Is Superheroine Porn / SHIP Dying or Poorly Marketed?

[GeekyPornCritic]

Mind that... I am only speaking for our studio and no-one elses. Any opinions I share are strictly from the perspective of Luciafilms and are not necessarily indicative of anyone else in the genre. ♥
Lucia~

Thank you for your insightful response about the industry. I reduced the size of the quote due to it being very long and thought. Anyone who reads my post can link on the quote to see Lucia's full statement.

You have a lot of steps to take when handling your SHIP films. It appears the genre may take a turn away from peril due to the current political climate from both sides of having mixed groups with different stances on "peril fetishes". It sounds like companies will eventually remove the P from SHIP, and we will begin to receive movies about a superheroine fetish with consensual sex stories. This change would really hurt the softcore and no-sex (fighting only) markets as their pitch is PERIL. They create movies to satisfy their market's craving for heroines in peril.

The change would not hurt hardcore companies as they can easily write stories about slutty heroines or villains can use a tool to fill the heroine with lust. Sure, love potions are technically drugs. However, society romanticizes the idea of using a special object like a spell, necklace, or potion to fill a person with lust. It's a classic idea from fairy tales and modern society's version of using a newly discovered natural agent from nature that influences a person's sex drive.

[batgirl1969]

come to New York comic con next weekend and ask all the hot cosplayers if Heroine peril is still alive!! Its the perfect con to conduct such an inquisitive poll....I would love to examine the results.

[WonderKenna]

I can only speak for us. But over the last 3 years our sales overall have dropped and our profit for each new video is to the point where we're probably going to stop producing ship soon. After a few customs and committed shoots are done we will probably do 2-3 next year just to test the market

[GeekyPornCritic]

I can only speak for us. But over the last 3 years our sales overall have dropped and our profit for each new video is to the point where we're probably going to stop producing ship soon. After a few customs and committed shoots are done we will probably do 2-3 next year just to test the market

The entire hardcore market for customers will completely change when you guys decrease production and eventually stop producing SHIP. I purchase almost every video from your superheroine stores because I genuinely enjoy them. They're the best and sexiest superherione videos on the hardcore market.

Primal's Disgraced Superheroines has been ranked as the number selling store in the superheroine category on Clips4Sale for at least FOUR STRAIGHT months. That means everyone in the genre on Clips4sale is also experiencing a decline in sales since the number one store's sales have dropped. That is a major red flag for the entire genre.

Please let me ask this. Is the market for genre/niche the problem or is Clips4sale's site the problem? Clips4sale is probably the worst advertised site in the industry from my point of view as a customer. First, Clips4sale does not have an affiliate program. Thus, review sites are not going to review and advertise the site. Affiliates do not have anything to gain from it. Second, it does not help that they advertise some of the worst producers in the porn industry. There are maybe 10 really good producers like you guys at Primal with quality content. Clips4sale should push you guys more.

Clips4Sale and other clip sites don't have standards. There is 500 bad studios for every good studio on a clip site. It's like everyone wants to make a porno, but most of those videos on clip sites are horrible with poor quality. Here we have wonderful movies from Primal Fetish, Kendra James, occasional good movie by Cory Chase, and the remaining studios are 150 shitty studios to choose from.

Is the division in the market a major factor? SHIP is unique when it comes to softcore and hardcore content. Some people only want softcore, some do not want any sex, some like me want hardcore only, and there are people in the middle who buy a little bit of everything. No other adult market is so divided in my opinion. You don't see a division between people who buy taboo videos, milf videos, and even horror videos. Those groups generally want hardcore content. However, that isn't the case with SHIP. The market is so divided on consumer's demands.

[Shakeshift]

Swampy170 wrote...
"Piracy for example - a solveable issue."

This just shows you how out-of-touch, naive', and displaced some people are when it comes to actual fetish industry concerns.

[Visitor]

Piracy has gotten worse with the switch over to digital content since it requires less physical equipment to make copies. It no longer requires making physical copies, distribution, and people to sell them. It affects almost any content that can be sent over the internet.

[GeekyPornCritic]

Swampy170 wrote...
"Piracy for example - a solveable issue."

This just shows you how out-of-touch, naive', and displaced some people are when it comes to actual fetish industry concerns.

Times have really changed. I am now seeing many pornstars showing support for tube sites like P*****b, and encouraging people to use the site to increase their tube rankings. How do producers and directors feel about models supporting any tube site? I would think it would be counterproductive for any business.

[kendrajames]

There's a lot going on in this thread and I've only just skimmed through it. From my perspective as a performer and a producer - the market is over saturated. People jumped on the superheroine bandwagon when they realized the popularity and potential profit and before you knew it EVERYONE was producing SHIP clips. As more producers introduced this type of content, the customers became more spread out. There's only so many people buying clips in one genre, so producers make less, it becomes less profitable and they move on to something else or limit production of this type.
As for seo, I'd love to hear suggestions about how to raise it. Two years ago my site and twitter were the first to pop up when you searched my name, now I'm not even ranked. I know google made changes which limits visibility to certain things, especially with smaller companies. As for clips4sale, I don't know if it's possible or how to use seo to help find me since they're their own thing. KendraClips.com is simply a redirect to my clips site.
P*****b seems to be taking over and forcing us to use their platform. Theoretically you make money off of clicks and views, however, the number of clicks it takes to generate a substantial check is in the millions. Do we fight the piracy and continue to try to remove things, or be forced to use them and their platform to try and make a couple hundred dollars a month off of our hard work when *each* video can cost over $1000 to even create?
I'm very uncertain of this genre or even the fetish/ porn industry in general these days. After 20 years in this business things are looking glum...
KendraClips.com
KendraJames.com
KendraJamesCustoms.com

[GeekyPornCritic]

There's a lot going on in this thread and I've only just skimmed through it. From my perspective as a performer and a producer - the market is over saturated. People jumped on the superheroine bandwagon when they realized the popularity and potential profit and before you knew it EVERYONE was producing SHIP clips. As more producers introduced this type of content, the customers became more spread out. There's only so many people buying clips in one genre, so producers make less, it becomes less profitable and they move on to something else or limit production of this type.
As for seo, I'd love to hear suggestions about how to raise it. Two years ago my site and twitter were the first to pop up when you searched my name, now I'm not even ranked. I know google made changes which limits visibility to certain things, especially with smaller companies. As for clips4sale, I don't know if it's possible or how to use seo to help find me since they're their own thing. KendraClips.com is simply a redirect to my clips site.
Pornhub seems to be taking over and forcing us to use their platform. Theoretically you make money off of clicks and views, however, the number of clicks it takes to generate a substantial check is in the millions. Do we fight the piracy and continue to try to remove things, or be forced to use them and their platform to try and make a couple hundred dollars a month off of our hard work when *each* video can cost over $1000 to even create?
I'm very uncertain of this genre or even the fetish/ porn industry in general these days. After 20 years in this business things are looking glum...
KendraClips.com
KendraJames.com
KendraJamesCustoms.com

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience in the industry!

Do you think Clips4Sale's low standards are part of the problem? I see them promoting very poor quality videos instead of big names with quality videos such as yourself. By poor quality, I mean videos that look outdated with poor video quality. There is a lot of trash and very few quality producers on the platform.

Kendra James, Anatassia Pierce, Lance Hart, Primal Fetish, Cory Chase, and a few others have legit studios. You guys are the gold standards of clip stores. However, the other 99% of clipstores are horrible with poor video quality, and do not put much effort into their content. I think customers new and old have a bad experiencing digging through the trash to find the gold. A few guys on this site have experience regrets of bad purchases of low quality videos.

In all honesty, I think you should consider at least speaking to a lawyer about these legal issues with stolen content and how it is affecting your business. An attorney can give you the best advice. You are a business owner and you want to protect your product.

I have experience in SEO and will talk about it with you in private if you like. Google has done some changes when it comes to social media. Sometimes it will only show your face with a wiki page and links to your social media. It's very inconsistent at the moment.

[PowerGirlFanBoy]

How did you discover SHIP?


Please share how you discovered this fetish. It's mandatory for every poster!

I think my fetish can first be traced back to when I was child and watching the old Christopher Reeve Superman films. I feel kind of ashamed to admit this, but as a kid I always got a strange erection when seeing Superman end up in some kind of peril. I still remember it vividly, but at the time I never knew what to make of it. The kryptonite weakening scene from Part 1 and the Nuclear Man fight scenes from Part 4 are what really fascinated me.

Later on, I got into the Clint Eastwood Man with No Name trilogy and also got a strange fascination during the torture scene in Fistful of Dollars when he is savagely beaten by the Rojo Gang. This particular scene really stuck with me and is what made me realize that I had a thing for seeing a hero fail and get beaten up, or fall into peril.

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I remember as a kid looking up to the heroes/protagonists of movies and being totally shocked when the tables were turned on them.

Being a heterosexual and fancying women, this strange fascination later turned into me fantasizing about female heroes falling into similar situations.

I would fantasize about many different scenarios but never really discovered the online superheroine peril genre until early 2007 when I became curious and googled it. I was always a comic book fan and enjoyed seeing women in high cut swimsuits or spandex leotards.

I think the first videos I uncovered were Rye's old Punished Heroines with Paris Kennedy, New Phoneix Filmwork's Black Talon, and several of Superheroine Central Videos.

As far as the status of the SHIP genre declining, I can’t really comment on it. I know the piracy issue has changed the business model with producers commissioning custom movies, which I don’t mind when I have some disposable income. I also have the feeling some SHIP producers are experiencing burnout. Never heard anyone complain about it, but it’s just a feeling I get. Great post!

[Shakeshift]

GeekyPornCritic wrote...
"There is a lot of trash and very few quality producers on the platform."

While I agree with this statement, I think the criteria for "trash" is different from customer to customer. I like a nice set as much as the next person but there are plenty of other factors to consider. Acting ability (or lack thereof) of the performers, improvisation skills during dialogue (or lack thereof), proper direction during all filming, bondage rigging, quality of writing, custom video cost-effectiveness, a model's personal energy and enthusiasm etc... It's more than just an fancy set or a popular fetish name which makes for a lasting clips store. No successful formula is ever simple.

In the end, Darwinian Law will thin out the masses when times get tough. Most of the wannabes will die a slow death. Still, that's okay because that's progress. The weak get culled from the herd. If you can survive, you'll be fine. The ones who can adapt to changing times and find new markets in Asia and Russia will be fine. There are markets in Asia that have never heard of superheroines being tied up and gagged because they don't speak English but they recognize Black Widow and Batgirl from movies. You pay someone in that particular country to put in subtitles to your fetish videos so that everyone can follow the comic storyline and that is adaptation. You just evolve with the changing market demands.

The companies producing the highest quality clips don't necessarily have (or have earned) the best chance to survive. The megalodon was the apex predator 15 million years ago, sixty feet of unstoppable killing machine with no natural enemies even in it's juvenile state. It was killed off by a 15-20 degree shift in water temperature that happened when the glacial ice age hit and ocean temps started cooling down quickly. Prehistoric whales (the megalodon's main food source) started traveling north to avoid being decimated by megalodons and the whale's blubber protected them from the cold. The megalodons couldn't survive in the slightly colder water and had to retreat south, slowly starve out and become 60-foot corpses, eventually huddled around the equator for warmth before they were being killed off completely by Mother Gaea. Darwinism reaped the most aggro oceanic predator for millions of years because... it was incapable of adaptation and became extinct.

[SnidelyW]

The Google issue is definitely a problem, because that's how I got into this. I started about 13 years ago, on YouTube, and I found videos uploaded from Sleeperkid's world. When I went to his site, I noticed that I kind of liked the look of the heroine-related videos the most. So I started searching for things like defeated heroines, super heroines defeated, etc. I found a janky-ass preview site for Punished Heroines, saw Paris Kennedy getting fucked on a couch in a Supergirl outfit, and I was hooked. I also found Superheroine World, which led me to Agent Eve, and there was just no going back.