MEXICO CITY – Wasteland.com’s recently released adult short Sex in the Viral Age (A Coronavirus Film) was highlighted in a feature article published in the Mexican edition of Playboy magazine on last Thursday, March 26.
The article, “La Película Porno Filmada Con Susana Distancia” (“The Porno Movie Shot With Susana Distancia”) was written by Playboy Mexico’s editor Arturo Flores, who is also a noted author and stand-up comedian.
Susana Distancia (“Susan Distance”) is the name of a super-heroine created by the Mexican government to educate the public about social distancing protocols during the current coronavirus pandemic. Susana Distancia stars in a series of animated shorts promoting safer public health protocols to avoid transmission of the virus COVID-19.
“As Ian Malcolm said in ‘Jurassic Park’ life always finds a way,” Flores’ article begins. “And so does eroticism. Only a few weeks after the U.S. quarantined people in an attempt to stop the propagation of coronavirus, the first porn movie adhering to the concept of social distancing has been shot.”
The Playboy article includes interviews with Wasteland director Colin Rowntree (who Flores identifies as “a cult filmmaker who has made over 600 adult films”) and Sex in the Viral Age star Sicilia Ricci – “also known as Dr. June, a scientist specialized in epidemiology who works at a University of Missouri lab.”
Noting that Ricci “currently works in the implementation of controls to demonstrate that her lab has the proper technology to test people for coronavirus in case the government would need it,” Flores explains that she is under “moderate quarantine.”
“For scientists, it has been very frustrating to observe everything from home,” Ricci told Flores in an interview conducted via Facebook. Ricci adds that she wishes they would “eliminate all the red tape” preventing widespread testing.
Ricci told Flores that after her work shift, when she avoids being in close proximity to other scientists, she returns home and diligently posts videos to her OnlyFans account.
“I am very disciplined when it comes to my fans,” Ricci told Playboy.
The magazine also features a provocative photo pictorial of Ricci “wearing her lab coat and little else,” according to a press release issued by Wasteland on Monday morning.
Rowntree explained to Flores that he was filled with indignation by the cavalier attitude of some in the adult industry who attempted to hijack the coronavirus conversation without respecting the most elementary public health measures.
“People started uploading generic porno scenes, extremely low-budget stuff, featuring ‘actors’ wearing surgical masks and gloves, and not respecting social distancing,” Rowntree told Flores via email. “They hashtagged the content #COVID19 to attract attention, but nobody reflected on how coronavirus could actually affect adult performers and directors.”
Rowntree said that he reached out to Ricci, a regular Wasteland player, and the two of them crafted the script for Sex in the Viral Age remotely, in only a few hours, using a shared Google Doc.
Rowntree also directed the film remotely, via Skype, from his New Hampshire home. Ricci’s OnlyFans videographer, who served as Director of Photography for the film, then Dropboxed the files to the director, who edited the short and achieved final cut in only five days.
Rowntree told Flores that Sex in the Viral age is more than a film; it’s also Rowntree’s “manifesto.”
“XXX filmmakers have to understand that they can make ‘message movies’ respecting social distancing,” Rowntree said. “Not everything has to be the usual gonzo garbage.”
Ricci said she’s heard from fans who told her that “they have bought the film for friends and lovers who tested positive but are asymptomatic, and that it has helped them pass the self-quarantine in a safe and fun way.”
Sex in the Viral Age (A Coronavirus Film) can be downloaded now from Wasteland.com and viewed at Adult Empire.
