SAN FRANCISCO: Chloe signing off...

Today's entry ends the Chloe dialogues. Thank you, Chloe, for regaling us with your stories! - Kyle

Any final thoughts on being involved in the film making process? Has it been a positive experience so far? Any negatives? What do you hope audiences will "take away" with them from viewing the final film?

As a lifelong fan of film and self-taught cinephile, having a movie made about Chloe's exploits, is an absolute dream come true. I've always been a hit at dinner parties, regaling often-shocked guests with stories about clients and their particular peccadilloes, but to see myself and my experiences onscreen gives them a validity that I didn't even know that I craved until I saw it.

Carlos, the screenwriter worked so diligently with me to create the tenderness I knew this particular client's story needed. He is an amazing talent. Paul, the actor who plays me, is the true star of the movie. The subtle nuances with his voice, the softness of his gestures, and his fearless ability to find the humanity in his paralyzed client had me in tears more than once. In fact, it was a bit creepy he was so dead-on with his interpretation of me and the scene. We'll be seeing more of him, no doubt.

And I can't even begin to imagine this story in anyone else's hands but yours. You are one of the most sensitive people I know. In fact, you'd make a great manwhore. If the film thing doesn't work out, please give me a call... Seriously, I hope that people who see one of Chloe's (er, my) sessions will begin to question what sex is and how they define it for themselves. I want to broaden people's notions of what's attractive and what's not. To open people up to the beauty in everyone. And, finally, to see that the essence of true bliss lies in non-judgement.

Chloe

FOURPLAY: Austin sneak peek...

We are running into the home stretch on the edit for AUSTIN, the second installment of FOURPLAY, with a rough cut screening last week going very well. So, thought I'd post a few photos from the shoot before the year winds down. Happy Holidaze! - Kyle

SAN FRANCISCO: Chloe on sex work pt 3

Were you involved in the recent campaign to decriminalize sex-work in San Francisco? Were you disappointed in the out-come of that vote?

I wasn't directly involved with Proposition K on last November's ballot, but I definitely did my own song and dance on it's behalf with my inner circle, including friends, family, and clients. It lost 43% to 51%, but it was interesting to see how close it actually was and how people felt about the issue.

Sadly, sex-work is often conflated with human trafficking in order to scare typically-liberal people into thinking that they're personally contributing to the sexual slavery of Third World women by greedy traffickers if they approve of letting people do with their bodies what they choose in the comfort of their own homes.

But the irony of the situation is that with cultural acceptance of a once-thought "sin" is that it loses it's sensual, "dirty" electricity once it becomes more mainstream; thereby bringing down my prices to remain competitive and subsequently killing my business. Just like I know many pot growers here in California who rue the day when pot becomes legal because they're going to lose A LOT of money.

FOURPLAY: Art house porn?

A great article from the recent issue (Spring 2009) of JUMP CUT:

"Real Sex: the aesthetics and economics of art-house porn" by Jon Lewis

I think it does an amazing job laying out the history of films that investigate sexuality and their marginalization by "mainstream" media. Also, reveals yet again the hypocrisy of the MPAA ratings board that lets "anything go" w/ torture porn movies like the psychotic SAW franchise, but is scared shitless of frank, adult films that deal with the very social, and frankly "normal", contours of our lives as sexual human beings.

This is what we are up against, folks. If you make a film dealing with a variety of dramatic/comedic situations that just happen to pivot around sex, will it only be relegated to the "art" ghetto (and the bottom of that ghetto)? Or is there a place, perhaps on-line, where these shorts can find a wider, broader audience that partakes in massive amounts of pornography every day, but sees very little "art" that deals w/ the interior, emotional lives of those engaging in sex acts? Also, since most "art-house porn" strives for hyper-realism (see, they are really doing it!), what will viewers make of our very Romantic, surreal, comedic dramas that strive to break your heart, not bust your nutt (or bust your balls as is the case w/Euro-nihilists like Lars von Trier)? We'll see.

- Kyle

FOURPLAY: High art meets low trash...

Chloe sent me these photos of himself w/ Paul Soileau (Aliya in SAN FRANCISCO) as his performance art alter-ego Christeene. I told Chloe it was "High Art meets Low Trash" to which he retorted "Yes, Christeene is a stunning work of art and I am definitely a piece of low, low trash..." - Kyle

SAN FRANCISCO: Chloe on sex work pt 2

Chloe continues her talk about sex work...

The workers at the top of the hierarchy are the providers who work for themselves online and travel. These are the folks who usually get busted with someone famous. They tend to be educated, above-average looking, with the ability to market themselves well and know their niche category. It is often a means to an end with this set too, and they are rarely lifers, or it is their main profession.

But these are hardly the folks people think of when one mentions "prostitute." It also must be said that genetic women make the most money at this venture, while transsexuals (TS's) and transvestites (TV's) make less, but men, poor things, make the least.

Isn't it ironic that conventional modeling and prostitution are the only two professions where women make more than men? I'd love to see people become more aware of the ways in which sex is commodified in our culture, but the irony is that I bank on repression and the taboo qualities of sex in our Calvinistic culture, so in some ways it's better that it stays this way.

In the dark, online, all alone...

SAN FRANCISCO: Chloe on sex work pt 1

What changes would you like to see occur in people's attitudes toward sex-work and sex-workers? How far into the future is that day when negative attitudes will change?

It's no secret that when anyone mentions sex work or sex workers everyone automatically thinks of streetwalkers with pimps and needles hanging out of their arms. Not that all streetwalkers are junkies or addicts, but usually that scene has an element of desperation or addiction somewhere nearby.

I suppose I'd like everyone to be more aware of what I call the Hooker Hierarchy. There are all kinds of workers filling the needs of all levels of society. Sadly, at the bottom are the streetwalkers. It's the most obvious, in plain view, sometimes stunningly gorgeous in it's brazenness, in fact; which is why people have the association of hooking with streetwalking.

Above that, there are people who work out of bars, clubs, massage parlors, and even brothels, but they're still working for someone else usually. As is the case with agencies. It's just a more female-centric arrangement, with the women running the agencies having usually been the workers themselves at one point.

But to me, a pimp is a pimp is a pimp. Then there are the providers who work an ad online. At one level you have the Craigslist folks who are just doing it for the money, who aren't really concerned with presenting themselves at their finest, and have been known to constantly make "deals" and end up just bringing the whole pricing game down for everyone - typically young, dumb, and just need rent money or a new pair of shoes for going out Saturday night.

SAN FRANCISCO: Chloe & Fireman Frank pt 3

When last we left Chloe with Fireman Frank, Frank was just about to open his metal box...


After one last exhale, he opened it and I saw things I immediately recognized: women's clothes. Although mainly lingerie, stockings, and panties, there were other items one could describe as Frederick's-of-Hollywood sexy: the ubiquitous black, shiny, cheap mini-skirt, a sparkly sequinned blouse from the Large Gals department, and even a pair of beat up high heels that looked like two dainty red patent Tonka firetrucks in a size 15. He continued to cry and couldn't even look at me.


Shame is a powerful theme in my work that I'm often forced to deal with. I see people at their most private and vulnerable. I'm so lucky I'm as sensitive as I am. And so is Frank.


This is what I give to my clients: understanding, love, guidance, encouragement, mind-blowing sex any way they want it, when they want it, and all completely free of judgement. Frank and I have been seeing each other for over 9 years now. He comes over, we'll spend an hour getting him dressed in modern women's clothes that actually fit him and make him feel the way he wants to feel, with his "outside matching his inside", as he likes to say. The best part of Frank, or Bella's (as he likes to be called when dressed), story is that he came out to his sons as a crossdresser. I've even met one of them.


I could write volumes on the injustices of such a world that would allow a man who bravely and regularly saves the lives of complete strangers to feel so hideously about himself. I'll never fully understand the power we attribute to inanimate pieces of cloth. But what I do understand is what Frank and I give to each other after nine years of talking, laughing, bumping "pussies" and trying on hats! And anyone who doesn't understand needs to unpack his/her own impermeable metal box.

FOURPLAY: Chloe & Fireman Frank pt 2

When last we left Chloe with Fireman Frank, Frank was just about to open his metal box...

But back to Frank and his metal case... Once we began to talk and I put him at ease with arm-stroking and complete eye contact, it became clear to me why he was with me. He sheepishly began his tale of always having a secret that he carried with him since he was a young man, as young as 10, he said.

It was obviously very difficult for him to talk about and he began to cry while explaining that his beloved wife had died of breast cancer recently. As he unlocked the impermeable chrome box, he explained that it was a secret that he had never been able to share with her, and he began to sob and gasp for breath the way one does when one really lets go. It was a weeping of great regret.

The case was unlocked and yet he still wouldn't open. He had to put in a certain three digit code to unlock the inner lock, which he did while taking deep breaths, and I cradled him with one arm while stroking his hair and wiping his forehead. He paused before making the final unveiling of what lay inside, looked at me, and said that he had never, ever shown the contents of this to anyone. I said that I was so pleased that he'd chosen me and I was very excited to share this moment with him.

FOURPLAY: Chloe & Fireman Frank pt 1

Any particular story involving a client that you find especially illustrative or moving?

More than anything, I think I give my clients understanding - this includes listening and, once again, the fine art of non-judgement. No one illustrates this better than Frank the Fireman.

Frank came to me the first time not long after I had started doing sex work almost 10 years ago. He is a large, striking, handsome Italian originally from New York City, born and raised in Hell's Kitchen. At the time, Frank was in his late 40's, a devoted husband of almost 30 years, with 3 grown sons (two doctors and an architect), and a well-respected and highly decorated Fire Marshall for a small suburb outside of San Francisco.

Like most of my clients their first time, he was visibly nervous and carrying a medium-sized metal suitcase with a padlock on it. I wasn't sure what to make of him, huge and hirsute, but I laughed to myself remembering what power I seemed to have over these men, dressed in a short, pussy-pink peignoir, with a short dark wig called "Ingenue", staggering around in 4" Gucci stilettos.

After I put the money away and got him the pre-poured glass of water that they all invariably want, we sat down to talk, as I always do with my clients. My formula, by the way, is based on three 20-minute cycles: the first 20 minutes is getting to know them and make them comfortable, the second 20 minutes is the actual sex, and the third 20 is blissful joking, sweet-nothings, and clean-up. Before you know it, an hour has passed and I've made another friend and feel a bit richer for services rendered.