Joone (director)

Joone
Born c. 1969 (age 48–49)[1]
Other names Joone, Ali Joone,[2] Joonie
Alma mater University of Southern California
Occupation Photographer, director & producer
Years active 1998–2008 (porn director)[3]
Organization Digital Playground
Diosa Spirits
Spouse(s) Samantha Lewis (divorced)[1]

Joone is an Iranian-American entrepreneur,[4] photographer,[5] director and producer. For directing pornographic films, he won AVN Award twice. In 1993, Joone founded American pornographic movie studio Digital Playground[2] and was a co-owner of the company until it was acquired by Manwin in 2012.

Early life

Joone[6][7][8] was born in Iran and graduated from USC School of Cinematic Arts.[1]

Career

Joone founded the Digital Playground company[2] in 1993 when he was 25 and still a student,[1] initially making adult CD-ROM computer games.[9]

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".[10]

Joone has directed the pornographic films Pirates and Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge.

In January 2012, Joone and 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".[11] However, it was reported in March that Manwin had released Lewis and some other employees.[12]

Joone is co-owner of "Diosa Spirits" tequila alongside his wife Brandy, Jesse Jane and her husband Rich.[13][14]

Partial filmography

As director

Awards and nominations

  • 2006 AVN Award – Best Director, Video (Pirates)[15][16]
  • 2006 XRCO Award winner - Best Director[17]
  • 2009 AVN Award winner – Best Director, Feature (Pirates II)[18]
  • 2009 AVN Award winner – Best Screenplay (Pirates II) shared with Max Massimo[18]
  • 2009 AVN Award winner – Best Videography (Pirates II) shared with Oliver Henry[18]
  • 2009 Eroticline Awards winner - Best U.S. Director[19]
  • 2009 Hot d'Or Award winner - Best American Screenplay (Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge - Digital Playground)[20][21]
  • 2009 Hot d'Or Award winner - Best American Movie (Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge - Digital Playground)[20][21]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "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. 1 2 3 Josh Lipton. "Coming Soon: XXX In 3D". Minyanville. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ "Inside Joone". xrentdvd.com. 2006-01-19. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Joone". AVN. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Porn Industry May Decide DVD Format War". Fox News. January 22, 2007. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  7. ↑ Jay Cridlin (January 18, 2006). "Yo ho, yo ho ... oh no!". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Blaue Laserdioden im Rotlichtbezirk: Pornofilmer als Schiedsrichter im Duell um neuen DVD-Standard?". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). January 26, 2007. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  9. ↑ Dana Kennedy (2003-08-17). "The Fantasy of Interactive Porn Becomes a Reality". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  10. ↑ Jeffreys, Sheila (2008). The Industrial Vagina: The Political Economy of the Global Sex Trade. Taylor & Francis. p. 73. ISBN 0-415-41233-1.
  11. ↑ Pardon, Rhett (2012-01-17). "Manwin Acquires Digital Playground - XBIZ Newswire". XBIZ Newswire. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  12. ↑ "UPDATED: Manwin Makes Changes at Digital Playground". XBIZ Newswire. 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  13. ↑ "Jesse Jane: "I don't feel anyone is my competition"". GramPonante. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "Final: Ali Joone is Not a Terrorist". adultfyi.com. 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "AVN Award Winners Announced". AVN. January 9, 2006. Archived from the original on February 23, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  16. ↑ "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. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  17. ↑ Rhett Pardon (21 April 2006). "Porn Industry Shows Up for XRCO Awards". XBIZ. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  18. 1 2 3 David Sullivan (2009-01-11). "2009 AVN Award-Winners Announced". AVN.com. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
  19. ↑ "Gewinner 2009". Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  20. 1 2 Paul Fishbein, "Pirates II, Evil Angel Big Winners at 2009 Hot d’Or Awards", AVN.com. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  21. 1 2 "Hot d'Or archives presse x, articles sur les Hot d'or". Hot-dor.fr. Retrieved 2014-05-09.
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