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Abby Winters
Awesome Aussie Amateurs
Abby Winters is the creative force behind her eponymous web site, a
treasure trove of hot Aussie amateurs. She started abbywinters.com
seven years ago after unsuccessfully searching for a sincerely amateur
site that would suit her tastes. Garion Hall, the CEO of the site, is
responsible for the business operation, paradigm adherence and overall
performance of the company. With no previous experience running a
business before, he followed the dream with passion and common sense.
The proof of his ability is in the continuing success of
abbywinters.com. The two took some time out of their hectic shooting
schedule for a candid conversation with ErosZine about how they began
in the business, how they keep fans happy and their definition amateur.
ErosZine: Okay, the obvious question, and one I ask everyone I interview: how did you wind up in this business?
Abby: As a consumer, I was disappointed by the quality of erotica out
there. I always had a thing for amateur models—real girls are
accessible and much more appealing—but was disappointed how sites
always tried to make amateur models LOOK and ACT like porn stars. They
totally missed the appeal of an amateur model in the first place!
So, I got a cheapie digital camera and some random women and paid them
a pittance in a dodgy hotel room, and did what I thought was sexy. My
vision back then in 2000 was pretty unclear and the oldest shoots on
the site are the worst in many ways. We keep them on there to remind us
of where we came from!
Originally, I planned to sell my shoots to other sites, but when I
presented them to buyers who said they were interested, they told me to
go away and reshoot with makeup, heels, pouts, all the stuff other
producers do to make amateur models look like pros. I told them to get
lost and thought that it surely could not be THAT hard to start my own
damn site! Boy, was I wrong!
Satisfyingly, those other sites are out of business now.
Garion: I was buddies with Abby for ages and worked on the site with
her when it was being conceived. I became more involved in the site as
I realized it was becoming popular and ended up as the CEO, when Abby
left to pursue other interests.
ErosZine: Which came first, your web site or your films?
Abby: Definitely the website. In fact, originally, we never even shot
video of our models. We do DVDs to help people realize there is an
alternative to the mainstream producers out there and our home is the
web. The web is a new distro mechanism and we started producing content
for the web first. It happens that web stuff can go on DVD quite
easily—we use camera gear that is of broadcast quality—but as other
companies are learning, it's not so easy to go the other way: DVD-based
content to web.
ErosZine: Your models are all fresh-faced. Are they all within a certain age range?
Abby: All our models are over 18, of course, and most are under 24. We
look for models who fit our paradigm and if they happen to be a bit
older, we shoot them as well.
ErosZine: They also don't wear much makeup—if any—which contributes to
the look of both innocence and youth. You use the word "amateur,” which
in the US is now somewhat co-opted by people at home creating
do-it-yourself porn. What do you consider "amateur" to mean?
Garion: Yes, the word "amateur" can have a lot of meanings, referring
to the production values and/or the models. In our case, our models are
amateur because they don’t earn a living from modeling; in fact, most
of our models work for us for a few shoots and for no one else.
Abby: Our production values are professional, though that can be a
struggle sometimes, because many of our shooting staff are ex-models
and not many 18- to 24-year-old women know much about the technical
aspects of shooting video or stills, and especially erotica. So we put
all staff through a rigorous training program when they start, which
appears to work well!
ErosZine: Do you find your actresses or do they find you?
Garion: I would say that it's about half and half. Our models are
always referring people they know to us and we advertise lightly as
well. We have a website aimed specifically at models,
models.abbywinters.com, which appears to be working well. We aim to
allay their fears and educate them about what to expect. Then they
email or call us and we take it from there.
ErosZine: Have any of the women you've "discovered" gone on to become "professional?"
Abby: Not as far as we know. We don't have a rep—or desire—to "break
new talent" and most models are very keen to work for us when we call
and offer shoots, but they do not actively seek a career in the
industry. If they wanted to we'd do whatever we could to help them,
though.
ErosZine: Who do you think are your core fans or subscribers? And who
do you create your films for? Specifically lesbians? Curious college
women? Men who are fans of younger women?
Garion: We like to think we appeal to all people equally. We're keen on
the idea that most people out there are looking for stuff that is
SEXY…it could be glam, BDSM, amateur, whatever. So long as it’s sexy,
they’re interested.
Abby: Of course, we have die hard fans who love everything we do no
matter how bad it is, and die hard fetishists who claim we're lame,
cause most of our models shave their legs and underarms. We claim our
models are "natural,” meaning no boob jobs and most have lotsa pubic
hair.
So, in terms of the hardcore fans, I think we appeal to people who like
models real, healthy and happy. But we have plenty of people who tell
us, now they have found us, their expectations have risen a lot and
they find other producers’ material less satisfying, more obviously
fake and pretentious and contrived. We seem to appeal to peoples’ base
need for SEXY and that can transcend drop-dead classic good looks or
"perfect" bodies.
ErosZine: Do you receive requests for particular photo sets or movie scenes?
Abby: We do. But the longer we're around the more set in our ways we
become. We're less open to new ideas and more interested in keeping the
paradigm true to our vision.
Garion: A lot of the requests we get from customers are just totally
off the paradigm, so we tell them thanks but no thanks. Sometimes we
get ideas from customers, usually via our discussion boards, that are
brilliant, and we implement them soon after.
Abby: In the formative years, 2001 to 2003, a bunch of our customers
helped us define exactly what our paradigm was—and was not—and really
clarified our thinking. We took more risks then, had an equal number of
hits and misses. Now we’re more conservative, but by god, we stick to
that paradigm!
Garion: I have always thought of it as being like a soap opera or TV
drama series. We don't want to change stuff too much or the people who
pay us might change their mind. Generally, people like to know what to
expect and not be challenged.
Abby: Sometimes we chuck in a random shoot or make some change to
challenge people. There's always a flare up on the boards: half the
people hate it, half of them love it and two weeks later everyone just
accepts it. We lose some members and we gain others.
ErosZine: Your sets appear to be models' homes, bedrooms, dorm rooms, etc. Is that deliberate?
Abby: Definitely. Our models always wear their own clothes and we shoot
them in "natural," realistic locations. We're not out to produce a
fantasy, more of a reality. Real young women, with real desires,
thoughts and concerns.
ErosZine: Have you ever considered building sets or shooting in more
contrived situations, for example fantasies, swimming pools, the stuff
we usually see in porn?
Garion: We have considered it. It would definitely make life a hell of
a lot easier! Amateur models often live with their parents or in a
share house, which can represent some unique challenges for the
shooting teams! We do a lot of shoots outside in the summer months, in
parks and gardens.
ErosZine: Do you think being in Australia, so very far removed from the
mainstream porn world—and America, in particular—has an effect on your
work?
Abby: Some people say it does but I personally don't think so.
Australian culture is very reflective of American culture in so many
ways and certainly our local competitors produce stuff that is not
uniquely Australian.
Garion: Abby and I have often spoken about how if we were both born in
the US and started the site there that it'd have the same ideals and
style that it has here in Australia.
Abby: Yeah, we're all just people with the same needs, at the end of
the day. What country you happen to live in is less relevant, in my
opinion. It's like how different countries have different reps for hot
chicks: Swedish backpackers are supposedly the best women around, or
California beach babes, or whatever. I reckon there are just as many
attractive women per capita in any country.
Garion: We try not to push the Australian aspect of the site too much.
Or rather, we mention it, make it clear, but we’re not saying that
Aussie babes are any better than anyone else. We don't use it as a
selling point, though commentators make a lot of hay out of it.
ErosZine: Do you have any other creative pursuits or upcoming projects you'd like to tell us about?
Garion: We're working on splitting the site up into three areas soon,
three separate sites: solo, girl-girl and solo masturbation videos (we
call them "intimate moments"). This will allow us to add a lot more
content to each of the sites and let customers choose their faves.
We'll be "grandfathering" all our existing customers so they have
access to all three. And offering deals like, buy a sub to two sites,
and get the third one free, and so on.
Abby: We're also going to be releasing around 23 DVDs in 2008! And
we're looking at starting a new line of DVDs, our "girl-girl fun"
stuff: groups of young women just hanging out, being cool...and naked!
No sexual contact, but usually some activity-based stuff…yoga, for
example or just messing around on a beach.
ErosZine: It sounds like your fans have a lot to look forward to!
Thanks for your time! You readers can find all of Abby’s deliciously
natural models at www.abbywinters.com.
[Written Dec. 2007]
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