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Digital Playground

 
Hoover's Profile: Digital Playground Inc.
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Contact Information
Digital Playground Inc.
21115 Devonshire St., Ste. 304
Chatsworth, CA 91311
CA Tel. 818-376-8488
Fax 818-376-8489

Type: Private
On the web: http://www.digitalplayground.com
 Employees: 35

Digital Playground is a leading producer and distributor of adult entertainment films and interactive media. It specializes in high-definition DVDs and online distribution; its films are aimed primarily at women and couples. A technological pioneer in the adult entertainment market, Digital Playground produced the first adult title delivered on HD-DVD. (Subsequent releases now use the Blu-ray format.) The company is one of the few in its industry owned by a woman, president Samantha Lewis. It was formed in 1993 by Lewis and technical wizard-turned-business partner Ali Davoudian, also known as Joone.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending December, 2008:
Sales: $5.4M

Officers:
President: Samantha Lewis
Director Marketing and Public Relations: Motion Picture Production & Distribution

Competitors:
LFP
Playboy Enterprises
Vivid Entertainment

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Wikipedia: Digital Playground
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Digital Playground
Type Private
Founded 1993
Founder(s) Joone
Headquarters United States Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA
Area served Worldwide
Key people Samantha Lewis (vice president)
Industry Pornography
Products Pornographic films
Owner(s) Joone
Website digitalplayground.com

Digital Playground Inc. is a pornographic movie studio headquartered in Van Nuys, California. It has been called one of the five biggest porn studios, and in 2006 was described by Reuters as one of the handful of studios that dominate the U.S. porn industry. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Adult director Joone founded the company in 1993, originally making adult CD-ROM computer games.[3] Commenting on the transition of the pornography industry from the underground economy to mainstream corporate acceptance, the companies founder said: "I look at the porn business where Vegas and gambling was in the 70's". "Vegas was still mob-owned and they were making the transition between these small groups of people to being corporate owned". "I feel the same exact thing is going to happen with adult".[4] The company became an innovator in making pornography available on personal computers.[5] In 2003 DP began working with a company specializing in hologram technology, with the aim of bringing the actress "into the viewer's living room".[3] DP began filming in high-definition in 2005.[6] In January 2006 the company chose Blu-ray over rival format HD DVD because Joone felt Blu-ray was more future-proofed.[5] DP initially had difficulty finding a company prepared to produce its films in Blu-ray, as companies which replicated DVDs were reluctant to deal with the pornography industry.[5]

Films

Virtual Sex

Digital Playground pioneered the top-selling virtual sex genre of CD-ROMs and DVDs, in which the viewer can "command" a famous pornographic actress by selecting from a menu of explicit scenes.[7][3] The first film in the series was released in 1998.[3] In the series the actress looks directly at the camera, and appears to talk directly to the viewer.[3] According to Joone, "It's the closest you'll ever get to having sex with our girls without really having sex with them". "When you're watching a regular porn movie, you're watching it in the third person". "You're basically a voyeur". "This way it's a first-person experience". "If the girl is in the missionary position, the camera is looking down at her as you would be if you were actually there with her". "You're the god of your world at that moment".[3] Virtual Sex with Jenna Jameson is one of the top-selling adult DVDs of all time according to adultdvdempire.com sales charts. The viewer is able to choose the camera angles, and the actresses sexual position and demeanor - either "innocent" or "nasty".[3]

In 2004, Digital Playground produced the first HD pornographic film, Island Fever 3, shot on location in Tahiti and Bora Bora.

In 2005, the company released Pirates, a film that bills itself[8] as "offering all of the production values of any Hollywood box office film" and a "monumental step towards the eminent [sic] merging of the entertainment industries". RogReviews called it "the most talked about adult movie of the year".[9]

In 2008, the company hired industry veteran Farley Cahen to head it's New Media efforts. Cahen started his career 9 years earlier at AVN and has a successful background in business development, licensing along with developing AVNads and the world's 1st Adult Domain Auction.

Directors

Digital Playground's production team is led by director Robby D. and producer/directors Samantha Lewis and Joone. Joone directed the Virtual Sex series.[3]

Awards

The following is a selection of major awards DP films have won

  • 2001 AVN Award - 'Best Interactive DVD' for Virtual Sex With Tera Patrick [10]
  • 2002 AVN Award - 'Best Interactive DVD' for Virtual Sex with Devon [10]
  • 2002 AVN Award - 'Top Renting Release of the Year' for Island Fever [10]
  • 2003 AVN Award - 'Best Interactive DVD' for Virtual Sex with Janine [10]
  • 2005 AVN Award - 'Best Gonzo Series' for Jack's Playground [10]
  • 2006 AVN Award - 'Best DVD' for Pirates [10]
  • 2006 AVN Award - 'Best Video Feature' for Pirates [10]
  • 2007 AVN Award - 'Best POV Series' for Jack's POV [10]
  • 2007 AVN Award - 'Best Renting Title of the Year' for Pirates [10]
  • 2007 AVN Award - 'Best Selling Title of the Year' for Pirates [10]
  • 2007 AVN Award - 'Best Vignette Series' for Jack's Playground [10]
  • 2008 AVN Award - 'Best Specialty Series, Other Genre' for Jack's Leg Show [11]
  • 2008 AVN Award - 'Best Vignette Release' for Babysitters [11]
  • 2008 AVN Award - 'Top Selling Title of the Year – 2007' for Pirates [11]
  • 2009 AVN Award - 'Best High-Definition Production' for Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge [12]
  • 2009 AVN Award - 'Best POV Release' for Jack's POV 9 [12]
  • 2009 AVN Award - 'Top Renting and Selling Release' for Cheerleaders [12]
  • 2009 AVN Award - 'Best Video Feature' for Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge [12]
  • 2009 AVN Award - 'Best Vignette Release' for Cheerleaders [12]

References

  1. ^ "Porn stars strut their stuff at awards". TVNZ. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411423/646884. Retrieved 2009-03-11. 
  2. ^ adultdvdtalk.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Dana Kennedy (2003-08-17). "The Fantasy of Interactive Porn Becomes a Reality". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/17/movies/17KENN.html?ei=5007&en=42e4fb19dab28bd1&ex=1376452800&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=print&position=. Retrieved 2009-04-11. 
  4. ^ Jeffreys, Sheila (2008). The Industrial Vagina: The Political Economy of the Global Sex Trade. Taylor & Francis. pp. 73. ISBN 0415412331. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-9U7Eqp8NigC. 
  5. ^ a b c "Porn Production Company Picks Blu-Ray". Fox News. 2006-01-20. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182370,00.html. Retrieved 2009-04-11. 
  6. ^ Matt Richtel (2007-01-22). "In Raw World of Sex Movies, High Definition Could Be a View Too Real". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/business/media/22porn.html?pagewanted=1&_r=4&ref=technology. Retrieved 2009-04-11. 
  7. ^ Dines,Gail & Humez, Jean McMahon (2002). Gender, race, and class in media: a text-reader. SAGE. pp. 50. ISBN 076192261X. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Mh2PWvtzNFUC. 
  8. ^ "Pirates, A Joone Film" (in English). Digital Playground. http://www.piratesxxx.com/main.php?tab=about. Retrieved 2007-08-02. 
  9. ^ "DVD Review Pirates" (in English). RogReviews.com. July 2005. http://www.rogreviews.com/reviews/read_review.asp?sku=3748. Retrieved 2007-08-02. 
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "AVN AWARDS PAST WINNERS". AVN. http://www.avnawards.com/index.php?content=pastwinners. Retrieved 2009-03-13. 
  11. ^ a b c "2008 AVN AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED". AVN. http://business.avn.com/articles/2759.html. Retrieved 2009-03-12. 
  12. ^ a b c d e "THE 2009 AVN AWARDS WINNERS". AVN. http://www.avnawards.com/index.php?content=winners09. Retrieved 2009-03-07. 

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
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