by Rich Moreland, February 2016
Casey Calvert is popular with porn fans, having begun her career as a fetish model. The 2012 University of Florida graduate entered the business at twenty-two, older than most girls who seek a career in adult entertainment.
Highly respected among her peers, Casey is active in the industry support group, APAC (Adult Performer Advocacy Committee).
We talked recently at the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas.
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Casey Calvert reflects what performers understand, “You know what you signed up for when you show up on the set.”
The native Floridian explains that an informed performer is aware of what is expected and who her co-stars are that day. However, that doesn’t mean unplanned or uncomfortable incidents don’t happen.
“If something changes, whether it’s somebody asking something additional of you or [an incident happens] by accident, you say something and the problem gets resolved.”
Feeling Violated
Casey doesn’t want to get into the James Deen/Stoya controversy which she refers to as “a big scandal” in the business. Understandable and that’s not the focus of my question. But, I do want her take on how a newcomer should handle a similar situation that might occur on set.
“It’s one of the things we’re working on as an industry, especially now that people are talking about how do we make new girls feel comfortable speaking up and how do we make sure they know it’s okay [to do so.]”
Then the four-year industry vet touches on the second point everyone seems to make.
Photo courtesy of Casey Calvert
“Nobody wants them to go home feeling violated or upset. Everybody wants them to go home feeling good.”
Casey retreats a bit when I suggest that after a questionable moment during filming, some girls may believe they have been subjected to inappropriate sexual behavior.
“Right, but that doesn’t mean they got raped either. Getting raped is if you say ‘no’ and they say ‘yes.'”
Does that happen?
“Not that I’ve ever heard of,” the superstar replies. “It has not personally happened to me. I’ve never heard a story in recent history at all where that has happened on a set with anybody.”
Having said that, she clarifies her position.
“There’s a difference between I say ‘no’ and you try to convince me to say ‘yes’ and I say ‘no’ and you take it anyway.”
Photo courtesy of Casey Calvert
Getting It Fixed
Has she been on sets where this has happened?
Casey hasn’t, but she comments, “I’ve been on shoots where I’ve had to say ‘something’s wrong’ and it gets fixed.”
She measures her words, declaring that she “can’t be mad” because “the person who has created” the problem straightened it out.
Due to the nature of a business that shoots thousands of scenes a year with a talent pool that is in constant flux, Casey realizes questionable moments do occur.
Referencing the male performers booked to shoot with her, she says, “They don’t know me. We’re acquaintances. This is not my boyfriend of ten years who should be fantastic at reading my body language and should know the things about me. This is essentially a stranger, so I can’t fault that stranger for not knowing something if I don’t tell him.”
Photo courtesy of Casey Calvert
Is being a superstar an advantage that causes everyone to back off?
“Oh, yeah. For sure. I fully admit I’ve had additional privilege going in being a Spiegler Girl, even [when I was] brand new.” Casey signed with the Spiegler agency immediately upon entering the industry.
“People treat you differently. I can definitely say that, but I also have lots of friends who are not Spiegler girls and have lots of experiences on set.”
She doesn’t elaborate about those experiences, be they positive or negative.
A Three-Fold System
To educate newcomers, APAC has developed a “Porn 101” video similar to AIM’s [Adult Industry Medical] endeavor years ago. Performers are is issued a card that certifies they have viewed the tape.
Photo courtesy of Casey Calvert
“It’s a very positive step in the right direction,” the native Floridian says, and explains that it’s especially valuable for girls who come in at eighteen or nineteen.
By presenting “this piece of paper that says, ‘I understand what I’m getting into. I get it,'” Casey points out, a performer should be in a position to deal with issues that may arise.
But she adds a caveat.
“We have to make sure they actually really do get it and it can’t be like, ‘here everybody gets a piece of paper.'”
Even that does not fully address the problem.
“If the companies don’t adopt that as a procedure where they require that piece of paper or that card, then it means nothing . . . [because] it is a three-fold system. There’s the performers, the directors, the producers and the companies, and then there’s the agents. The change has to come from all three.”
In other words, communication and cooperation across the board is a worthy goal, though not an easy task.
Casey uses the following example.
“If the performers get educated, then the companies say, ‘Okay, we need proof that you understand what you’re getting into,’ and the agents don’t facilitate any of that, it still doesn’t work. It has to be a system where all three are working together which is why APAC is having such a hard time making it happen.”
Having said that, Casey brightens.
“It’s happening, but it’s happening very, very slowly.”
Photo courtesy of Casey Calvert
