What is Ersties? Porn site ‘for women, by women’ goes viral on TikTok for right reasons
A TikTok video of a porn site has gone viral on the internet as it shows conversations about consent with models before beginning their shoot, which is very rare in the adult film industry. Karyn Hunt, director and director of photography of the porn company called Ersties, said in the viral video: “It's up to you really, but we could do two 30-minute scenes if you guys want a short break in between, or if you guys are really gelled mood-wise we could also shoot for an hour. It goes without saying, but if anyone needs a break at any time, you have the authority to say stop.”
Hunt also spoke with BuzzFeed and mentioned, “We spend an extensive amount of time talking about their fears, their desires, their boundaries — do they have any just general questions about what the day is gonna look like. I don't come to set with a shot list like, 'You're gonna do missionary and then go to doggy-style.’”
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What is Ersties?
Ersties is a German adult movie site, which was founded in 2009. The company prides itself in calling itself the creator of “porn for women, by women”. It also reportedly shows “‘real sex’ with real people, as opposed to staged porn.” One model of Ersties, Delfine Dahlia, 29, told Buzzfeed, “Karyn would ask all of us what our likes and dislikes are, what our boundaries are, and then we can say like, 'I don't like feet,' or 'No anal’. I never feel like I'm forced to do something.”
Amélie Mo, head of production at Ersties, explained, “We want to show real people having real sex. That's why we always have interviews before the sex [with the models], so the viewer gets to connect on a more emotional level,” before adding: “We don't have men on set. And we mostly try to focus on women's pleasure. We ask our model what they want to live [out] as a sexual fantasy, and then we make it happen.”
Hunt also noted that she did not plan out a shoot as she takes all of her models “self-directed”. She stated: “We spend an extensive amount of time talking about their fears, their desires, their boundaries — do they have any just general questions about what the day is gonna look like. I don't come to set with a shot list like, 'You're gonna do missionary and then go to doggy-style.’ I don't have a vision for shoots. It's based on what are you in the mood for right now, today. There's just one rule: that you have to face the camera.”
Hunt noted that she gives importance to consent talk with the models as she would like to have with her partner. She said: “‘What are your boundaries?' 'What turns you on?' And from there I can kind of facilitate and create that space for them to have the kind of experience that they're looking for,” as she added: “When I give my talks, I say, 'If you are in the mood to do anal and then we get to the part where you would maybe do anal and you say, 'Actually, I'm not in the mood,' I say, 'That's totally fine. What would you like to do? Or we can just stop. It's really up to the performer always. We foster a safe space for models to be themselves and do what they want, but we also make sure everyone is compensated fairly.”
A 24-year-old model who works for Ersties confirmed the same. Serafina Sky said: “You can tell they really care about everyone being at ease, and during the shoot we could stop whenever we want to. She [Karyn] asked us about our boundaries and even specific questions like, 'What kind of lube do you like?’ And then they're just like, 'Do your thing.’”
Buzzfeed reported that Ersties also pays nicely to its models, unlike mainstream porn companies. “For a smaller scale shoot with just two people, models are paid $1,200, and usually film for a couple of hours. For larger shoots like the ‘Toyboy’ fantasy involving four or more people, every model is paid $1,600, and it takes around five hours to film,” it claimed.