They’d been awake since 5 a.m.
So—after an exhausting morning on set—Jade Venus and Tori Easton assumed no one would mind when they retreated to a shoothouse bedroom for a 30-minute nap prior to a scene last month in Los Angeles.
It turned out to be the shortest snooze ever.
“We’d barely closed our eyes before Ariel busted into the room and yelled at us,” Venus says with a laugh. “She bitched us out and got us back on set.”
Yes, Venus is referring to Ariel Demure, the A-list performer.
But also Ariel Demure, the director.
And Ariel Demure, the screenwriter.
And the makeup artist.
And the hairstylist.
And the costume designer for one of the more elaborate—and ambitious—scenes in the history of trans porn.
“She’s the Jacqueline of all Trades,” performer Kasey Kei says of Demure. “She’s very passionate. When she has a vision, she executes it. She makes it fucking happen.”
Fans of adult film will discover that firsthand on Nov. 23 when “Gorgons and Goddesses” is unveiled on the OnlyFans accounts of 11 of the top trans performers in the adult industry. A VOD and DVD release is expected in January.
The orgy scene marks the editorial debut for Demure, a perennial Performer of the Year nominee who worked as a hair stylist and cosmetologist before entering the adult industry.
A presale for the scene begins today on the OnlyFans accounts of Demure and her 11 co-stars: Venus, Kei, Easton, Brittany Kade, Foxxy, Izzy Wilde, Khloe Kay, Eva Maxim, Leilani Li, Emma Rose and trans fashion model/actor/musician Gian Gunn, who appears in a non-sex role.
“I thought it was time that something like this be made,” Demure tells PornCrush. “I have a lot of respect for where porn has come—like, from where it started, its origins and what it used to be.
“But I think it's really cool to incorporate art into porn, to make it more than just what's easy to sell, what's marketable. I wanted to do something that's cool.”
“Gorgons and Goddesses” is based loosely on Greek mythology. The scene opens with nine of the performers serving as underlings to gay performer Michael Boston and trans male Austin Spears who, as Kei puts, “treats them shit.”
Demure, Venus and Easton enter the scene as gorgons, with Demure playing Medusa. The gorgons obliterate the male gods and then invite the nine slaves to join them.
Photo by @inamorata_photo
Needless to say, an orgy commences.
“It's a metaphor for how fortunate we are as individuals to have the autonomy that we have now,” Demure says. “We’re able to be our own bosses and to create a future for ourselves.”
When it came to casting, Demure sought out the industry’s best-of-the best, securing commitments from all nine of the performers featured in Transfixed’s critically-acclaimed “Muses” series. Also added were Kade—AVN’s Best Trans Newcomer in 2023—and Li, one of genre’s top up-and-comers.
“She has this energy about her,” Demure says of Li. “She's so magnetic and so humble and so sweet and so genuine. We’ve become fast friends.”
Granted, no one is closer to Demure than Venus and Easton. They attend industry events together, have “watch parties” when their scenes are released and serve as mentors to one another. They call each other sisters.
And sometimes, “gorgons.”
“The term doll gets thrown around a lot in the trans community,” Demure says. “And I think it's funny, because I’ve never felt like a doll. I've never identified with that. For everybody else, that makes sense to them and it feels right. But I've never felt like a doll and I've never felt like a goddess. I'm an artist, but I wouldn't say a goddess.
“So me, Tori, and Jade, we were doing as we do, and cackling or whatever. I said, ‘If they're the goddesses, then we're the gorgons.’ And we’ve just kind of run with that over the past couple years. And then this thought occurred to us while we were hanging out.”
“Gorgons and Goddesses” was filmed on the ranch of Kelly Holland, the former CEO and Owner of Penthouse Global Media. The scene was co-directed and lensed by Michael Vegas and co-written with Demure by close friend Charlotte Rickard.
Including hair, makeup, dialogue, photoshoots and sex, the performers spent about eight hours on set.
The day was tiring, they said, but far from tense or tedious.
“It was fucking fantastic,” Kei tells PornCrush. “We all know each other. We’re all such fucking sisters and we’re all such hard workers.. It was a lot of hanging out and shooting the shit and saying, ‘Damn, bitch. You looking fucking good!’ We were hyping each other up.
“The current generation of top trans performers … it’s really not cliquey. Everyone of us is a genuinely sweet person. It’s so refreshing to be around each other. I’m truly happy for everyone’s come-up. It truly feels like a sisterhood.”
Even though it featured 11 people, Venus says the sex portion of the scene wasn’t difficult to navigate. Aside from some loose guidelines, performers were allowed to freelance and act on instinct.
Photo by @inamorata_photo
“I actually prefer group scenes like that,” Venus says. “If I need to take a break or if I need water, I can step off set and no one notices. Plus, it’s more fun to play with a lot of people.”
Demure agrees.
“I've shot a couple orgies at this point,” Demure says. “It was still like by far one of the easiest ones to shoot because we all were just so on the same page. So simpatico. We had already done that whole long day of acting and pictures.
“We needed to fuck. It was time.”
For Demure, “Gorgons and Goddesses” is the first of what should be many directing ventures to come. She says she’s already planned three more projects for 2024. Her co-stars would expect nothing less.
“She’s very passionate,” Venus says. “Once she has something in her head, it’s there. And she just goes for it. In the past she’s channeled it into her gowns and dresses, but this is the biggest thing I’ve ever seen her do.”
Photos used in this article by @inamorata_photo
Photo by @inamorata_photo
