website has only just begun the new updates. So, writing the Manifesto is going to be about the vision of Good Dyke Porn™ and the documentation of Bren Ryder working GoodDykePorn.com is going to show my attempt to put that vision into action.

I’ll keep you updated on my writing progress and work activities for the month of November. To get the latest updates and excerpts from the upcoming Manifesto, subscribe to this blog or follow me on Twitter.

Wish me luck!

Of course, by “we” I mean me. I managed to get all the articles back online with the help of my Facebook imported notes. I still have a lot of work to do here – redo pictures, add bloggers to the blogroll, affiliate friends – but the content is up and that’s what’s important (if you’re into read words, that is).

September is back-to-work-month so new updates will be appearing at GoodDykePorn.com and new and fascinating blog articles will be showing up right here.

Enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by!
Check out GoodDykePorn.com to see my work.

Love!

My Good Dyke Porn™ business soul mate, that is.

I’ve decided I want a partner. I’m feeling ready to share my toys with others and see what happens when more that one person works at creating an impact on a porno revolution. Of course, I haven’t been the only one creating the work of GoodDykePorn.com. There are many models, a few camera operators, volunteers, a graphic designer, a composer and an investor. But the day-to-day work is done entirely by me. I love doing it on my own, but I’m feeling open to finding the right person to share the work, the joy and, the money.

I use the term “soul mate” because I feel as though the right person for the job is going to be someone who is a lot more than just skilled in one area or another. The right person is going to click with me another level. Now, I love clicking with people. I click all the time. But, this click needs to be special. This isn’t love, this is business, but it’s gotta be magic.

I think the greatest benefit of having a partner is that we can motivate each other. We can inspire each other. And, we can impose deadlines on each other. I see us getting together for a business meeting once a week, doing some brainstorming and planning, and then assigning a few tasks for each of us to complete for the next week. Due to the fact that this meeting is very important I am currently only looking for someone who lives in Vancouver, BC. If you live in the Lower Mainland and want to commute into Vancouver for the meetings then you may also apply.

Our financial arrangements will be discussed later, however, considering the current status of the website (paused), there will be no payment for work done for at least the first 3 to 6 months. Currently, all incoming revenue is being reinvested into the website – which is why I had to get a day job again (I’m really liking it though. It’s getting me out of the house and I enjoy doing something completely different from running the porn biz for part of my time). So, you must have a day job and the will to work Good Dyke Porn in your spare time.

Here are a few things that come to mind regarding what I’m seeking in a partner:

* I’m looking for someone who has a variety of skills or has an ability to learn new things quickly.
* Computer skills are essential and an up-to-date computer is preferred.
* Film and video experience isn’t necessary and film industry experience is really unnecessary and maybe even a drawback. Depends.
* Knowledge of business, accounting, marketing, video editing, graphic design, webmastery, or camera operation are all wonderful, but not required. I taught myself everything and perhaps you can do the same.
* Maybe you’d like to be in the public eye.
* Maybe you’d rather work behind the scenes.
* You are passionate, but not overbearing.
* You are easy-going, but not aloof.
* You live in Vancouver.
* You are queer.
What else?

I’m open to hearing why you think you’d like to work at Good Dyke Porn™.
It’s amazingly rewarding work and together we can make it Great and even make some money.

Send me an email. Tell me about yourself, your schedule, your experience and why you’d like to be my GDP Soul Mate.
To: bren@gooddykeporn.com

Love,
Bren Ryder

I have a general idea about what I want to create. I want to create good dyke porn, thus the name of the website is GoodDykePorn.com. And we’ve all been working intuitively to figure out what exactly good dyke porn consists of. The way I figured it is if we start to have genuine sexual encounters on camera between women who love women then we should be on the right path.

Whenever I talk about the website – my vision for the future, what we create and what we’re hoping to achieve – I become extremely verbose. After my second cup of coffee with someone who’s interested in learning about what I do, I start to passionately express the positive effects good dyke porn has on society, the fantasy of a changed world, and human experience of de-grossifying pornography.

But, whenever I think about writing a manifesto I get a little overwhelmed and can’t think of anything to write. I think I’m over thinking it. I was rereading my Steve Pavlina book yesterday and in the chapter on careers I was reminded that what I’m trying achieve with this website/my business is what I’m trying to achieve for my own life.

A few months back (probably when I was reading the Steve P. book for the first time) I came up my purpose in life. It was a matter of breaking down everything I feel like I want into something that can’t be broken down anymore. Plus it needs to be something that resonates with me.

Here’s what I came up with for my life purpose:

* Love Truthfully
* Empower and Inspire
* Experience Life Fully

Everything I do in life needs to align with one or more of those points. So, this seems like a good place to start for the Good Dyke Porn™ Manifesto. After all, my work should be in alignment with my personal manifesto.

And it is.