VIVID STUDIO INSIDER FOR OCTOBER 16, 2009

VIVID STUDIO INSIDER FOR OCTOBER 16, 2009

SHAUNA SAND EXPOSED SPARKS AN AVALANCHE OF MEDIA EXPOSURE – The popular gossip site TMZ.com disclosed that Vivid was about to release a Shauna Sand Exposed video and the news spread like wild fire around the world. When Shauna announced that Vivid had "no right" to release the sex tape and was considering legal action to stop its release, the media climbed all over the story, with coverage popping up from Buffalo to Barcelona and even New Delhi in media ranging from CBS to The New York Daily News.

Said the CBS report, “She, of course, doesn't mind you seeing her naked images in Playboy, the thousands of pictures of her gallivanting in three-dimensionally stretched spandex outfits at celebrity parties or micro-bikini shots in the pages of gossip magazines….But please don't watch her sex tape.”

An Associated Content report by Hartley Engel began: “ Surprise, surprise, another celebrity sex tape has emerged to titillate the masses and bring ill repute - or is it wanted publicity? - upon its subject. In this case it's former Playboy centerfold Shauna Sand, 38, who also happens to be the ex-wife of actor and reality show star Lorenzo Lamas. According to Reuters, Vivid Entertainment has acquired the explicit sex tape Shauna Sand Exposed (which) allegedly stars the curvy 5' 2" beauty and her current boyfriend. But Shauna Sand has other plans.” Engel also reports:

“Interestingly, Vivid Entertainment is the same outfit that released what is perhaps the world's most famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) sex tape of all time: the Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee sex tape. In addition, Vivid also released a graphic sex tape featuring Kim Kardashian and her ex-boyfriend Ray J. But those sex tapes did nothing to hurt the careers of Pam Anderson and Kim Kardashian. One could argue, in fact, that their careers were greatly enhanced by the release of their sex tapes.” Throughout the controversy Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch has maintained Vivid had the legal right to distribute the video.”

The controversy and coverage continued during the week as TMZ.com obtained a copy of a letter sent by Sand’s attorney to Vivid. Their follow-up story read: “Shauna Sand is not in the business of selling sex tapes -- just making them -- and now the former Mrs. Lorenzo Lamas has lawyered up to block the sale of her most recent work. Shauna's lawyer, Brooks Holcomb (that's not his porn name), has fired off a letter to Steve Hirsch, Prez of Vivid Entertainment, demanding that he ‘cease and desist’ from hawking the video of Shauna and her most recent BF having sex. Holcomb claims the tape was ‘not created or intended for sale or public distribution.’ And the lawyer is asking Vivid to ante up ‘written proof’ that it has authority to release it. Shauna says she never gave permission. Stay tuned...” STEVEN TALKS ABOUT GENERATION XXX – Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch was interviewed last week by reporters from Channel 10, the popular Australian television network. The topic: the emergence of “Generation XXX” in the United States.

Generation XXX is the newest crop of young adults, male and female, who feel comfortable with and use pornography.

The topic has been the subject of scholarly essays in publications such as The Journal of Adolescent Research. Channel Ten airs many American programs and often covers topics from the U.S. on its news and talk shows.

Another interview given by Steven recently is slated to appear shortly on TheWrap.com, the authoritative Hollywood news and information website.

TRISTAN SETS OUT ON CROSS-CONTINENT SPEAKING TOUR --- Vivid-Ed director Tristan Taormino is about to embark on a five-month speaking tour that will take her far and wide across North America.

She begins on November 6-9 in Albuquerque with a workshop at the Pornotopia Film Festival that will highlight 10 years of her career as a sex educator.

Later in November she’ll be in Phoenix for a lecture on sex, in Minneapolis where she’ll conduct three sex-ed workshops, and at Princeton University for a lecture on open relationships and GLBT empowerment.

She ends the busy month with a talk in Worcester, Mass., where she’ll give the keynote address at the Western Mass Transcending Boundaries conference. In December she gives her GLBT talk at Pasadena City College, in February she’ll be at Yale for Sex Week and a workshop on anal pleasure, followed by a workshop on open relationships in Washington, DC, the keynote speech at the Trans Conference in Boulder, Colorado, and a “Come As You Are” workshop in Toronto during the Feminist Porn Awards event. Visit Tristan’s PuckerUp.com website for details on her appearances.