LOS ANGELES — Gamma Films Group has renewed Seth Gamble’s contract to perform and direct for a second year.

Under the new deal, the five-time XBIZ award winner for “Best Actor” and 16-year industry veteran will continue performing for Wicked Pictures and the other brands within the Gamma ecosphere, including Adult Time and Pure Taboo, as well as directing exclusively for Wicked and co-directing several Adult Time projects with Bree Mills.

Gamble will now also be serving as an associate producer on all Wicked shoots.

The multi-hyphenate creative initially signed with Gamma in March 2021. Since then, he has appeared in a number of productions, including Wicked’s “Black Widow XXX: An Axel Braun Parody” — for which he won the 2022 XBIZ award for “Best Sex Scene” alongside Lacy Lennon, Elena Koshka and Ramon Nomar.

In addition to performing for labels under the Gamma umbrella, Gamble made his directorial debut with the all-sex release “The Red Room” and later helmed his first feature, the eight-part series “Deranged,” both produced by Wicked Head of Production Axel Braun.

‘A Winning Mentality’

“I’m incredibly grateful to be surrounded by such gifted professionals, because acting gets you a front row seat to every department,” Gamble said of his journey with Gamma. “One of the advantages of acting is that it’s an up-close view of how everyone works, how great directors work, how the finest cinematographers work. You can ask a lot of questions and learn their work ethic and that’s basically paid training.”

“This past year couldn’t have been better, and the whole experience remained true to the spirit of why I chose to make Gamma my home,” the actor continued. “So much of any creative pursuit involves protecting the core of who you are and what you set out to do, which requires surrounding yourself with a like-minded, talented and motivated group of people. Axel and Bree are by far the most creative forces in the industry, and I am very grateful for the inspiration, protection and encouragement they constantly provide me with.”

Braun described Gamble as having “a winning mentality and he applies that to everything he does.”

“The expectations were very high when we signed him and he surpassed them all, not only as a performer and actor, but also as a director,” Braun added.

“Seth and I have worked very closely for years,” added Mills, who also serves as Chief Creative Officer for Adult Time. “I am proud to see his continued growth and his commitment to doing porn differently with us.

The four first episodes of Gamble’s current project, “Deranged,” featuring his real-life wife Kenzie Taylor, are available now exclusively on Wicked.com.

Follow Seth Gamble, Axel Braun and Wicked Pictures on Twitter.

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana State Senator Beth Mizell (R-Franklinton) has introduced a new state law proposing the censorship of “pornography or sexually explicit content” on the personal phones or computers of students, professors and staff while connected to a public university’s wifi network or internet service.

Virtually all of the people who would be affected by Mizell’s bill, pre-filed Wednesday ahead of the upcoming 2022 regular session, are legal adults.

Mizell’s Senate Bill 131 “would require each public university to prohibit access to content that is ‘sexually explicit, pornographic or sexually harassing and, therefore, reasonably believed to create a hostile work environment,’” the Louisiana Illuminator reported yesterday.

Mizell’s anti-free speech bill “would require public postsecondary education boards and institutions to adopt policies that prohibit such content for all students and employees, and it calls for universities to adopt internet censorship techniques that actively block a user from visiting certain websites.”

The report explains that these “techniques” refer to “blockers” or “filters” — many of which are developed and programmed by faith-based startups — that Mizell would have the state pay for with public funds.

Many of these so-called “anti-porn blocks or filters” have been shown to over-block non-explicit content, with a particular bias against any sex education or LGBTQ+ material.

The Louisiana Illuminator points out that one of the largest applications of content filtering worldwide is the national firewall in China, “which blocks free speech, global trade, foreign information sources and other digital content deemed unsuitable.”

Moreover, the conservative lawmaker wants any student or employee “who needs ‘unfiltered or unrestricted access to the internet’ for any scientific, educational or law enforcement reason” to “first obtain written authorization from the institution granting access for a specified time period. Such authorization must be kept on file and reviewed periodically.”

S.B. 131, the report adds, “would leave it to each university to determine what is and is not appropriate and translate that into content blocking parameters.”

Mizell did not respond to the Louisiana Illuminator’s requests for comment.

Main Image: Louisiana State Senator Beth Mizell (R-Franklinton)

Mar 4, 2022 3:30 PM PST

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Certified sex educator Ducky DooLittle will present a webinar titled “Intimacy After Trauma” Sunday at 10 a.m. (PST)/1 p.m. (EST).

“In a safe and non-judgmental environment, Ducky will discuss common issues survivors face as they work to heal past trauma,” a rep said.

DooLittle is a pleasure-based sex educator and a certified sexual assault and violence intervention counselor. She has presented on this topic for more than a decade in community centers, crisis centers, homeless shelters and on college campuses.

“This presentation has been designed to help a person become more conscious in their body, build trust and communication, embrace desires, explore healing through touch and bond with their partner,” noted the rep. “Ducky will also discuss brain science, techniques to manage triggers and embracing post-trauma instinctual responses.”

DooLittle added, “Though for some of us it may take a little courage to attend, these events are never a doom-and-gloom affair. As an educator, counselor, and survivor myself, I am unafraid of the darkness of reality, but past participants report they walk away feeling joyful and that they have new tools and perspective. That is my goal.”

They noted the webinar is for “individuals who have experienced traumas such as abuse, violence, injury, illness, homelessness or combat. All genders, orientations and ages. Survivors, partners of trauma survivors, allies and people who work in the healing arts are all welcome to attend.”

“This presentation is not a substitute for quality counseling,” they added. “You are welcome to participate on any level you are comfortable.”

No camera or microphone is needed to attend; to protect the privacy of participants, the event will not be recorded.

Tickets are $49; click here for additional details.

Find Ducky DooLittle online and on Twitter; direct inquiries to duckydoolittle@gmail.com.

NEW YORK — Marcela Alonso’s next guest for her IG Live show, “Sunday Funday,” will be Jessy Dubai.

“I am so pleased to have Jessy on this week’s ‘Sunday Funday.’ There are so many things to discuss, including her new podcast ‘Eye2Eye’ with Jessy Dubai,” Alonso said. “She is an entrepreneur with a heart of gold and we are going to have a great time.”

The show will stream live Sunday at 3 p.m. (PST) on Alonso’s Instagram profile.

Dubai’s “Eye2Eye” is now available on Apple Podcasts.

Follow Marcela Alonso and Jessy Dubai on Twitter.

Mar 4, 2022 3:23 PM PST

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Splash NFT Marketplace ambassador Sunny Lane hosted an AMA on Wednesday in Splash’s Telegram group for its Turkish audience.

Lane talked about the Splash token, its impending NFT marketplace launch, adult distribution models and other topics during the hour-long event.

When asked if they had NFTs ready, Lane answered, “Some of the NFTs are ready now, [but are] awaiting the marketplace going live” and promised that the marketplace was in the final stages before launch.

“We should have it live soon,” Lane shared. “Out of an abundance of caution, Splash is taking extra security measures, going through the code and making sure it is bug-free so the big day will go smoothly and safely.”

The full AMA can be found via Telegram here or here.

Follow Sunny Lane on Twitter and find her premium social media links here.

MIAMI — XBIZ is pleased to announce the Miami edition of XBIZ Retreat will make its long-awaited in-person return May 16-20 at the beachfront Grand Miami Beach Hotel.

Satisfyer has signed on as the Presenting Sponsor of the perennially popular event, which will once again bring together vendors and buyers for a week of curated private meetings and networking social events, returning to the location where, in 2016, XBIZ Retreat hosted one of its largest gatherings. For its upcoming summer edition, more than 100 companies have already confirmed they will attend. With space limited, exhibitor suites are expected to sell out.

“The overwhelming response from vendors and buyers is an invigorating reminder of the unique value and impact that this event offers,” XBIZ Associate Publisher Sara Ramirez said. “With such a diverse lineup of participants already signed up, we anticipate that this year’s edition of Miami XBIZ Retreat will be one to remember.”

Held three times a year, XBIZ Retreat features a packed, all-inclusive itinerary anchored by private one-on-one meetings between top buyers and vendors. While indulging in a luxurious setting, XBIZ Retreat participants also are treated to special events, including cocktail mixers, gourmet dinners and entertainment.

Past XBIZ Retreat participants have shared their fondness for the event.

“Between off-site networking and the valuable business meetings, this format fits for manufacturers and buyers across a range of categories,” Nalpac’s Phoebe Grott said. “I especially enjoy getting to connect with international companies to gain more perspective on the global marketplace.” 

Satisfyer’s Mira Waidelich said, “XBIZ Retreat provides both vendors and buyers with invaluable networking opportunities and an outlet to conduct one-on-one conversations in a private setting to learn about each other’s company, values and products. Close interaction is not only conducted in the meetings; the opportunity is also there to connect via speed networking, at mealtimes and all the social events.”

Aneros’ Brent Aldon said, “XBIZ Retreat is my go-to when it comes to intimate meetings with customers. They have a great selection of buyers, especially ones that are not so easily accessible. They always have a mix of customers that entices you to participate.” 

COTR’s Kim Faubel said, “XBIZ Retreat [does] not disappoint. We have met new people from across the globe, which helps COTR spread our message even farther. The events were fun, the food was great, and the connections we made and nourished were priceless.” 

Be Wicked!’s Marc Toretzky offered, “XBIZ Retreat is a fantastic event to meet with existing and new customers from all over the world. It is a very valuable experience to do business in the environment that XBIZ sets up for its customers. The offsite events are fantastic and create long-lasting memories.”

Ana Sofía Giraldo from Pink Secret said, “XBIZ Retreat is the best way to connect with people of the industry and to have quality time with the vendors, so you really get to know the people and new products — I love it.”

Nexus’ Monique Carty said, “XBIZ Retreat creates the perfect setup for you to meet with current and potential customers in one place. As an overseas brand, these opportunities are invaluable for networking and we have had a lot of success with the relationships that we have built through XBIZ.”

Essence Boutique’s Ryan Hole said, “XBIZ Retreat not only allows you to source new products from new companies around the world, but it also allows you to network and build new ideas for our company. This is personally the best event that we attend.”

For more information about the upcoming Miami  edition of XBIZ Retreat, contact theretreat@xbiz.com.

BERLIN — Hours after the German government ordered the country’s major internet service providers to block xHamster, ISP PŸUR told a digital rights group that they “reserve the right to have the decision legally reviewed by an independent court with a view to the legal regulations of net neutrality.”

Back in December, a spokesperson for Telekom, another of Germany’s leading ISPs, told digital rights news site Netzpolitik.org that the company was “critical of such network blocks”.

As XBIZ reported, Germany’s Commission for Youth Media Protection (KJM) decided unanimously yesterday to impose a network ban on xHamster, alleging the adult tube site was in violation of the Youth Media Protection State Treaty (JMStV) and “is therefore illegal.”

Daily newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine noted that “the network ban is the harshest sanction provided by the German Telemedia Act” and it “is unpopular and [was] quickly classified as ‘censorship.’”

The KJM’s block order was the result of a campaign coordinated by the head of the state media authority of North Rhine-Westphalia, Tobias Schmid, reportedly using the slogan “No Surrender.”

“Of course, blocking the network is a dramatic intervention,” the obscure regional bureaucrat who has waged a one-man War on Porn told the Frankfurter Allgemeine. “With this offer, however, the right to freedom of expression should not be affected too much.”

According to Netzpolitik.org’s Sebastian Meineck, who has been tracking the story locally, yesterday’s KJM order to block xHamster issued to Telekom, Vodafone, 1&1, Telefonica and PŸUR is “the next escalation step in a long and drawn-out process.”

Telekom, Vodafone, 1&1 and Telefonica “announced that they would examine the blocking order,” Meineck reported after he contacted the ISPs yesterday.

xHamster Alleges Inefficiency, Selective Enforcement

An xHamster rep told the German Press Agency that the Schmid-driven network block is “far from an optimal solution” since “young people would switch to smaller sites where they can be exposed to more extreme content.”

xHamster said they are committed “to work with German authorities — if the rules apply across the industry.”

For Meineck, “the media regulator’s crackdown on xHamster is just the beginning. Further proceedings against other porn sites are already under way, for example against Pornhub.com, the [second-]most visited porn site in Germany.”

Nevertheless, he added, “porn fans do not have to do without the option of xHamster for the time being. It can still be reached under alternative domains such as xHamster2.com, xHamster3.com or xHamster.desi. The current blocking order of the media supervisory authority only refers to the xHamster.com domain. A new procedure would have to be started for each additional domain. In addition, network blocks can be bypassed with technical tricks, such as VPN services, alternative DNS servers or the Tor browser.”

Mar 4, 2022 1:44 PM PST

AMSTERDAM — Larkin Love talks business and cosplay on a new episode of “The Angel Long Podcast.”

The interview opens with Love describing herself as “the Queen of Role-Play” and “an independent porn producer and adult star on OnlyFans and Loyalfans,” a rep said. “Next, Larkin delves into how she got her start in adult as a stripper, and then camming, and eventually filming with mainstream studios.”

“After an agent told her she was totally unmarketable, and studios didn’t know what to do with her because of her tattoos, she started making her own content, posted it to Clips4Sale and found out she made way more money that way,” continued the rep.

Love has become known for her long tongue and a broad catalog of work. She and Long also talk about Love becoming known for roleplaying Power Girl and Scooby-Doo’s Velma.

“Angel was so much fun; it didn’t even feel like an interview. We even talked about working together and her coming to Amsterdam or me going to London. Either way, it will be hot. So definitely check out the interview. Whether you’re a longtime fan or new to my world, you’ll learn a lot,” Love said.

The nearly two-hour episode can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and most major podcast platforms; follow the broadcast on Twitter.

Follow Larkin Love on Twitter and find her premium social media links here.

Mar 4, 2022 1:35 PM PST

LOS ANGELES — Miss Mae Ling’s latest appearance is on the podcast “What Women and Other Wonderful Humans Want,” hosted by HiThereCatsuit.

In addition to discussing about life as a self-described “adorable Domme,” Ling also reveals how she meshes her own personality with her work, which makes her “an authentic Domme where she is herself, enjoying her work, rather than a persona,” a rep said, “and how she came to find her authentic self to bring into her work.”

Ling also touches upon how spending years finding herself to be able to unlock and unblock the emotions of others.

“If you come into kink with an open mind, then you should be open-minded about sexuality,” she said.

Ling’s 66-minute appearance on “What Women and Other Wonderful Humans Want,” which is part of the Dating Kinky podcast network, can be found here. Find the broadcast on Twitter.

Follow Mae Ling on Twitter and find her premium social media links here.

DUSSELDORF, Germany — Germany’s Commission for Youth Media Protection (KJM) decided unanimously on Thursday to impose a network ban on xHamster.

The KJM alleges xHamster is in violation of the Youth Media Protection State Treaty (JMStV) and “is therefore illegal.”

“[T]he five largest German Internet providers [will] have to block access to the ‘de.xhamster.com’ page,” leading daily newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine reported today.

The newspaper described the path to state censorship as an “odyssey that shows how difficult it is for media regulators to take action against illegal offerings on the internet. First, the State Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia — which took up the case —  located the operator of xHamster, the company Hammy Media Ltd, run by two Russians based in Cyprus. The State Media Authority then contacted the Cyprus media regulator. In October 2019, they announced that they could not take action themselves, but would not mind if the Germans did something. The State Media Authority informed the European Commission, the state government in Düsseldorf and the Federal Minister of State for Culture.”

After several more bureaucratic steps, in a campaign coordinated by the head of the state media authority of North Rhine-Westphalia, Tobias Schmid, reportedly using the slogan “No Surrender,” and his colleagues from Bavaria, Berlin and Rhineland-Palatinate “approached [ISPs] Telekom, 1&1, Alice, Freenet and Vodafone. Since these companies are within reach, they have to implement the blocking decided by the KJM and take xHamster out from their network.”

The German newspaper noted that “the network ban is the harshest sanction provided by the German Telemedia Act” and it “is unpopular and is quickly classified as ‘censorship.’”

“Of course, blocking the network is a dramatic intervention,” Schmid told the paper. “With this offer, however, the right to freedom of expression should not be affected too much. It is simply a business with pornography, and done at the expense of children and young people.”

A Regional Bureaucrat’s ‘Order’ Crusade

Back in December, Schmid, an obscure, regional German bureaucrat who decided to wage a one-man war on porn in his country, took to the press to announce that there would be no appeals possible to the imminent decision to shut down tube site xHamster.

“Porn portal xHamster is on the verge of extinction!” is how German publication Bild sensationally headlined their exclusive interview with a gleeful, triumphant Schmid who claimed that “about xHamster we have a final decision against which no appeals are possible.”

“It is pornography, there is no age verification and German law applies,” Schmid declared.

Schmid, a fastidious career politician whom German publications have described as someone with “an order fetish,” declared himself ”somewhat amazed” that the major ISPs had consulted lawyers instead of accepting his views on porn blocks and  “accepting their socio-political responsibility more quickly.”

“After all, it is about clearly illegal content. If that doesn’t work better now, the legislature will have to look at it again,” Schmid told Bild, clamoring for state intervention. “Every 12-year-old today has a smartphone and can switch from TikTok to these offers.”

“This is not about freedom of expression, but about a business model that uses an illegal practice,” Schmid opined.

A major digital rights group in Germany published an editorial in December analyzing how a minor bureaucrat managed to ram through a seemingly imminent blanket-block of Germany’s most-visited porn sites, pointing out that the situation was the result of “many small administrative steps” in the background.

“Only when viewed as a whole does the net political impact emerge,” Netzpolitik.org observed.

Main Image: North Rhine-Westphalia bureaucrat Tobias Schmid (Source: LMA)