Joone (director)

Joone
Born
Ali Joone

c. 1969 (age 54–55)[1]
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
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]

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.

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, with 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. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Joone". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  3. ^ "Inside Joone". xrentdvd.com. 2006-01-19. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  4. ^ "Joone". AVN. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  5. ^ a b 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. Archived from the original on 2012-04-22. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  9. ^ "UPDATED: Manwin Makes Changes at Digital Playground". XBIZ Newswire. 2012-03-08. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  10. ^ "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.
  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. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "Gewinner 2009". Archived from the original on 29 August 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ 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.