Hot Girls Wanted | |
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![]() Film poster | |
Directed by |
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Written by | Brittany Huckabee[1] |
Produced by |
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Cinematography | Ronna Gradus |
Edited by | Brittany Huckabee |
Music by | Daniel Ahearn |
Production company | Two to Tangle Productions |
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release dates |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Hot Girls Wanted is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus. The film follows the lives of several 18- and 19-year-old pornographic actresses. The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix on May 29, 2015.
Synopsis
Several 20- to 33-year-old young women are interviewed about their experiences as pornography performers. Several women, including Rachel Bernard, Tressa Silguero and Karly Stouffer are recruited by a 23-year-old pro-amateur porn agent Riley Reynolds to live in his North Miami Beach home.[2]
Production
The film was originally imagined as an exploration of male consumption of pornography on college campuses. The filmmakers abandoned this idea when they discovered that the men were mostly watching pornographic videos starring young women. Curious about why such a large number of young women were entering the industry, the film was reoriented to tell their story.[3] Further edits took place after the Sundance premiere to address issues the filmmakers identified during screenings. Following discussions with the public on Twitter, some of the film's statements were also clarified.[clarification needed][4]
Release
Hot Girls Wanted premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.[5] Netflix picked the film up for distribution[6] and released it on May 29, 2015.[7]
Reception
Reviewers
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 82% positive review, with nine of eleven surveyed critics giving it a positive review; the average rating is 6.5/10.[8] Geoff Berkshire of Variety wrote, "An intimate and ultimately harrowing peek inside the world of amateur porn, Hot Girls Wanted will shock and outrage audiences in equal measure."[1] Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "rigorous, timely study".[9] Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian rated it 2/5 stars and wrote, "If you were in the dark about the potential dangers for young women of employment in the porn industry, this documentary may prove instructive. For everyone else, it's an unnecessary – if salutary – reminder."[10] Mike Hale of The New York Times described it as "a documentary with a provocative subject and title but an uncertain tone that vacillates between weary outrage and motherly concern."[11]
Reynolds and two of his performers said that the film focuses too much on the worst-case scenarios. Regardless, Reynolds said the film has inspired young women to enter pornography.[12]
Rashida Jones' involvement
Rashida Jones, before making this documentary, had controversies in the world of sex workers. InsideHook's Kayla Kibbe states, "Critics accused Jones of doxxing the film's subjects, exposing personal information and recycling content without their permission."[13] Sex workers have criticised the documentary as invasion of privacy. The Daily Dot reported a quote from Mistress Matisse: "Hot Girls Wanted was not made by anyone who's actually in the sex industry, and it was very obviously planned to fulfill an agenda, and that agenda is to make the sex industry look bad."[14] In The New York Times Ana Marie Cox interviews Jones and mentions her past comments on sex workers: "But in 2013, you wrote a pretty strident essay in Glamour against the 'pornification' of everything, where you recount using the hashtag #stopactinglikewhores."[15]
Turned On
Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On, a six-part Netflix documentary series exploring pornography, technology and relationships, was released in April 2017.[16]
References
- ^ a b Berkshire, Geoff (January 27, 2015). "Sundance Film Review: 'Hot Girls Wanted'". Variety. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ^ Morefield, Kenneth R. (May 29, 2015). "Hot Girls Wanted". Christianity Today. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
- ^ Thurston, Michael (January 27, 2015). "Grim world of teen porn exposed in Sundance documentary". The Daily Telegraph. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ^ Canfield, David (June 10, 2015). "7 Big Reveals From the Directors of 'Hot Girls Wanted'". Indiewire. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
- ^ Cohen, Sandy (January 25, 2015). "Sundance Doc 'Hot Girls Wanted' Explores Amateur Porn". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ^ Lang, Brent (February 1, 2015). "Sundance: Netflix Picks Up Porn Documentary 'Hot Girls Wanted'". Variety. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
- ^ Brown, Eric Renner (May 29, 2015). "Watch the new trailer for Hot Girls Wanted, Netflix doc about amateur porn industry". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
- ^ "Hot Girls Wanted (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
- ^ Felperin, Leslie (January 26, 2015). "'Hot Girls Wanted': Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ^ Hoffman, Jordan (January 28, 2015). "Sundance 2015 review: Hot Girls Wanted – Newsflash! Porn can exploit!". The Guardian. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ^ Hale, Mike (May 27, 2015). "Review: 'Hot Girls Wanted,' About the Choices Actresses in Pornography Make". The New York Times. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
- ^ Shepard, Susan E. (June 5, 2015). "We talked to the guy from 'Hot Girls Wanted' about what it's like to be a porn agent". The Daily Dot. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
- ^ Kibbe, Kayla (January 22, 2021). "Why Rashida Jones Is Not Super Popular Among Sex Workers Right Now". InsideHook. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
- ^ O'Hara, Emily M. (June 6, 2015). "Why the sex worker community can't agree on the 'Hot Girls Wanted' film". The Daily Dot. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
- ^ Cox, Ana M. (July 26, 2017). "Why Rashida Jones Changed Her Mind About Porn". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
- ^ Gennis, Sadie. "Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On: Watch the Trailer for Rashida Jones' Docuseries". TV Guide. Retrieved March 22, 2017.