LOS ANGELES — The 2020 XBIZ Actress of the Year and Crossover Star of the Year, Maitland Ward, has been spending her isolation time in Los Angeles creating at-home content for her social media platforms.
Adapting her schedule to the production lull — produced by the FSC-recommended voluntary hold, a testing-related moratorium and the overall recommendation by Los Angeles and California officials to stay "Safer At Home" — the Deeper contract star has been focusing her attention on her personal content streams.
"I'm keeping busy doing OnlyFans, my premium Snapchat and my Patreon," Ward told XBIZ today. "I'm going to be doing CamSoda soon, and I'm also creating SFW shows for Instagram Live."
Ward reflected on how the first week of staying at home had changed the way she thought about her personal content.
A noted mainstream actress since her teen years (best known for her co-starring role in late 1990s-early 2000s staple "Boy Meets World"), Ward transitioned into adult performance last year via sexy cosplaying, indie content and social media platforms.
"Although I've been creating clips and interacting with my fans for a long time," Ward told XBIZ, "I have noticed that the current situation with COVID-19 has made me rethink the way I tackle at my personal content."
These are Maitland Ward's 7 Tips for Making At-Home Content in the Time of COVID-19:
- Be ready to talk to the room. "I've noticed that a lot more people want to talk. They just don't want to stare at your sexy content — they actually wanna talk and it most definitely feels more communal. I feel like an entertainment vessel in that way, trying to cheer my fans at a time like this."
- Try to be even more positive than usual. "I think of what we are doing now as a public service — I do! People more than ever need to have a haven where they can experience a sense of lightness and fun. Be ready to throw what I call 'fun parties.' I've done a 'Coronavirus Shower Party,' where I played the songs like 'My Sharona,' and I sang the lyrics as 'No Corona,' then I get silly and sing 'Don't Stand So Close To Me,' then I act out the song 'Car Wash' to make it be about thoroughly disinfecting yourself. I make a point of making things fun and sexy. Providing that is important."
- Adapt content ideas that have worked for you — and keep reinventing them. "I do a show called 'Bedtime Stories' every week, and now I've renamed it 'Love in the Time of Corona,' after the great Gabriel García Marquez novel 'Love in the Time of Cholera.' With the 'Bedtime Stories' show, every week, usually on a Monday night I either write or have fans write erotic stories, and then I read them out or act them out. It's the most popular thing I've had in the last two years since I started doing my own content. They're still very sexy and fun, but I also now deliberately add an element of lightness."
- Be yourself more than ever. "I'm gonna go bake brownies on Instagram Live! People are enjoying what you do in your everyday life. They wanna see you be you, not just the sexy lady in the bikini with the 'come-hither' look. Go SFW for a change and help people who might be alone at home feel like they're spending quality time with others. And then you can go back to being the dream swimsuit girl, which is also needed right now!"
- We have a competitive advantage. "Everybody is camming right now, from people having Zoom work meetings and classes, to significant others' having WhatsApp sex across town. And the porn industry was already set up for that! We are the experts, we've been connecting like this for a while. All of the camgirls and performers can really help out everyone by setting an example and showing what we've learned while staring into our ringlights! It's not 'just helping people jerk off,' it's communicating through a screen. Although I don't wanna minimize the jerking off part: that is also important, and it does help people get release and get all that frustration they have right now out!"
- We are all in this together. "Remember — It's a two-way street. It's not just 'fans' or 'customers' coming in to get something from you. We are all a community right now, and they are also helping me in this time of solitude. Just remember to be grateful for that."
- Remember: a pandemic can bring the world more together. "We all share this situation around the globe. My fans come from literally everywhere. They tell me what their experiences are right now in their cities and countries, and they educate me about what's going on in their communities. This is now a global communal experience and these 'silly cam shows' can show you small things and human moments that the Nightly News' parade of horrors won't."
For Ward, sex workers are not just a distraction, but have always, historically, been essential workers in dire times like these
"I don't think sex workers get enough credit for how essential what we provide is," she concluded.
"What we do, and how we do it, is also helping many people with their feelings, emotions and mental health at this time."