VIVID STUDIO INSIDER

VIVID STUDIO INSIDER FOR APRIL 30, 2010

VIVID OFFERS MCCREADY'S SEX TAPE PROOF - Vivid has made public a model release signed by country music star Mindy McCready that confirms she transferred rights to a sex tape she made with her ex-boyfriend to a third party. In doing so, Vivid also said it is moving forward with distribution of the steamy Mindy McCready, Baseball Mistress video on Tuesday, May 4th. McCready's attorney had previously sent a "cease and desist" letter to Vivid asserting that the company had no rights to the tape. The notarized model release specifically references "McCready ... eating dinner, relaxing and having sex ... Mindy McCready is a country music star. (She was) over 18 when recorded. Footage is 2 hours, 40 minutes long." Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch said the company has turned the documentation over to McCready's attorney, Adam Dread, and is making it public to show "we have nothing to hide and we have all the appropriate documentation." The signed papers are available to view on www.vivid.com. In a press release Steven added: "We acquired the video last year for our Vivid-Celeb line, believing that McCready's fame was on the rise because she was releasing a new album and would be on the Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew show. It was a very appealing package to us because not only is the footage exciting with very hot sex, all of the paperwork was in order and we knew we were getting a completely legal product. We do, in fact, have the rights to this material and we fully intend to market it. Our door will always be open to Mindy and she should feel free to contact me anytime."

MARCI HIRSCH NAMED 'FREAK OF THE WEEK' - In a good-natured on-line ribbing, Vivid production VP Marci Hirsch was selected as "Freak of the Week" by Internet radio show "The Freak Squad." The program invited Marci to appear on the radio show, and she took the opportunity to discuss her likes, dislikes, turn-ons and turn-offs with the show's hosts Goodbar and The Champ. Among other topics, she talked about the upcoming Batman XXX: A Porn Parody, produced by Axel Braun. Marci told AVN after the program that she "had a lot of fun and the show was hilarious...I enjoy any opportunity to connect with the fans. I look forward to seeing their responses after they've checked out the show and my layout as freak of the week on the website. They'll see I answered many of the sexy questions they've had on their minds."

Her "Freak of the Week" profile and pictures of Marci throughout her life can be viewed at www.TheFreakSquad.com/freakoftheweek.

EYELASHES SET FOR RELEASE BY VIVID-ALT ON MAY 3RD -- Eyelashes, a twisted alt-porn movie from director Eon McKai, will be released by Vivid-Alt and in stores on May 3. The latest movie from McKai is a unique voyeuristic "sexperiment" that uses hand-manipulated optics to refract a visual spectrum of perversion as the lens gazes upon a full menu of sex acts. The movie captures warped and twisted images and offers a closer look to satisfy the mind's erotic curiosity. It lets the viewer look past the actresses' eyelashes and experience a new P.O.V. that was only previously explored in the mind's eye. "Eyelashes" stars Violet Monroe and includes Charlotte Vale, Aiden Starr, Kitty McMuffin, Katie St. Ives, Vin Vericose, Sherwood and Dane Cross.

TRISTAN TAORMINO SPEAKS AT PRINCETON -- Vivid-Ed director Tristan Taormino talked about "My Life As a Feminist Pornographer" at Princeton University on Thursday, April 2. The lecture - which became a campus controversy -- marked Tristan's second visit to Princeton in this academic year; in November, she gave a presentation about non-monogamy, and her talk was so popular that the students decided to invite her back. The undergraduate organization Let's Talk Sex (LeTS) sponsored the talk, which featured clips from her Vivid-Ed movies. Tristan's invitation to speak created controversy and resulted in numerous op-ed articles and letters to the Editor in the Daily Princetonian, the campus newspaper. According to the Daily Princetonian, The Anscombe Society objected to Tristan's lecture and circulated a petition among students. The petition "acknowledged the importance of the discussion but objected to "gratuitous" film clips that its authors said would "damage the conversation by turning away those who would have come if not for the inclusion of actual pornography footage." In order to bring in an opposing viewpoint, Princeton hosted anti-porn activist Pamela Paul, who gave a lecture entitled "Why Porn is Anti-Sex."

Photo credit: Hank Hoffman