From models to moguls - women take over the board room

While the world of fashion has long been dominated by creative designers, many of whom are women, the world of glamour magazines and adult entertainment has been a bastion of male-dominated enterprise. This is understandable given the natural male instincts to acquire wealth and to assert sexual dominance, but what is surprising is just how many women are now emerging to rule and define the 21st Century image of female sexuality. In this article we identify the industry’s leading ladies and discuss how they have transformed their world. From their very inception, the glamour and adult industries were dominated by the Victorian legacy of gender roles, an era in which women were expected to be submissive and males domineering. The early pioneers of the adult and glamour industry, including Larry Flint (Hustler), Hugh Hefner (Playboy), Bob Guccione (Penthouse), and Paul Raymond (Mayfair, Club) were exclusively male, and their embryonic publications have since spawned into the hundreds of titles which are available today. The early growth of the adult film industry was also driven by men, notably Steve Hirsch (Vivid Entertainment), Berth Milton Sr (Private Media Group), Russ Meyer, Lasse Braun, Richard Desmond (Television X), and Adam Glasser. The current turnover of the adult glamour film and magazine industries is simply too large to put precise numbers to (although some estimates ascribe a value of over $80bn). Irrespective of the gender of the industry’s formative leaders, their most lucrative product was indisputably the sexuality of the female form.

The stars of the adult film and glamour magazine industries became fabulously wealthy through the eighties and nineties, and as these leading ladies began to retire so their insights and production capital found a natural home. This instinctive career progression coincided with a change in the corporate culture in which women became accepted as leaders within the business community. Many female entrepreneurs have since taken up positions in the board room, as investors and consumers alike have voted yes with their dollars. There has at last been a transition from the magazine and silver screen to the black leather chair.

The financial landscape of the adult & glamour industries has also been transformed by successive tidal waves of technological innovation, from the advent of video to the Internet and beyond. Changing social attitudes, reduced costs of entry, and fresh brands all enabled the young lionesses to rapidly gain a foothold within the industry, although the old lions have reinvested to keep pace. Increasingly, those companies and corporations who find themselves at the cutting edge of the industry are being led by women. These ladies are experienced, knowledgeable, ambitious, visionary and pragmatic, and the financial performances of their new companies stack up favorably with those run by their male contemporaries. In the remainder of this article we shall put some of these leading ladies under the spotlight to uncover the secrets of their success.

Impact of women in adult publishing

Christie Hefner, CEO, Playboy Enterprises

Arguably the most powerful woman in all of adult entertainment, Christie Hefner has certainly built upon her father’s legacy since being appointed CEO of Playboy Enterprises. The illustrious daughter was quick to understand that content was queen as she set about the task of modernizing the image and technology of the iconic Playboy brand, acquiring leading adult content producers such as the Spice Network and Club Jenna.

Preferring a somewhat lower public profile than her father, Christie Hefner initially joined Playboy as an interim step after graduating from Brandeis University. Five years on, she was appointed Vice-President and ‘heir apparent’ to the Playboy dynasty. In 1982, she became President, and in 1988 rose to the rank of Chair and CEO of Playboy Enterprises. Christie Hefner is quintessentially an objective intellectual, and describes Playboy as a ‘content-driven multimedia and entertainment company consisting of three main divisions: a publishing group, focusing upon television, mobile, and online content; a licensing arm for Playboy’s global consumer products; and location-based entertainment destinations such as the Playboy Club Casino in Vegas and the Playboy Mansion in Macau’.

Over the past three decades Christie Hefner has successfully turned around the fortunes of Playboy Enterprises, preserving its vast turnover while returning the company to profitability after years spent refining new digital technologies and products. Playboy in fact incurred much of the early development costs of switching from print to digital media, was the first to create a web presence in 1994, and spearheaded the transition towards digital editions with their 2005 launch. Online revenues have since doubled from $30 million in 2002 to over $60 million in 2006, as Playboy has expanded its provision of state-of-the-art digital content.

Samantha Lewis, CEO, Digital Playground

Digital Playground has emerged as amongst the most successful of the new breed of digital production companies, achieving widespread acclaim for its glossy brand of interactive adult features. Following its debut in 1993, Digital Playground quickly rose to capture 40% of the adult DVD market. With her penchant for high-end adult entertainment, Samantha Lewis has broken new ground by producing features which appeal strongly to women and couples - prime new marketing territory for the industry. While Joone, the company’s founder, maintained the company at the forefront of digital, HD and VOD technologies, Samantha Lewis masterminded such award-winning features as Pirates and Night Moves. As Company President & CEO, Samantha Lewis was one of the first women to establish a significant presence within what was once an exclusively male enclave. Samantha Lewis and Digital Playground created a leading product by enlisting contract stars such as Jesse Jane & Tera Patrick to drive sales rather than focusing upon corporate branding. Digital Playground employs tasteful formats, cutting edge technology, and attractive models to successfully bridge the divide between mainstream Hollywood and the adult film industry.

Tera Patrick, President, TeraVision

Since breaking away from Club Jenna and Playboy, adult film star Tera Patrick has defined her own distinctive brand of adult entertainment through ‘TeraVision’. Last November she announced a joint venture with Media Entertainment Establishment (MEE), a leading adult film distributor in Europe. Voted businesswoman & Performer of the Year, Tera Patrick has been turning heads for more than just one reason. Understanding the central importance of product branding and erotic content within the adult industry, Tera Patrick made a wise decision to outsource the distribution of her content to MEE and to focus upon what she does best. Blending glamour and ‘hard’ adult entertainment, Tera Patrick believes that her product is ideally tailored to the popular European adult channel networks. Her film company produces glossy vignettes and high definition features for all platforms, including DVD, Blu-ray, Television Broadcast, Pay-Per-View, Internet, mobile phones, and VOD.

Fawn James, Director, Paul Raymond Publications

Following the recent passing of legendary Soho magnate and impressario Paul Raymond, Fawn James has already assumed much of the responsibility for her grandfather’s portfolio of property and magazines. At the tender age of 22, it would seem a tall order for a young woman who is still at University to take over the reins of a £650 million porn and property empire. As Soho’s biggest landlord, spanning some 60 acres of London’s prime entertainment heartland, the future development of much of London’s West End and adult magazine industry will be in Fawn’s hands. Whether Soho goes the way of Times Square or New Orleans will be very much her personal decision.

The future is feminine

Slowly yet surely, women are gaining control over the marketing & presentation of their sexual image. Possessing a more sensual psyche, Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick, Christie Hefner, Samantha Lewis and Suze Randall have already transformed the world of adult glamour with a more refined and erotic product. Their glossy digital revolution is a far cry from the raw and objective presentation of the female form by the early pornographers and videographers. More Hollywood and less Soho, these female visionaries have transformed social attitudes towards sex and erotic cinema, making the adult industry and its stars far more palatable to the general public. As these leading ladies continue to establish a broader and more mainstream product, so the adult market will continue to grow and diversify into a more socially acceptable form of recreation - a brave new digital world of sexuality which is attracting young women, couples and middle class businessmen alike. It can only be a matter of time before the mainstream adult world has been totally transformed by a woman’s touch...