Joone (director)

Joone is an American entrepreneur,[3] photographer,[4] director and producer. For directing pornographic films, he won AVN Award twice. In 1993, Joone founded American pornographic movie studio Digital Playground[5] and was a co-owner of the company until it was acquired by Manwin in 2012.

Joone
Bornc. 1969 (age 53–54)[1]
Alma materUniversity of California Los Angeles
Occupation(s)Photographer, director & producer
Years active1998–2008 (porn director)[2]
Organization(s)Digital Playground
Diosa Spirits
SpouseSamantha Lewis (divorced)[1]

Career

He founded the Digital Playground company[5] in 1993 when he was 25 and still a student,[1] initially making adult CD-ROM computer games.[6]

Commenting on the transition of the pornography industry from the underground economy to mainstream corporate acceptance, the company's founder said: "I look at the porn business where Vegas and gambling was in the 70's… Vegas was still mob-owned and they were making the transition between these small groups of people to being corporate owned… I feel the same exact thing is going to happen with adult".[7]

Joone has directed the pornographic films Pirates and Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge.

In January 2012, alongside his ex-wife Samantha Lewis—who was co-owner, CEO and President of Digital Playground—he reached an agreement with Fabian Thylmann to sell the company to Manwin. On the acquisition, Joone commented: "To me this deal is no different than the acquisition of Pixar by Disney, The consumer is going to see more blockbusters, big-budget productions, and it's our goal to create the next genre of adult entertainment. This acquisition is a marriage between two industry leaders. Adult entertainment is changing and Manwin has a lead on technology." The price or terms of the deal was not disclosed, but it was announced that Lewis and Joone will "continue to oversee the studio";[8] however, it was reported in March that Manwin had released Lewis and some other employees.[9]

Other ventures

Joone is co-owner of "Diosa Spirits" tequila, Jesse Jane and her husband Rich.[10][11]

Partial filmography

As director

Awards and nominations
  • 2006 AVN Award – Best Director, Video (Pirates)[12][13]
  • 2006 XRCO Award winner - Best Director[14]
  • 2009 AVN Award winner – Best Director, Feature (Pirates II)[15]
  • 2009 AVN Award winner – Best Screenplay (Pirates II) shared with Max Massimo[15]
  • 2009 AVN Award winner – Best Videography (Pirates II) shared with Oliver Henry[15]
  • 2009 Eroticline Awards winner - Best U.S. Director[16]
  • 2009 Hot d'Or Award winner - Best American Screenplay (Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge - Digital Playground)[17][18]
  • 2009 Hot d'Or Award winner - Best American Movie (Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge - Digital Playground)[17][18]

References
  1. "THE SOFT MACHINE: Digital Playground's High-End XXX Vids Have Redefined the Craft of Making Commercial Porn With Solid-Gold Results". GramPonante. 19 April 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  2. Joone
  3. "Inside Joone". xrentdvd.com. 2006-01-19. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  4. "Joone". AVN. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  5. Josh Lipton. "Coming Soon: XXX In 3D". Minyanville. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  6. Dana Kennedy (2003-08-17). "The Fantasy of Interactive Porn Becomes a Reality". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  7. Jeffreys, Sheila (2008). The Industrial Vagina: The Political Economy of the Global Sex Trade. Taylor & Francis. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-415-41233-9.
  8. Pardon, Rhett (2012-01-17). "Manwin Acquires Digital Playground - XBIZ Newswire". XBIZ Newswire. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  9. "UPDATED: Manwin Makes Changes at Digital Playground". XBIZ Newswire. 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  10. "Jesse Jane: "I don't feel anyone is my competition"". GramPonante. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  11. "Final: Ali Joone is Not a Terrorist". adultfyi.com. 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  12. "AVN Award Winners Announced". AVN. January 9, 2006. Archived from the original on February 23, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  13. "Joone Digital Playground's founder and the director of 'Pirates' holds up his award at AVN Awards Show in Las Vegas". santabanta.com. January 9, 2006. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  14. Rhett Pardon (21 April 2006). "Porn Industry Shows Up for XRCO Awards". XBIZ. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  15. David Sullivan (2009-01-11). "2009 AVN Award-Winners Announced". AVN.com. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
  16. "Gewinner 2009". Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  17. Paul Fishbein, "Pirates II, Evil Angel Big Winners at 2009 Hot d’Or Awards", AVN.com. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  18. "Hot d'Or archives presse x, articles sur les Hot d'or". Hot-dor.fr. Retrieved 2014-05-09.
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