Joone is an American Iranian 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 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Ali Joone c. 1969 (age 54–55)[1] Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of California Los Angeles |
| Occupation(s) | Photographer, director & producer |
| Years active | 1998–2008 (porn director)[2] |
| Organization(s) | Digital Playground Diosa Spirits |
| Spouse | Samantha Lewis (divorced)[1] |
Career
editHe 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
editJoone is co-owner of "Diosa Spirits" tequila, with Jesse Jane and her husband Rich.[10][11]
Partial filmography
editAs director
edit- Pirates
- Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge
- Island Fever 1, 2, 3 & 4
- Forbidden Tales
- Virtual Sex line of DVDs:
- Virtual Sex with Jesse Jane
- Virtual Sex with Taylor Hayes
- Virtual Sex with Tera Patrick
- Virtual Sex with Jenna Jameson
- Rocki Roads' Wet Dreams
Awards and nominations
edit- 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
edit- ^ a b c "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.
- ^ "Joone". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
- ^ "Inside Joone". xrentdvd.com. 2006-01-19. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
- ^ "Joone". AVN. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
- ^ a b Josh Lipton. "Coming Soon: XXX In 3D". Minyanville. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ^ Dana Kennedy (2003-08-17). "The Fantasy of Interactive Porn Becomes a Reality". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
- ^ Jeffreys, Sheila (2008). The Industrial Vagina: The Political Economy of the Global Sex Trade. Taylor & Francis. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-415-41233-9.
- ^ Pardon, Rhett (2012-01-17). "Manwin Acquires Digital Playground - XBIZ Newswire". XBIZ Newswire. Archived from the original on 2012-04-22. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
- ^ "UPDATED: Manwin Makes Changes at Digital Playground". XBIZ Newswire. 2012-03-08. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
- ^ "Jesse Jane: "I don't feel anyone is my competition"". GramPonante. 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ "Final: Ali Joone is Not a Terrorist". adultfyi.com. 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ "AVN Award Winners Announced". AVN. January 9, 2006. Archived from the original on February 23, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Rhett Pardon (21 April 2006). "Porn Industry Shows Up for XRCO Awards". XBIZ. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
- ^ a b c David Sullivan (2009-01-11). "2009 AVN Award-Winners Announced". AVN.com. Archived from the original on 2009-01-18. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
- ^ "Gewinner 2009". Archived from the original on 29 August 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ^ a b Paul Fishbein, "Pirates II, Evil Angel Big Winners at 2009 Hot d’Or Awards" Archived 2013-01-18 at archive.today, AVN.com. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- ^ a b "Hot d'Or archives presse x, articles sur les Hot d'or". Hot-dor.fr. Archived from the original on 2014-03-16. Retrieved 2014-05-09.