Our client ERIKALUST – pioneers in Ethical Porn – opened up their doors this January to VIP Journalists across the globe, showing them the work and dedication that goes behind the art of adult filmmaking. Bryony, our PR and Comms Manager, and ERIKALUST’s account manager attended the trip herself, ticking off her first press trip at Little Leaf Agency!
Little Leaf Agency’s PR and Comms Manager, Bryony
With this trip, the team had one goal in mind: to let key journalists into the world of ERIKALUST, and really see what goes on behind the scenes of an adult film. ERIKALUST are known for their stunningly made films geared towards the female gaze. From casting, to set design, to the storyline, each second of the film is well thought out and made with the female viewer in mind. But how do ERIKALUST ensure this? Well, we found out last week…
On the first day of the trip, after settling in and napping (travelling is so tiring?!), ERIKALUST’s PR team greeted us in the stunning Hotel Pulitzer and took us out for dinner in a quaint Catalonian tapas reauarant, made famous by Spanish singer Rosalía, as she claimed they do the best Spanish Omlette. Can confirm- this was true they were incredible. We chatted over a bottle of white wine and incredible tapas and got to know each other. We were all super excited for the following day, but took an early night as we knew it would be a long and jam packed.
On the Friday, we all met eagerly in the hotel reception whilst the PR Team gave us a quick walkthrough of how the day was going to run. Making our way over to ERIKALUST HQ, we all anticipated what the office was going to look like, as none of us had ever seen a porn head office before, would it have a ‘casting couch’? Would it be tucked away from the world? We were all wrong, it was situated in a stunning apartment building, complete with stained glass windows and mosaic tiling on the floor, the kitchen had exposed brick and there was a terrace that one could only dream of having in their workspace. Especially me, someone who works remotely from my 1 bed flat in the Staffordshire!
We first had a speech from Erika Lust, the founder and director and her partner Pablo, who both thanked the journalists profusely for taking the time to visit Barcelona and understand the hard work and dedication that goes into the making of ERIKALUST films. She gave a super empowering speech about why she founded ERIKALUST and the need for porn made for the female gaze. She spoke about the setbacks they receive from advertising companies, social media, and even payment merchants! Then explained that PR is their window into the world, an outlet that not only supports but promotes their platform with no judgement or banning of words and images.
Following this, we stepped out onto the terrace and into a small room in which we met with Anarella, the Intimacy Coordinator who spoke about how important it is to check in with the performers before, during and after filming. Post nut clarity can also happen to performers, and Anarellas job is to talk them through any doubts or negative feelings they may have throughout filming. Luckily for the team, these feelings are rare and this is because of the care and thoughtfulness that Erika and her team put into their performers wellbeing. Following the riveting chat with Anarella, we got to see her and Erika’s throughutlness put into action, as we watched Erika speak to the performers before the filming of Dirty Martini Sex Party. In this short clip, we saw the performers chat about their likes, dislikes and absolute no’s which was really refreshing to see. Knowing that the performers are actually enjoying the sex scene and are not ‘acting’ is great to see.
We then took a tour of the stunning office, meeting every department from finance, to marketing, to sales which made me realise that this company is as ‘normal’ as any and has functioning departments just as any company does and Erika takes her role very seriously for the sake of others and to ensure that the youth of today and future generations have healthy porn to consume, therefore a healthy view on sex and relationships. In fact, not only do this team work hard, they have to work harder than most. Because they can’t select which payment methods to use, they can’t produce paid ads and they certainly can’t post what they want on social media, or even link to their website via social media. They have to find creative ways to market their products, pay their staff and receive payments from their subscribers.
Erika Lust, Founder and Anarella Martinez, Intimacy Coordinator
After a day of chats, questions and tours, we all took some much needed downtime before heading to Soho House for a screening where we got to watch Erika’s personal favourite movies and a film that hasn’t been released yet! Working on this account for almost a year, I got to appreciate and learn a lot about the ERIKALUST universe and the thought that goes into the film making. However, after meeting the whole team, learning that a film can take from 6-12 months to create, and seeing the passion from Erika and her team, I had a newfound appreciation for the films. Myself and the journalists sat in awe as we watched the beautiful films, Siren Song, A Man of Faith, Rain Goddess and Dirty Martini Sex Party.
Myself and the journalists had the best time exploring the beautiful state of Catalonia, and an even better time meeting Erika and her team. The trip opened our eyes to the incredibly hard work they all put in to make sure the world has access to real, ethical, beautiful porn that promotes a healthy mindset and attitude towards sex.
