Girlfriends Films' Adult Film Shoot -A First-Hand Look

When I pulled up outside of a large, gated home in Encino at four o’clock, I can’t say I had much of an idea what to expect. I could guess at a  few of the people that would be present -- some decent-looking girls, a director, maybe some camera men, who knows how many onlookers -- but that was about it. I parked my car, punched the intercom and listened to my heart tattoo loudly against my chest before it jumped at the grinding sound of the door beginning to swing inwards.

As I walked up the front stairs to the house, a stocky butch lesbian wearing a backwards hat and a red bandana tied through one of the loops of her jeans introduced herself as Candi-Girl. She was friendly and calm -- indicating that nothing about our situation was strange.

As a producer, it wouldn’t be. She had witnessed hundreds, probably thousands of hours of footage. For many other people though, certainly for me, watching the filming of a queer porn would be anything but an ordinary occasion.

Sinn Sage entered the bedroom, her long, thick black hair black hair falling over her shoulders and down her back. Elexis Monroe, blonder, a little older, casually wearing jeans and a light blue tank top, was waiting for her.

Sinn Sage and Elexis Monroe

Two days earlier, I had gotten an email from my editor asking if I was interested in covering a porn shoot. Since I am not an idiot, I immediately said yes.

The shoot would be for Girlfriends Films, a brand that, according to its website, is for “Fine folks with good hearts and curious minds” and “Your #1 source for all-girl DVDs in the world.” I can’t say I got much of a sense of the films or the mission from the taglines, but the “About Me” section was a little more helpful. The main idea behind Girlfriends Films, which strangely enough was started as a project in a UCLA extension class for documentary filmmaking, is that the films are, well… not fake.

Though, like any other video porn company, they produce some films with complicated back stories, some films with multiple girls, and of course, extremely explicit sexual content, they are based on the idea that there is some real connection happening on screen.

The girls get to request who they work with, and during the filming, they take a long time for foreplay. In fact, the actual sex -- positions, length of time, toys -- is dictated by them rather than a director.

As Dan O’Connell, the president of the company, says, there isn’t even really a director on set. He, Candi-Girl, and a woman named Sabrina make up the camera crew, and though there is some direction with dialogue, while they are actually filming the sex scenes there is no contact with the girls themselves, just whispering among the crew as to how best to film what is taking place.

Sinn let out an excited, snake-like hiss before getting onto the bed. She pushed herself on top of Elexis and began softly stroking her cheek. For perhaps thirty very intense seconds they just stared at each other, their blond and dark locks intermingling like river currents as they ran their hands through each other’s hair.

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