LOS ANGELES — Amateur porn site Step1Models.com has responded to a documentary created by Rashida Jones, entitled “Hot Girls Wanted.”
The show, set to air on Netflix on May 29, explores the amateur porn industry and examines at the exploitation of women in the industry.
The title of “Hot Girls” reportedly stems from the advertisements on places such as Craigslist to find potential amateur models who need cash fast and so turn to the adult entertainment industry — but according to Step1Models.com owner Big T, the majority of women are not exploited at all.
“My models know what they're doing. They aren’t exploited or used at all,” says Big T who in the past has recruited from Craigslist to find amateur models for his site. “We have proper documentation for the model to sign, such as model releases, forms to confirm their age, STD and AIDS tests if necessary for hardcore scenes, (although almost all my sex scenes involve condoms) as well as taking photocopies of two valid forms of ID.”
“It’s a very unsexy and time consuming process, but it needs to be done to cover us in terms of legal issues, but also our adult credit card providers [such as] CCBill expect and demand it before content goes up,” Big T adds. “I also film the paperwork process to show that i never tell the model something different than what is in the paperwork.”
Big T says that he is proud to debunk the myth that models do not know what they are doing and are not paid well.
“We pay our models well. All of them read and sign the agreements, then they give verbal releases on video, stating exactly what they are doing in the shoot and what they are being paid,” Big T explains. “They know they’re going on a website and they know their families/husband/boyfriend may stumble across their videos and photos... but it’s a risk they are taking and a fully informed decision they make.”
Big T notes that he does his part to protect content through searches on the web and by posting DMCA notices, so that the company’s videos and images do not show up in places other than his site, which has security measures in place. He also explains that tube sites make the most money and exploit models.
“Users of tube sites post videos anonymously, there are no signed forms of consent, no agreement in place,” Big T concludes. “The focus of Rashida Jones’ documentary should be on these types of sites; ‘revenge porn’ uploaded by angry boyfriends, underage teens posting videos of themselves and later regretting it, full names and personal details accompanying the videos... this should be what she’s focusing on, not mainstream sites who have agreements with models who know what they’re doing.”
For more information, visit Step1Models.com.
