13+ years of industry experience and as much energy, passion and beauty as ever, Mandy Mitchell is truly someone to be admired.
I was lucky enough to catch up with her last week to talk about representation within the industry and in the mainstream, marketing for models, and how to secure your bag as a trans model (or otherwise). Read on for her insights on the porn industry and the world at large:
Let’s start with your story. How did you get involved in the industry?
Back in 2005, a photographer working for Shemale Yum [ed. note: now GroobyGirls] saw an advertisement of mine on Craigslist’s now-defunct Erotic Services and asked me if I had any interest in porn. I gave it a shot. At the time, I was completely unfamiliar with trans porn or trans online culture really at all. My initial photo sets and videos were evidently pretty popular. Soon after, I worked for Shemale Strokers and Vicki Richter, released my first scenes on DVD, started my own website (the now-defunct Mandytgirl.com) and by 2007 or 2008 I shot my first scenes for Kink and Devils films. I think it was 2008 or 2009 that I launched Mandy-mitchell.com, with what became the TGirl Network, and started regularly producing hardcore Trans Lesbian and Fetish content. I won Solo site of the year at the TEA awards in 2011 & 2012, and then went on hiatus from July 2012- May 2015 . In 2015 I married porn performer Bianca Stone and we started producing content as a team, making fetish and Trans lesbian content together.
If you weren’t making adult content, what would you be doing with your life?
Honestly, I have no idea. Getting into trouble somehow.
Do you have any plans to transition into a mainstream career?
I don’t think Hollywood wants me, but I am always willing to get paid and try new things. I did a bunch of “mainstream” trans porn, if you can ever call trans porn mainstream.
Would you ever work with a professional studio? Why or why not?
I have. I probably will again. Usually money and sex are good motivators. I dip in and out. When I have a good connection with a director, I will often times bust out a bunch of movies working for them.
What are some things about being a trans model that the average person wouldn’t realize?
There’s a level of hate that gets directed at trans people by this world on a day-in, day-out basis; attacks on our rights to public spaces, healthcare, education and so on. It takes a lot of courage to be an adult performer of any kind, but to be a trans performer, and to be open and out about our bodies and sex is a whole other level of bravery.
What are your interests outside of work? Do you have other creative endeavors?
I like playing piano though I haven’t had one this last year. I spend a lot of time with my wife and business partner Bianca Stone doing life together. We work a lot, but we also travel and go out with friends and stuff - normal queer couple stuff.
How do you promote your content? What does marketing look like for models like you?
Marketing is an ever-changing endeavor in porn. It used to be web forums and affiliates were the way to market content. Then social media happened, and the older model was kind of surpassed by the newer model of porn consumption and porn marketing. I think social media is definitely useful, but with the Twitter shadowbans and increasing crackdowns on various other platforms, I think social media as a primary avenue of marketing porn has probably seen its heyday.
I think having one’s own website can be useful, but also may ultimately be a relic of the past as the primary way by which porn creators reach their target audience. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely money to be made having a membership site - I still have mine, and for performers with larger audiences than mine the money can be considerable. But I think the primary way people find porn worldwide is changing and shifting more and more into venues like Pornhub, Modelhub, and other clipsites. And it is perfectly possible to make a lot of money in the current climate without a membership site.
How has your production process changed over the years?
Production has been a learning process for me. I used to pay shooters to shoot everything in the first part of my porn career. It wasn’t really until the second chapter of my adult career when I started to learn how to use a camera, which I am still learning to do. I started out with a Canon 70D. I shot with a 35mm Sigma Lens for a bit, and more recently have switched to using a 4k Sony camcorder. Shooting on the DSLR was pretty, but also cumbersome, and I was ready for something a little easier to use for POV content with Bianca.
Do you have any advice for models who are considering working with professional studios?
It’s been a solid year since I have shot for anyone but myself, and in this fast changing and rapidly growing market of trans porn I feel a little bit out of touch. It used to be like five or six companies, and they pretty much had standard rates. A few girls could ask for higher rates, but other than that it was a take it or leave it kind of thing. I never really fit into the mold of what people saw trans performers looking like, or behaving like, and sometimes that meant I got paid less or worked less. Other times that meant I got paid more, especially when my career really took off.
Ultimately I think focusing on one’s own productions and really working to be taken care of through them allows a performer much more leeway to take gigs that feel good, and to pass on ones that aren’t right. It’s difficult to be entirely self-sustaining through porn, so it’s good to have other revenue streams be they camming, phone sex, other forms of sex work.
In trans porn only a handful of people can sustain a quality of life solely off of studio porn checks, so for the rest it’s super important to get money from as many sources as is safe and accessible to do so.
What needs to change in the adult industry in terms of the way trans models are talked about/portrayed?
I don’t know if my concerns primarily lie with how trans models are portrayed, as much as how we are treated, how much money we make, how safe we are coming to and from work and what kind of opportunities we have for stable happy lives.
Porn is and always has been a beautiful grotesque carnival of humanity’s desires and thoughts - the best and worst of culture in general. So I think it’s difficult to enter into the realm of how trans people are being portrayed, because, well, it’s porn.
My more pressing concerns; I want trans performers to be paid well, have opportunities for growth and advancement in the larger industry, feel safe using the bathroom at industry events, not to be treated like second class people.
What can your fans and followers do to support you, and other models?
Spend money. Send money. No strings attached. Because being trans is so expensive. Every part of it.
Stand up for trans people. Be allies in public.
[ed. note: the best way to send cash is through a Modelhub tip - select the "Send a Tip" option from the sidebar]
If you could change one thing about society, what would it be?
I mean, I was gonna say decriminalize sex work, but if I have the power to change anything, maybe it would be something bigger than just changing one law. But for now, I’ll say that.
What’s your favorite song right now?
I am going through a weird dry spell with music right now. Probably because I haven’t had a piano this year, and when I am not playing music it almost hurts to listen to other peoples music.
Are there any Pornhub models you’d like to work with?
Tons, but I’m shy and I am not going to say publicly. But if I have been nice to you, or follow you or whatever, I probably would make porn with you.
Thanks and gratitude to Mandy for taking the time to speak with me, and to share her insights. Make sure to catch up with her at her website, on Twitter, and Pornhub.
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