xHamster to Offer $25,000 in Support of 'Porn for Women'

CYBERSPACE—There’s been a lot of talk about creating more female-friendly erotica. Now, here’s some action. Adult site xHamster has announced a new development fund for women filmmakers to create original content aimed at an audience of women, in an effort to expand the “Porn for Women” genre. Over the next year, the company is committing more than $25,000 in awards and grants for both amateur and established filmmakers, ranging from small contests to large development deals. The company sees women as one of the last major growth markets for adult film. “Over the past few years, we’ve seen the number of women coming to our site skyrocket. Women make up more than a quarter of our fans but 95 percent of production is intended for a male audience,” said Alex Hawkins, vice president of xHamster, in a statement announcing the fund. “We want to launch a revolution in content made by and for women, and we want to see it on xHamster.” The xHamster for Women Fund will provide awards and grants to women-identified filmmakers ranging in size from $500 to $10,000 over the course of the next year. Submissions can range from short clips to full-scale productions. Smaller, amateur clips will compete in monthly showcases for judged awards. More established productions can apply for grant money to help supplement their productions, and pay performers a fair wage. Larger productions can apply to xHamster for co-production status—though Hamster is not requesting or retaining any ownership of the content. A rotating panel of women—featuring performers, journalists, academics, directors and xHamster staff—will judge the submissions. “We’re hoping to see strong 'xHamster for Women' submissions at every level of production, from homemade phone clips to sex tapes to large-scale productions," says Hawkins. "We’re hoping to use this fund to help better understand what women respond to, while giving them the financial incentive to create it.” Application instructions and information about the xHamster for Women Fund are available here. https://xhamster.com/media/women Founded in 2007, xHamster is one of the three largest adult sites in the world, claiming more traffic daily than The New York Times, the BBC or ESPN.