By Peter Berton
PRAGUE – On some girl-girl sites, lesbian sex looks staged at best and uncomfortably awkward at worst.
Not so on Lesbea.com. The elegantly lensed lesbian licentiousness here is a treat for the eyes (and other organs), filmed and presented in a way that looks believable and authentic. The participants seem so genuinely into each other that they seem entirely unaware of the camera.
Lew is co-founder of Lesbea. He sat down with YNOT to discuss how he creates the magic.
YNOT: Why did you start Lesbea?
Lew: We formed our company [Really Useful Ltd.] in 2011 with the aim to create a new network of high-quality adult websites.
Our production team had been shooting sensual erotica for more than 10 years and had become one of the most established producers of lesbian films way before anyone else was doing this kind of thing. We were shooting girls kissing passionately, making eye contact while making love, being intimate, eating each others’ pussies for real instead of for show, and giving each other real orgasms.
Back in the early 2000’s, lesbian porn was nasty, with straight girls feigning orgasms and faking their way through scenes with big toys and aggressive attitudes. We shot films that had feeling, featuring natural girls with genuine chemistry.
We created a very different style, and we knew there was a space for a really sensual, high-quality girl-girl site, so it was one of the first we began developing in our network.
What else makes the site stand out?
I don’t think there is another site out there that offers this kind of loving, high-quality all-girl erotica consistently, without fail, week after week. There is always new content on Lesbea.com, and we never miss a beat on our updates schedule, so our members know they can rely on the site to deliver.
Based on what we’ve learned over the years we avoid shooting with too much use of toys, which makes things more personal and intimate. We have very minimal music — only for the first minute or so of a scene — so there is emphasis on the authentic sounds of lovemaking, and we focus on the feelings between the girls rather than using lavish locations or dressing them up glamorously with too much makeup. We prefer things to be natural.
On a scene-by-scene basis, I think we’re producing some of the best girl/girl content out there right now. We are also big on providing great customer care, and we listen closely to the feedback from members. Their comments often influence our scenes, and we frequently use girls that are suggested to us.
The aesthetic appears focused on realistic, non-porn lesbian erotica.
Yes, absolutely. We try as much as possible to avoid the usual boring porn clichés and conventions that make a scene come across as “performed” rather than being for real.
We don’t like the “tssssss … ahhhhh” fake noises heard so often in porn. We don’t like the aggressive nature of a typical porn scene. We believe sex is beautiful and should be a fun and positive experience.
Obviously we love the intensity of an orgasm and being lost in moments of passion, but it’s never done in a confrontational way like two girls about to do battle. We prefer to capture honest and happy mutual pleasure.
How do you achieve that, from a production standpoint?
We encourage the girls to forget about the camera and focus on one another. We tell them that we will worry about angles and capturing the scene in the most aesthetic way we can. We’ve brought together the best production crews we could find and worked closely with them, so we’re all working to the same ideologies. We’re very lucky to have built such a great team.
We present things more tastefully, so you’ll often notice us focusing on the way a girl’s navel and stomach muscles tremble, or how her neck and face become flushed during her orgasm, or how her legs shake as she comes. Close-ups of pussies are to show how naturally wet the girl is getting, or so we can get in close to the action and feel a part of it.
We have long, in-depth discussions about how our scenes should feel, and we work with the girls very closely on this, also. We like the camera to be very unobtrusive so the audience isn’t aware of it. This allows all the attention to be on the girls. When the camera moves, it’s caressing the girls instead of floating about like there is a guy behind it controlling the scene.
Our production guys come from the mainstream, and they have degrees in film production. Everything from pre- to post-production is a carefully considered process. A lot of work goes into making our final product look and feel the way it does.
You appear to be working primarily with Eastern European models. Do they have a different attitude about the work that helps you achieve the look you’re seeking?
We work mainly in Europe, but there isn’t a specific reason for that other than there are incredibly beautiful girls here, and many of our production crews are based in Europe or the UK. We have plans to use American girls, maybe Australian girls and hopefully some female guest directors in future.
Has your approach helped you maintain business in an age of endless free porn online?
The chairman of our company, JT, was one of the founders of YouPorn, so we have a unique kind of business model that incorporates the use of free online tube sites. Things have changed a lot in the adult industry over the years, especially on the internet and with the influx of free tube sites and torrent-based file sharing.
Rather than just remain stuck in the past, we believe in moving forward, understanding more about these things and trying to work with, rather than against, them. It’s not just relevant to the adult industry. This is going on everywhere and includes the music and film industries.
User demand and the way people want to consume media has changed as technology has evolved. Businesses and media need to have the foresight and ability to adapt and change to keep up with what people want and how and when they want it.
There are still many ways to be successful in this industry, despite so many people sharing content for free. We’ve found a way to operate by working with free tube sites that brings us great success.
If you have your finger on the pulse and you know how to create content that speaks to people, then there is a way to achieve great success. Lots of people are still willing to pay for quality content and support something they appreciate, so we listen to the members of our sites, we interact with them and we really care about their feedback. Their support is integral to us.
What are your future plans?
For our company, we have a lot of new and exciting websites in development. In fact, during our recent [annual general meeting] we drew out plans well into 2014.
For Lesbea.com specifically, we’ll be looking at using girls from America and other places in the world. We’ve talked about creating more story-based scenes and possibly an erotic web series, and also we plan to work with some female directors who will have the creative freedom to produce new content in their own style for from time to time.
I like the idea of Lesbea.com spreading its wings and becoming the place for all kinds of genuine girl-girl erotica in future.
