The JoyBear Process

Have you ever wondered how our JoyBear features get to the finished product? The process from an initial flash of inspiration to five episodes of delicious erotic encounters? Well, wonder no longer as JoyBear founder Justin Santos was more than happy for me to interview him to find out exactly how the films are made. 

This sort of transparency is key to JoyBear's commitment to being as ethical as possible. If you've watched any of our Behind The Scenes aftermovies then you will already have stepped behind the lens in the JoyBear world on set, and now you can discover what goes on behind the scenes before filming even starts.

Where do the ideas for JoyBear productions come from?
JoyBear is fortunate enough to have some really talented writers and directors that we’ve collaborated with for many years. As head of sales and licensing, I am also involved in brainstorming our concepts as I sometimes have a better understanding of market trends. All our ideas then go through our queen of production - Samantha Larke - for final approval. Sam looks at everything from an ethical, logistical and female perspective. It’s very much a team effort.

Where do the initial ideas for features come from?

We have a creative team consisting of myself, our head of production and the director working on that specific project. Our writers will then pitch concepts to the creative team. This could literally be a one-liner such as ‘two girlfriends and their different approach to sex’, or it could be a more fleshed out idea with clearly defined scenarios. We typically approach all new projects being storytellers as opposed to focusing on specific themes or categories (such as ‘threesomes’). 

Once an idea is chosen, what are the next steps?
Once we have a solid concept we then start to add ‘layers’. By ‘layers’ we mean reasons for sex to occur. Most pornography is predictable. The audience has no investment in the narrative and therefore you are relying solely upon arousal by the performers and/or the sex acts. We think you can get more turned on if you believe and/or can identify with the build up and so invest more in bridging the gap between narrative and sex. We know this typically appeals to the female audience. Once approved, our concepts then get developed into scripts with five clear cut episodes/scenes. We’ve learnt to keep our scripts loose, so that we can adapt to any changes on the day (for example if it’s raining and we’ve planned to shoot outside). Then the process goes into spreadsheet heaven (or hell) where the entire shoot is slotted, minute-by-minute, into a location that we’ve pre-sourced. Again, we’ve learnt to adapt our stories to locations rather than writing a complicated script that we then struggle to find a suitable location for.

I've noticed that some of the locations look like public places (that are of course closed during filming), bars for example. When you first speak to these venues do you tell them that it's for a porn shoot?
When sourcing locations, we are always completely open about who we are and what we’re filming. If someone isn’t happy about us shooting sex in their location that’s completely fine. We just need to know up front so we can find somewhere else. 

JoyBear has such a fabulous variety of talented performers. How do you go about casting for each feature?
Having been in the business for eighteen years, JoyBear has good connections with performers throughout Europe. It’s a fine balance between working with people you know and trust and also welcoming new faces onto our sets. Another reason for operating ‘ethically’ is that when it comes to casting, your reputation as a studio will definitely precede you. 

How long does a shoot normally take?
Our shoots then last around 5 days with each day generally split between narrative (non-sex) and sex. We film sex scenes in about an hour. Taking into consideration time for stopping, lighting changes...

Can you give us examples of how JoyBear strives to be ethical at some of these stages?
Good question. For us having an ‘ethical’ approach to porn is everything that you cannot see on screen. The concepts, the communication with performers and crew, the testing (COVID and STD), the relationship with performers before, during and after the shoot, how much and when we pay our performers, paying for our performers and crew to get to/from the locations, catering throughout the shoot and even a contact before/during/after the shoot so that performers can understand where the content is being released and contact us regarding any matters relating to the production.

I hope that you've enjoyed finding out more about the JoyBear process. Justin and I would love to hear any questions or reflections you may have, get in contact below in the Comments section or head to Twitter.

Stay safe. Have fun. Issy x