On a Mission: Bree Mills Reflects on Five Years of Adult Time

This feature appears in the April issue of AVN magazine. Click here for the digital edition. LOS ANGELES—What began five years ago as an idea for “porn done differently” has turned into one of the adult industry’s most influential platforms. And according to the Chief Creative Officer Bree Mills, Adult Time is just getting started. The marketing specialist turned producer/director/writer and all-around creative force remembers coming up with the ambitious call-to-action as she was crafting the original pitch for Adult Time: “We want to be a household name. We want to break the status quo of what porn should and shouldn’t be. We want to be a platform for amazing and creative adult content, both what we produce ourselves and what we promote from others.  We don’t want our customers to hide their subscription, we want them to be proud of it.” “It feels like we’re still charging ahead with that same energy today,” Mills tells AVN. “The real game-changer, though, has been focusing more on the behind-the-scenes energy that makes all this possible. “Our journey’s taught us just how crucial our approach is to hitting those milestones—from how we produce content and stand up for what we believe in, to how we connect and partner up with others in the industry. “What started as a piece of our vision has really become the nucleus of what we do.” Now 16-plus years into her tenure with Gamma Entertainment—the parent company of Adult Time—Mills’ commitment to innovation and collaboration across the platform’s diverse portfolio of studios and original series is as strong as it’s ever been. She worked in the office at Gamma for many years as the marketing director prior to making the transition into production, spending countless hours looking at content and analyzing how and why fans were consuming certain types of products. It’s all led to this moment of gratitude for what Adult Time has achieved so far and where it’s going next. In this exclusive interview, Mills discusses some of the platform’s biggest wins, its dedication to inclusivity, the importance of team building and the excitement for what’s ahead. AVN: What does reaching the five-year milestone for Adult Time mean to you? BM: Reflecting on our journey, it strikes me as profoundly humbling. We officially unveiled Adult Time in 2019 to the industry at the AVN Expo in January, followed by a broader public launch in April. However, the seeds for the platform were sown back in late 2017, making it feel more like we’re approaching a seven-year milestone to me. Those early years were a whirlwind of development, marked by an intense workload, significant milestones, and moments of great challenge and reflection. They were critical in unifying our team behind a shared vision to do porn differently—not just in the content we produce and the experience we offer, but in our methodology and values. That means the most to me personally—seeing how Adult Time has grown from a far-out idea I once had to an award-winning platform and influential brand that represents the dreams and hard work of so many talented staff, crew members, and performers. It is truly a brand built by a community of people who are passionate about this industry. I look at the last five years as a jam-packed first chapter in the story of Adult Time. But we’re only just beginning. How do you think Adult Time five years later aligns with what your original vision for the platform was prior to launching? Looking back at the initial 32-page pitch deck I had put together is quite cool, seeing how much of our vision has come to fruition. Despite not foreseeing certain events, like the global pandemic, we’ve remained true to our original goals of revolutionizing our subscription-based business, producing and launching original content, and fostering collaborations with other studios and content creators. What would you say were some of signature moments—or most significant accomplishments—for Adult Time in the past five years? That’s a tough question and I’m sure the answer will vary depending on who you ask from our team, since there are so many potential moments to choose from, so I’ll just focus on personal signature moments:  1. Raising the bar for adult cinema: In 2019, I wrote and directed Adult Time’s first official feature films: Perspective and Teenage Lesbian. Both were very important projects in my career as a director but also helped set the stage for what we wanted to do with our films overall: raise the bar of adult cinema. Seeing them succeed commercially with our audience and critically at the awards validated the standard we were trying to achieve. On a personal note, seeing Seth [Gamble] and Angela [White] win their acting awards and having Teenage Lesbian be the first queer feature to win the Grand Reel that year were major highlights for everyone involved in making those films possible. I am proud that they have been followed by other award-winning Adult Time feature films in the years since, including Joanna Angel’s Casey: A True Story and Ricky Greenwood’s Grinders, and that our roster of creatives has grown to include some of the most talented filmmakers in the industry.  2. The freedom of being all-inclusive: Building Adult Time as an all-inclusive platform allowed us to break conventional barriers and create series that reflected our values and where we saw the market going, even if they didn’t fit the stereotypical porn tropes or even our existing audiences. The best examples of this would be our Transfixed studio, a cinematic space for trans and cis performers to work together; Modern-Day Sins, our first all-inclusive story studio; our partnership with Agent Red Girl to release her wildly original animated futanari content; and the Up Close studio, which focuses on authentic representations of female sexuality and pleasure from conversations to sexual experiences.  3. Our collaborations with performers: As a director, I’ve always loved collaborating with actors and you can see that in some of our earliest Pure Taboo model stories. Adult Time has allowed us to offer many opportunities over the years to co-create with performers—from model-submitted stories to self-shot series during the pandemic, biopic films based on performer’s own experiences, and the launch of our ambassador program, which includes developing original series with our brand ambassador team. One of the best ways to nurture this industry and provide pathways to those looking to grow within it is to offer creative opportunities like these.  4. Seeing the growth of our team: We now have a team of over 50 full-time employees working on Adult Time in all aspects of our business, from the front lines to the back end. We have a dedicated production team that works with a roster of core crews and special guest producers. We have a team of accomplished brand ambassadors and deep relationships with many performers. Seeing the overall growth of our operations and the hard-working team members who have grown themselves to tackle new roles and bring their own spin on porn done differently—that may be my favorite moment of all. I get to sit back these days and mostly be a mascot, which is cool! What have you learned about building a platform based on the first five years of Adult Time? We have learned that being an “all-inclusive platform” reflects what we stand for internally, but it isn’t always a clear-cut value proposition for some of our subscribers. Truth is, a lot of folks sign up interested in that one series or studio that caught their eye, and it’s not a given they’re looking to dive deeper. The real puzzle for us is figuring out what else in our vast catalog could catch their interest, making their experience more worthwhile. As Adult Time has evolved, embracing a wide array of niches and audiences at this point, the complexity of this task has only grown. Everyone’s got their own version of Adult Time in mind, making it tricky when we drop content that’s not to their personal taste. We’ve also learned that we can offer more than just traditional adult content to enrich the experience of our subscribers, including adding value through enhanced platform features such as interactive toy compatibility, VR, and interactive video players. I envision more of that innovation to come in the years ahead. What have you learned about building and leading a team based on the first five years of Adult Time? To me, our team isn’t just our crowning achievement; they’re the very heart of our growth. In the past five years, we’ve come to understand the power of clear expectations, the risks of relying solely on what we perceive as ‘common sense,’ and the necessity of working hand-in-hand with our creators to establish guidelines, implement professional processes, and set new benchmarks for a safe and positive workplace. Cultivating talent is key, both within our own team and among our collaborators in production, creating opportunities for those who not only possess skills but are also deeply committed to our values. It’s incredibly rewarding to witness how many performers have evolved into roles such as crew members, directors, and producers within our team, enriching a diverse array of genres and paving the way for a new generation. Ensuring we have the right people, who not only fit our values but are also committed to fostering a professional environment, has shaped the community we’re all part of today. In this community, my task is to lead by example and inspire others. “Redemption through action” are the words I live by. How do all your various Adult Time brands complement each other? We now actively produce series and offer partner channels for all the main niches in adult so, holistically, there is a ton of variety. I like to say we offer everything from the most traditional to the most transgressive and that’s kind of the beauty of the platform. But, within our various niches, we consciously plan programming that is intended to complement the main interests of each audience group, and then also see what bridges can be crossed from one audience to another. For example, one of the fastest growing audiences for our Transfixed studio is our traditional cis-lesbian porn audience, despite many of them admitting to never having watched trans-led content before. In cases such as this, we can appeal to each targeted audience and achieve a bit of crossover interest between them which is super satisfying to witness. We discovered the same pattern with the launch of our new Femboyish series and our existing Futa and trans-led porn audiences. What do you think is Adult Time’s biggest strength? We have grown into one of the leading adult brands and have a large footprint in studio production, which allows us to work regularly with a wide range of performers. The diversity of our projects and opportunities for performers to collaborate with us on both content and marketing projects gives us a unique position in the industry. We’ve also built one of the most talented creative rosters of writers, producers, directors, crew members, and editors in the game which doesn’t hurt either! All in all, I hope we are one of the most exciting brands in the industry to work with and that the output of our creative work is what really sets the Adult Time platform apart.  When you think of the next five years of Adult Time, what comes to mind? Reflecting on what I shared earlier, the first five years feel akin to just the opening chapter in Adult Time’s story. Starting from the ground up to where we stand now as a leading name in the industry marks a significant journey, yet it feels as though we’re just scratching the surface. In the coming five years, I’m eager to keep raising the bar for adult production standards, pioneering advancements in content and technology, nurturing the next generation of creative talents, and maintaining our proactive stance in navigating the complexities of our ever-changing industry. Photography courtesy of Adult Time