Interview with Emma Morgan, Executive Producer of Mums Make Porn
Category: InterviewHow did you come up with the idea of ‘Mums Make Porn’?
EM: We were looking at porn statistics and its impact on the sex education of teenagers. We did a lot of research on the subject and much of mainstream porn depicted violence.
We wanted to talk about sex and porn in an open way and engage with everyone. The title literally popped into my head while we were brainstorming how to get into the subject. Who cares more about their kids than mums? It felt like a really natural way into the subject.
What did you look for when you were signing up the mums?
EM: We were very careful about the casting. We spent a long time to find open minded, articulate women who had different views ON PORN and who were from different backgrounds. We also wanted them to have different transferable skills to contribute to the porn film - the mums we chose included a writer, agent, stylist, make-up artist and photographer.
Originally there were five mums but one dropped out. Can you tell us why she did?
EM: She was religious and felt morally conflicted and felt that once she had made a porn film she couldn’t come back from that. She was also a feminist blogger and felt she had something interesting to explore in the project. She went quite far with the process but eventually, she dropped out. She has stayed in touch with the mums and production team and she came to the final screening of the film... and was pleased with the result.
Mums Make Porn is a very hard-hitting series…
EM: Even though it is a documentary, there is lots of humour and warmth too. Firecracker Films likes to tackle difficult subjects with mischief and purpose - proper journalism with warmth, humour and humanity. We like to bring these topics to a broad audience so that they That allows people to talk about hard subjects. I hope it gets a reaction, but I am really proud of the documentary and the mums. The film they have made really works.
What is your response to anybody who doesn’t agree with why you have made the series?
EM: We were shocked by the stats about the impact of free mainstream porn online on the younger generation. It was clear that a lot of young people were accessing porn and were being influenced by it.
We felt it has real purpose to do something meaningful to provoke debate and encourage responsible conversations between parents and their children and draw attention to the issue. Sometimes actions speak louder than words, and we are very proud of the mums and the film that they made and the messages it conveys.
ENDS