A candid look back at the past twelve months at a business that is headquartered in the San Fernando Valley. more ›

"2011: The Adult Industry in Photos" is a candid look back at the past twelve months at a business that is headquartered in the San Fernando Valley. more ›

In years gone by, L.A.'s annual porn convention has been busting at the seams with hundreds of adult film aficionados vying for an autograph or picture with a beloved professional fornicator. But on August 26-28, Exxxotica L.A. - which took the place of similarly-timed, identically-themed Erotica L.A. - was a little different. Instead of snaking around booths for 50 feet, lines to meet well-known porn actresses like Alektra Blue, Joanna Angel and Bobbi Starr were just two or three people deep. more ›

"It's one of the shows I actually enjoy attending," blogged Bobbi Starr. "There's no pretension there and people are there to have a good time. The fact that there's an awards show and that you might win a heart-shaped wooden trophy is a secondary, possibly tertiary, concern. The awards usually unwind like this: the assorted members of the porno-American community slowly make their way to the venue, hang out by the bar, become increasingly drunk and by the time the show starts, no one pays attention." more ›

Winner reaction was one of elation among many, tempered by humility. "'This is so amazing. I can't believe I won Female Performer of the Year,'" Andy San Dimas told XBIZ. "'I'm just happy to be doing what I do. I just showed up and did my best. I'm kind of speechless to be honest, but this is a great day,'" Male Performer of the Year winner Tommy Gunn confided. more ›

Thousands of miles, 12 set visits, 4 award shows, 2 conventions, 2 colleges, and 1 benefit. Those were the statistics for LAist last year in covering the adult industry, headquartered in the San Fernando Valley. more ›

Earlier this month, the Free Speech Coalition -- the adult association responsible for the recent anti-piracy PSAs -- threw its second annual benefit in conjunction with Hustler Hollywood, titled "The Freedom Party" and hosted by Tony Batman and Heather Chadwell, at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood. more ›

Last weekend, the fifth annual Fans of Adult Media and Entertainment Awards, co-hosted by Jessica Drake and Sunny Leone, were held during the inaugural edition of eXXXotica Los Angeles at the LA Convention Center. If the AVN and XBIZ Awards are the Oscars and Golden Globes of the adult industry, the FAME Awards are the equivalent to the People's Choice Awards. more ›

As mentioned previously, last weekend was the inaugural edition of eXXXotica Los Angeles at the LA Convention Center. "Like superstar Kobe Bryant and his teammates, eXXXotica attracted a multitude of A-list stars for three days of selling products, promoting new projects and the de rigueur meet and greet with fans," reported AVN. more ›

For the past several years, Erotica LA has been an annual summertime tradition at the LA Convention Center, with Conan O'Brien on his short-lived edition of even mentioning its existence. But while that adult convention is not happening this year, in its place this weekend is eXXXotica Los Angeles. more ›

For years, LAist has covered the local alt-porn scene -- befriending many of its auteurs, not to mention partying with Vivid-Alt and Burning Angel and visiting their porn sets -- and yet we were pleasantly surprised that a documentary like The New... more ›

Earlier this month, pornstar, director, and entrepreneur Joanna Angel oversaw the production of ). more ›

Continued from Part One. more ›

As mentioned previously, earlier this month, local adult publication XBIZ held their eighth annual XBIZ Awards at Avalon in Hollywood. While the AVN Awards may be considered the Oscars of the adult industry, the XBIZ Awards should not be considered the equivalent of the Daytime Emmys as TMZ joked, but rather the Golden Globes, and as a result are still highly-coveted. more ›

With the ongoing recession and continued threat of piracy, 2009 may have been tough for the multi-billion dollar adult industry, but it was also Sasha Grey's most prominent thus far. With the leading role in Steven Soderbergh's labeled her "The Dirtiest Girl in the World" and Fleshbot included her in their Top Ten Crush Objects of 2009 (NSFW). So it's no surprise that she will be honored with The Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year at the AVN Awards this Saturday at the Pearl Theater inside the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. more ›

As mentioned earlier this month, pornstar-directors Belladonna and Kimberly Kane organized the "Winter Wonderland" fundraiser, benefiting the besieged Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, at Busbys East. more ›

Reportedly a month in the making, pornstar-directors Belladonna and Kimberly Kane have organized a star-studded holiday-themed "Winter Wonderland" fundraiser, benefiting the beleaguered Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, this Saturday night at Busbys East. more ›

It's easy to write off Warning!!! Pedophile Released sight unseen as cheap exploitation. Besides all those exclamation marks in the title, there's the convenient release on the heels of Roman Polansky's high-profile arrest for child-rape, an appearance by porn star Joanna Angel & a lead actor coming off of Silent Night, Zombie Night and (ahem) Vaginal Holocaust. Never mind the accompanying Dakota Fanning vehicle Father Xmas (at one point rumored to be Fanning's own child-rape film Hounddog). But the film's trailer tells a different story, of disturbed teens, real tragedy & raw emotion that's more Larry Clark than Larry Cohen. Make up your own mind, and then fawn or fight with the cast and crew at the evening showings. more ›

Last Wednesday, the inaugural edition of "Sex, Drinks, and Rock 'N Roll Freedomfest," hosted by Hustler Hollywood and benefiting the Free Speech Coalition, took place at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood. While it's easy for recent punching bag Perez Hilton to snark that "...porn stars want to be able to say what they want in and out of the filmed orgies," the reality is that the adult industry has been targeted by the federal government, with XRCO Hall of Fame inductee Max Hardcore currently serving a 46 month prison sentence and Evil Angel founder John Stagliano indicted last year. more ›

You've probably seen the billboards and other advertising promoting this weekend's Erotica LA at the LA Convention Center. While smaller in scale than AVN's Adult Entertainment Expo, the 13th annual incarnation is still the city's largest yearly adult consumer exposition, with predictions of over 40,000 people in attendance, many of whom will be women and couples. more ›

LAist has been fortunate to run into pornstar and mainstream crossover artist Sasha Grey (MySpace) already a few times this year -- at AVN's Adult Entertainment Expo and Adult Movie Awards as well as Vivid-Alt's release party. more ›

Remember when you were a kid, and you dug through your dad's Playboys? Yeah...me too. Anyway, maybe you wished that the girls were a little more interesting. You know, a little less Barbie, a little more Joan Jett. more ›

When visibly-shaken Digital Playground contract girl Stoya walked onstage to accept her AVN Adult Movie Award for Best New Starlet -- against a formidable lineup that included Lexi Belle, Tori Black, Faye Reagan, and Ryder Skye -- she concluded her speech with, "And thank you to just about everyone that jerks off to my smut." more ›

Joanna Angel, nominated for 14 AVN Adult Movie Awards, including Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year, blogged (NSFW) about her experience: more ›

As mentioned previously, AVN's annual Adult Entertainment Expo and Adult Movie Awards took place earlier this month in Las Vegas, with the convention running for four days at the Sands Expo and Convention Center and the awards show taking place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. more ›

So what's the Adult Entertainment Expo like? Scenester photographer Igor from Driven By Boredom explained that "This is just a huge room filled with booth after booth of sex related things. Mostly porn companies in the front, but towards the back there are booths for hookers, strippers, sex toys and a lot of ugly clothes that only the biggest manor of scum bag would wear. (Discounting the rad kids at the I <3 Vagina booth)... I met a bunch of people and saw a lot of friends." It should be noted that while Igor didn't mention the marketplace on the lower level, his description of the upper level is mainly accurate. more ›

Longtime Adult Entertainment Expo patrons such as Dan Kartz also noticed the decline in business, stating that "'My girlfriend is Czech, so I really like European women, and because it has become so expensive to fly internationally, you don't have nearly as many international women here... Before, you could fly women over from the Czech Republic, from Germany, England, Spain, but it has gotten so expensive that it's mostly an American crowd. There are a lot less foreigners, a lot less foreign companies, too... There used to be a lot more free DVDs and free publications, but they've gotten pretty stingy. There are not a lot of quality giveaways this year.'" more ›

Wes Anderson doesn't have many casual fans. You either love the strange worlds of whimsy he creates or you find it all a bit precious and twee. Count me in the former camp and count . more ›

On Friday night, pornstar and director (as well as recent , with a party at Beauty Bar in Hollywood. It's also the debut release from Adam & Eve's new Independent Adult Cinema (IAC) imprint. more ›