Grooby Productions

Grooby Productions
Private
Industry Pornography
Founded 1996
Headquarters Los Angeles, CA, USA
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Steve Grooby (owner)
Products Pornographic films, Pornographic websites
Slogan "The other niche company"
Website grooby.com

Grooby Productions is a company founded in 1996 and based in Los Angeles, CA, producing transgender online adult entertainment. It established itself as one of the pioneer companies of online adult transgender entertainment[1] with its website Shemale Yum, "the first transsexual pay site with original content".[2]

The company owns a number of transsexual adult websites and produces its own DVD line as well as having other interests in forums, blogs and social networking within the transsexual niche genre including the Tranny Awards.[3]

It has been called as "one of the most popular adult industry companies in the world"[4] and according to AVN Business, the company "has established itself among the Net's foremost purveyors of transgender erotica".[5]

Company history

Grooby traces its roots back to websites started up in 1996 in the UK by owner Steven Grooby, a film school graduate.[6] The most prominent of them was his transgender site Shemale Yum[7] which became an Adult Verification site and eventually a pay site. The term "shemale" is considered pejorative by the transgender community but Grooby says that at the time the site was named he didn't know any better and the site became too well branded to change the name.[4] Other websites followed including Ladyboy-Ladyboy in 1998 which was the first website to specifically go to Thailand to photograph ladyboys and number of other sites featuring Brazilian, Black, Japanese and Canadian transsexuals.[5]

For a time Grooby operated the official websites for Joey Silvera[6] and Gia Darling but due to creative differences these were dissolved amicably. In 2006 the company celebrated its 10-year anniversary, which included a party thrown by Allanah Starr in New York City.[2]

In 2008 Grooby opened the SheMaleJapan.com website to focus on Japanese "newhalf" (ニューハーフ) transsexual models. The concept for the website dated back to 2000 but it took eight years to find an appropriate producer in Japan.[8] The site was formed in partnership with a Japanese producer, Hiro, and all video is shot in Japan. Models have included adult video (AV) stars Miki Mizuasa and Hime Tsukino.[9] The site is in English but in mid-2009 almost half of the users of the site were from Japan.[10]

By late 2008 the company hosted 12 websites and employed 7 full-time employees at its Los Angeles, CA headquarters and 25 people worldwide.[1] Grooby Productions produces over 2000 photo/video sets a year for web only release and about 10 DVD releases.[3] In Late 2009, the company relocated its offices from Honolulu to Los Angeles, California.

Producers and directors

Grooby Productions works exclusively with a number of producers, photographers and directors specific to the transsexual niche. Tony Vee has been with the company for over 15 years and is one of the more celebrated photographers of transgender women, being the first to discover Allanah Starr and inaugural Tranny Awards winner Chrissy.[11] Buddy Wood has produced all his titles under Grooby Productions including AVN Nominated "Shemale Superstars", "Shemale Cuties Who Love It Up Their Booties" & "Shemale Email",[12] starring transsexual porn actresses including Vicki Richter, Danielle Foxxx, Alexis Saige, Yasmin Lee & Khloe Hart. One of his most popular releases is "Hazel Does Hollywood" starring his prodigy and muse, Hazel Tucker. Other notable producers include Frank, Louie Damazo, PK Vegas, Remy, KilaKali, Lucia Matthews, Radius Dark, Kevin Dong, Omar Wax, Jack Flash & Grooby Terry. The Commander, now semi-retired, was the first photographer to produce original content for the site.

Tranny Awards / Transgender Erotica Awards

Grooby sponsors an annual event, the Transgender Erotica Awards (TEA), held each February in Los Angeles. Citing a poor representation of transgender performers and producers in mainstream adult awards ceremonies,[13] the annual event was created to recognize achievement in the transgender adult industry. Originally a small online-only awards show, it has since grown into a well-attended event, honoring models and performers in 21 categories and attracting attention from outside of the trans community.[14]

Awards and Nominations

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Stuart, John (September 22, 2008). "Shemale Niche Gains Popularity". XBIZ. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fox, Bianca (July 31, 2007). "Shemale Yum Celebrates a Decade of Decadence". AVN Business. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Executive Suites : Steven Gallon". AVN Business. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chavalier, Meghan (May 7, 2009). "Exclusive Interview Steve Grooby". Stopping the Hate. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Magnani, Messalina (June 1, 2001). "Feelin Grooby". AVN Business. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lim, Gerrie (January 1, 2003). "Bring On the Tsunami: The Rising Tide of Asian Porn". AVN Business. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  7. ↑ Meyer, Frank (July 7, 2004). "ShemaleYum.com, Ladyboy-Ladyboy.com Run Fahrenheit 9/11 Promo". AVN Business. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  8. ↑ Bourne, Justin (October 29, 2008). "Grooby Productions Introduces SheMale-Japan.com". AVN Business. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  9. ↑ Berton, Peter (December 1, 2008). "Turning Japanese: Grooby’s Steven Grooby Talks About His New Site, SheMaleJapan.com". YNOT. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  10. ↑ "shemalejapan.com Traffic Stats". Alexa. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  11. ↑ "2008 Tranny Awards Winners". www.trannyawards.com. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  12. ↑ "AVN Nominees 2008". www.avnawards.com. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  13. ↑ Clark-Flory, Tracy. "Porn's taboo transsexual stars". Salon. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  14. ↑ Kobola, Frank. "The Tranny Awards are getting a Less Offensive Name". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  15. ↑ XBIZ Announces Finalist Nominees for 2010 XBIZ Awards, XBIZ, Wednesday, Dec 16, 2009
  16. ↑ XBIZ Award Winners, XBIZ, January, 2012

External links