Director, Producer, Actor Ed Powers – A Unique View of Intimacy & Sex on Video @EdPowers

Ed Powers is an American director, producer and actor of pornographic videos. He owns his own production company, Ed Powers Productions. Mr. Powers was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his Dirty Debutantes series, which features amateur female performers, many of whom have never acted in porn before.  The following interview with Ed Powers is a Leather and Lace Spice Exclusive.

 

Tony:  I first viewed Dirty Debutantes and More Dirty Debutantes in the mid 1990’s. They struck me as unique and more erotic than other videos of the time because they showed an enthusiastic and caring Ed Powers actually making love to the women in the scenes. This was not scripted, formulaic sex video. This was high class amateur with real people having sex in front of a camera, as people really do.  I found this charming, and respected Ed Powers for treating the women as women — to be appreciated, not humiliated and abused.

Alison:  When I started working with Tony on Leather and Lace Spice, he showed me some of the Ed Powers Dirty Debutante videos. He said what he liked was that they were not like normal “porn” where women were objectified.  What I saw in Ed Powers, was a charming and strongly magnetic personality that comes across, as he talks to every woman in every video before he engages in sex with her.  What struck me is that he truly seems interested in these women as people, even though in the end, he is having with sex with them on video.  A few months after I saw my first Dirty Debutante videos, I met Ed quite by accident, at the AVN show in Las Vegas. In person, Ed was just as charming and magnetic.  I was amazed! He appears to be a genuinely nice guy.  Tony and I asked Ed if we could interview him for Leather and Lace SPICE,  and he agreed. What follows is our exclusive interview with Ed Powers. I hope you enjoy reading about this man and his unique place in the adult industry,  as much as we enjoyed talking to him.

LEATHER AND LACE’S INTERVIEW WITH ED POWERS:

Question: How many movies have you made?

Ed: If you put them all together, it is about 800 movies. I started in 1998 with Bus Stop Tales and then in the 1990’s I did Dirty Debutantes.  I traveled to more than 30 countries and I shot a lot of videos in those countries. Online, I think I have been with about 3,000 women with about 1,000 more, so about 4000 women on camera. From 1995-1999 I think I had about 3-5 women a day. There was a three year time  period when I stopped filming, lost weight and felt more comfortable —  I wanted to get to know my friends and family and get myself back to a better place mentally and physically.

Question:  In your very early days you seem to show an obvious delight in being with each new woman. Is that a fair characterization? Do you love all women and find them delightful?

Ed:  Yes, I am gleeful. Definitely gleeful. I’m gleefully surprised at times. Like wow, For example, a girl in the very first black dirty debutantes. I hadn’t seen her naked (before filming). She was over 6 feet — really tall and as soon as she took off her sweats I said: “Oh my God, Wow!” She had a gorgeous body, gorgeous breasts, just an amazing Amazon, so beautiful. The element of surprise helped me a lot. I don’t want to know that much about a girl before they get on camera. I want to uncover it, like an expose, right there and then. But as time went on, things changed and the movies changed. Agents now prep the girls about how they should act in front of the camera. All of a sudden they have “terminology” in their head, Then I have to say:  “I don’t want you to act like that.” When I first started I liked the element of seeing how far a girl would go. It is still possible to get a first time girl to do something they’ve never done before. Volume 375 (of Dirty Debutantes) was nominated for best web premier — to my surprise each of four girls discovered something the hadn’t done before.

Question: Why is your Video Series called “Dirty Debutantes”?

Ed:  The reason is that this is the girl’s first time on film, so it is their coming out in society, in porn society. The French were interested in picking up the series, and in Canada as well. They couldn’t believe I used the word “Debutante” and they hadn’t. But it’s coming out into sensual society. I never thought I’d be opening up the door for sensual shooting.

Question: With all of the women you have had sex with on film, has there been one (or more than one) that you really felt was special and would like to have had a relationship with?

Ed: I am sincerely simpatico with all women. It’s in my nature. I can communicate with them and they always understand me and I always understand them. It is not just a gimmick, it is something that just comes naturally to me. I have been blessed with that ability. If a girl has something on her mind I can tell. For example, during an intimate scene with one particular girl, I could just sense that there was a look about her, a tear in her eye. I stopped and asked: “do you have a boyfriend and are you thinking of him right now? If you are, I think we should stop.” She said: “I can’t believe you understand.” So I said: “I know you need the money, but I’d rather just give you the money now, and if you break up with him and then you want to continue at another time, call me. Right now, let’s just understand what’s going on.” I don’t know what other people would do. I know some other people wouldn’t be interested in what the talent is thinking, But I am the talent too. I’m the guy. My level is eye to eye and not above. I want to protect my people. This is a big responsibility on both our parts. The dialogue is something you need to deal with. I don’t know why I did what I did, but it was her wish.Things happen. I have to figure things out. I have managed through 29-30 countries to touch a lot of humanity and it has enabled me to help people outside of the business,too. I was married  for 5 years which seemed like forever. I have managed to extract important information through the process of relating to people through all the interviews I’ve done, people I’ve seen.

Question: What’s your secret to putting women at ease in a situation that is usually awkward even for a budding porn star?

Ed:  If a guy isn’t at ease, the woman won’t be at ease either.  And if a guy is manipulating a girl, she will know it. Every girl is unique. (when shooting a porn film) everybody is feeling a different level of anxiety or  nervousness. You have to be uniquely in tune with that particular person. I ask the same questions in each movie but the tone is different and the order is different. The touching in-between in different. You have to be sensitive to what you’re sensing from the other person. It is important to connect. A lot of people in life don’t connect. Mimicking isn’t connecting. When you are in tune and connecting there is a continuous progression. A lot of girls come to me when we are first shooting and say: “what should I do?” I say: “Go with the flow and follow me. If you need to ask me go ahead, but I’m pretty sure you won’t ask me.” There is usually no break unless a girl is tired. Ask: “is this ok?” you hear that a lot in my movies because I listen. Pay attention. Don’t have a one track mind. There is a lot more going on and sometimes things get off track. If you sense that,  ask. What
I like about my movies is that whatever happens, happens. I am very conscious of where the camera is when I’m filming. I think I’m a fun guy.

Question: Realizing that there is a difference between erotic and sexy, will you describe the most erotic woman you have ever been with?

Ed: I can’t say it is any particular woman. Any woman can become very erotic. I had a girl that was not particularly into it, riding me. I said: “you like this dirty old man.” She is riding me and riding me and riding me, and when I said my age she had an orgasm. A lot of men don’t treat women right and these women have never been made love to like that. So when their toes curl and their eyes roll back in their heads, it’s very erotic. You can see it in their faces, their joy of sex.

Question: Is your personality the same off screen as on screen?

Ed: Yes, I think so.

Question: How are the women you are filming today different from when you starting dirty debutantes, if they are?

Ed: No, the women haven’t changed in my opinion, but the style of how the business is run has changed. The girls are prompted by their agents how to act and they are much more conscious about HIV and so forth. The format of the industry has changed too. There was a time when some girls wouldn’t work with an older guy, but they made and exception for me!

Question:  Have you ever thought of making the Tao of Ed Powers? Maybe a Video of How to Be a good Lover

Ed:  (Ed Powers, laughs)

Question: What do you like to do on the nights that you’re not filming? In other words, what do you like to do on your time off?

Ed: I like going to classical and jazz concerts. I watch some shows on Hulu. I play video games. I see family. I don’t watch porn, but I like live web cams. I get the girls to Skype with me,
find it erotic to talk to the girls and see that they’re into the conversation. They seem to be more attracted to a guy if the guy gets to know them.

Question: is there anything you would like to share with us about you, and about intimacy in your own life?

Ed:  First, you can tell your readers that they can see my work without being a member at edpowers.com. They can watch movies at hotmovies.com, and on my Tuesday Radio Show  xxpornstarradio.com (Tuesdays at 4-6pm Pacific Time).  Editors note: ( *advisory:  these are X rated sites).  I also want to tell your readers that it is important to respect people and not just people of the opposite sex, the same sex, too. There was a girl who contacted me through Facebook, and she told me that she and her boyfriend watch my movies and that she wanted to be a debutante. So she contacted me and was talking to me. I wanted her to come down and make a movie, but she was concerned about her job. So I said: “Do you want to make a movie for the world to see, or do you want to make one just for you and your boyfriend?” I gave her the option. I would do a disk just for her. It is all about respect. I respect her boyfriend. I want to talk to him before she even thinks about coming down here (to make a movie). The word “respect” is a way of life, not just a word. It comes back to you and then people respect you, too.