Thousand Faces is a platform for theatrical porn that explores kinks and emotions. This means that is looks at facets of performance and theatre through a sexually explicit lens. It is based in the UK, but not only produced there. It is primarily run by Marcus Quillan, who himself produces films, acts/performs in them, directs them, or does the music for the scenes. Thousand Faces has artsy indie content and a lot of queer porn that dives into oftentimes unexplored territory. The films produced with Thousand Faces are also licensed and rented out to other sites and the platform ensures that all workers paid fairly. Payment is also an essential part to the philosophy of Thousand Faces who see all genres, performances or mediums of sex work as equal and percieves porn as an art form. Some of their material also recently got accepted to the San Francisco Porn Film Festival.
In general Thousand Faces believes that “There is no one type or style of porn it is better to support than another, you get to choose, just as long as you support it! Despite being as diverse as any other form of media, porn often gets generalised and pigeonholed as either ‘mainstream’ and ‘fake’ (bad), or alternatively: ‘authentic’ and ‘natural (good). These words can often swap out for ‘sleezy’, ‘degrading’, ‘grubby’, or ‘romantic’, ‘soft’, and ‘feminine’ (do you see a pattern?). Though our approach does try to avoid the commonly assumed ‘male gaze’, thinking in binary opposites is reductive and ignores the many variations of truth and meaning that can be found in any style of performance, within any genre or medium.”
Marcus is aware of the debates caused by the stigmatization of porn that is labeled feminist and/ or ethical and that these terms can potentially be problematic. This is why he believes it is not his place to state what criteria the films on Thousand Faces fall under. Yet he would place himself into the ‘left-wing’ branch of feminism evolving today and the films produced from Thousand Faces do not lean into the male gaze. Moreover, they try to move away from all stereotypical representations that could be considered as homophobic, racist, or sexist. “The politics of representation are complex, and we believe centering consent in our production practises is the key to navigating them…We believe that prioritising diversity and inclusion of as many different voices, sexualities, identities, and backgrounds as we can, will help us tell our stories as thoughtfully and respectfully as possible.” Marcus also states that for him ethical porn means that everyone is paid fairly and that the films are safely made, as far as is possible in a capitalist society. This means corners are not cut for profit and the rights of the performers come first. There is also a Performer’s Bill of Rights you can read if you are interested to understand what ethical production means to Thousand Faces in more depth.
When it comes to porn that is violent or categorized as degrading Marcus is sex positive and believes that with such practices consent is key. Everything should be allowed, as long as it is based on mutual respect and clearly expressed boundaries and consent, as shaming someone for their preferences would be discriminatory.
Enjoy getting to know Marcus and Thousand Faces more through the video above
NICE TO MEET YOU is a short interview series of around five minutes, in which we ask a wide variety of performers personal questions about their journey to and within the sex industry. We focus on their opinions about porn, or their experiences with it and the industry. They also tell us about their hobbies and daily life. We aim to draw an intimate portrait of people and performers behind the scenes sharing their current state of mind, their love, and their life. This allows performers to become more accessible, but also for you to get to know your favorite artists better.
