Inside the Greatest Porn Parody Factory

A look behind the scenes of WoodRocket, the world’s preeminent producer of porn parodies.

Rule 34 is a popular Internet meme that asserts: “If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions.” A visit to WoodRocket.com is enough to convince anyone of the truth in that.

In Simpsons XXX, performers covered in yellow body paint grunt and moan through scenes while attempting to stay in character as Marge and Homer. A photo gallery called “An Orgy of Bill Murrays” features actresses (partially) dressed up as some of Murray’s most beloved characters: Picture a lithe young woman wearing a Steve Zissou hat and beard—and nothing else. Lee Roy Myers, one of the site’s founders, is responsible for pornographic parodies of everything from Game of Thrones and Dr. Who to The Hobbit and Bob’s Burgers (Game of Bones, Dr. Whore, Bob’s Boners, and The Knobbit, respectively), and he always has a new delightfully depraved production in the works.

Porn parodies based on popular culture are certainly nothing new. These ribald romps peaked in the ‘90s, decreased in popularity as porn moved away from DVDs and towards the web, then saw a resurgence in the mid-aughts with films like Brady Bunch XXX and Who’s Nailin Paylin? That rise in popularity happened to coincide with Myers’s career path. After various stints in porn, traditional media, and working as a TV executive for Pay-Per-View, New Sensations asked him to produce a film with mainstream comedic sensibilities that would be set in an office in “Porn Valley.” He seized upon the moment parodies were having and created a pornographic version of The Office. Myers then went on to shoot 30-40 films for New Sensations, most of which were parodies.

"They’re releasing The Humper Games and Gnardians of the Galaxy: 50 Shades of Groot next."

About three years ago, he and two silent partners started WoodRocket, which Myers refers to as “ethical free porn.” WoodRocket pays for everything featured on the site, either by producing it internally, or licensing it. WoodRocket’s hard launch came about one year into the company’s founding with the release of Spongeknob Squarenuts: Actors in bulky costumes imitate the goofy animated characters from Spongebob Squarepants in an impish, slightly disturbing hardcore sex session. It’s still Myers’s favorite film that he’s made.

By focusing mainly on parodies—Myers says they “eat, sleep, and breathe them”—WoodRocket has carved out a unique place in the adult entertainment industry. Their most popular videos get around 300,000 views, compared to the millions that sites like PornHub and PornTube can garner. Still, every time they announce or release a new porn parody, a media outlet picks up on it—whether it’s The A.V. Club highlighting teasers from their Weird Al parody, or a Jezebel writer sharing her account of watching Bob’s Boners in its entirety. In a time when shareability is highly considered and sought-after when producing online content, parodies may be the most publicly shareable kind of porn. For all the videos people watch, unless there’s a slip of the finger near PornHub’s “share” button, they’re not very likely to post the clip they masturbated to last night on their Twitter feed. Parodies, on the other hand, are fair game to be discussed and shared.

For all the vulgar jokes we collectively enjoy, there's a cultural disconnect between sexual humor and actual eroticism. With all its campiness, can WoodRocket bridge that gap, or do they even want to? Myers confirmed that he does receive emails from fans telling him that they’ve looked to WoodRocket to fulfill sexual needs, noting: “No matter what mask you put on it, if there is a vagina or penis or some sort of rubbing or penetration, people somewhere will be turned on by it.” He admits, “It’s not what I would do, but I make it for people who want to enjoy it any way they want to enjoy it… or be disgusted by it in whatever way they want to be disgusted by it.”

Myers is an entertainment junkie, and he and his partners constantly consume media at high volumes in order to vet television shows and movies for possible XXX parodies. They also keep their ears out in other ways—a Reddit co-sign is an especially good litmus test for whether a parody of the show or film will be successful. As of yesterday, three of their films were nominated for Best Parody at the 2015 AVN Awards. And they’re releasing The Humper Games and Gnardians of the Galaxy: 50 Shades of Groot next.

Often, the performers have not seen the film or television show that they’re parodying, but Myers says that most of them become fans after the fact. There are others who are massive fans coming in, like April O’Neil, who starred in and had a hand in producing Dr. Whore. After working with Myers on several other parodies, O’Neil made it known that she wanted to create one for Dr. Who. “With the recent rise in popularity of the show, I started to push the idea a little more and he just made it happen,” says O’Neil, adding that the pet project “was literally a dream come true.”

When asked if acting in Dr. Whore was different from other porn flicks she’s shot, O’Neil said, “It’s not, except for the fact that I was getting to play out one of my personal fantasies as opposed to someone else's. I was a fair bit more turned on than I normally would've been, I think.” She loves working with WoodRocket and is a huge fan of the parody genre in general, which she calls “erotic fan fiction that I can guarantee you every nerd loves, turned into film.”

Myers clearly loves his job, too. He’s a self-described “TV addict and cinephile” who “has a sense of humor about it,” and calls his work with WoodRocket a fulfillment of a dream. “My job is to make fun of things, and like most humans, I like sex, so therefore, to combine the two, I get it all,” he says.

WoodRocket’s tagline is “The Future of Porn” which is an ambitious statement, to say the least.

“I feel like porn isn’t just penetration anymore—it’s a culture,” said Myers. “It’s meshed in there with pop culture now, meshed in there with comedy. For us, WoodRocket is paving the way for creating a place you can come to—and come at—and stay and be entertained. It’s all got this feel of acceptance of sex in whatever form it is.”

from ffffff http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/28/inside-the-greatest-porn-parody-factory-from-game-of-bones-to-the-humper-games.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+thedailybeast%2Farticles+%28The+Daily+Beast+-+Latest+Articles%29

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