Grabbys Spotlight: Careers for content-creators
A panel discussion with some of the industry's biggest stars.
One of the highlights of this year's Grabby Awards was a panel show presented by Naked Sword.
Faciliated by Ben Rush, the panel consisted of Sir Peter, Jake Mathews, Derek Kage, John Jai, and Callum & Cole.
The discussion was an opportunity for the performers to share insights about their personal journeys in the industry, and also to contrast studio work with independent content-creation.
Here's some of the key quotes:
Sir Peter: "In the beginning I was quite reserved about what I would share about my life, but over time, I've become more confident and have built a rapport with my fans."
"In studio scenes, I'm playing a character. On my platforms, I'm just myself."
Jake Mathews: "It's important to have a space outside the industry - a space to call your own. This work can be intense, but I constantly find community and passion and friendship on every set that I go to.
Derek Kage: "I've always been a bit of a slut. I'm a really big slut. I've never had any problems getting naked, showing off, putting on a show - it's never been something that I've been shy about. When I realised that I could make money out of sex, it was off to the races."
"I started my fan sites in March 2020. By May 2022, I'd started doing studio porn."
"My advice is to always be respectful of every single person on set. Don't try to push boundaries, always be professional. This is a job. At the end of the day, always be yourself. You need to make the most of it while you can."
"Studios have given me a platform for my audience to want to watch my fan-sites, which is more unfiltered.
"You have to take care of yourself - physically, mentally, financially. I'm filming 15-20 scenes a month. I don't hardly go out, I don't really drink, I work out consistently, I have a therapist."
John Jai: "I studied performing arts at college but soon realised that there's not many opportunities in the West End. I lost my job because of Covid - I was working in retail. I decided to throw myself in the deep end of fan-subscription content.. My nudes were already out there on the internet."
"Working in studio productions has allowed me to explore different sides of my personality and character. It's taught me how to be a bit more authentic and love myself for who I am."
"My advice would be to be mindful of family members and other people that it might effect. My mum ended up getting a screenshot in her Facebook DMs. That was a conversation that I did not want to have. I'd told them that I was an underwear model, when I was actually filming porn."
"I created a character for OnlyFans - a dumb, daddy-pleasing bottom. Fans loved the innocence of the character. Studio work helped me to step outside of the box that I put myself in. I was perceived as a bottom on social media but I'm actually more of a top in my personal life."
Callum & Cole: "We'd known each other for two weeks when we started working as web-cam performers. We fell in love on camera."
Ben Rush: "I made one movie, sort of as a joke. I met Tim Valenti at Naked Sword - one project led to another. Here I am, four years later."
Gareth Johnson