Hi,

I'm afraid this is another media request - I was recommended to post here after a conversation with someone from National Ugly Mugs. I've gone through the FAQ and read some of the other requests and responses, and I hope this comes across a bit differently to a lot of the other requests that were given some pretty short thrift. But apologies in advance if any of this sounds problematic.

My name's Patrick Carnegy, I'm a researcher that works for a production company based in London and Bristol called KEO Films. We're interested in doing a documentary / series on the sex industry in the UK. We want to give a 360-degree view of the current state of the industry.

We're particularly interested in the impact the internet has had on the industry, and how this has affected the number of people choosing sex work as a career, be that either in the long-term or short term.

Here's a few headings and talking points I'd be really interested in finding out some views on.

Internet and the Sex Industry

?   How much of an integral role did the internet play in your decision to work in the sex industry?
?   What the breakdown of your time is like in terms of time spent with clients / time spent marketing / budgeting / and all the nuts and bolts that go into maintaining your work.

Location

?   We're also interested in how the internet has impacted the sex trade geographically in the UK.
?   How the internet impacts where and when people work in certain areas, and how much this has increased touring / travelling to other areas of the country to work?
?   Are there particular areas of the country which have seen a noticeable increase in sex work since the internet has become such an integral part to the industry?
?   Are there are towns / rural areas that could be interesting to look at, seeing as many of the bigger metropolitan areas have been covered by docs many times?

Internet / Forums / Sex Industry in General

?   Benefits vs drawbacks of online review systems.
?   The problems the internet creates when it comes to those of you that want keep your work private.
?   The impact forums (such as this one) have on creating a safer working environment for people in the sex industry.
?   If there are any of you that were working before the internet really took off, how your experiences with the industry has changed over the years.
?   Any other issues surrounding sex work that are important to you, that perhaps aren't so obvious to people who don't have much knowledge about the industry (such as myself!)
?   Biggest misconceptions about the industry as a whole.   

I know that's a very extensive list ? but thought it was best to cast the net wide to try and get as realistic picture of the industry from your perspectives as possible.

As I mentioned it's just some initial research, so just hoping to have a quick chat / email / forum conversation with some of you on any of the above topics. Everything would be completely off-the-record, and I can of course assure your complete anonymity / privacy.

About KEO Films

For a bit of context about KEO Films: we're widely regarded as one of the UK?s top independent documentary production companies. Our productions are shown by many of the major broadcasters, including the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Discovery etc. Our recent work includes the BAFTA winning 2016 BBC series Exodus, which documented the plight of refugees coming to Europe. You can see more information on that and our other projects here: http://www.keofilms.com/projects/our-journey-to-europe/

I can be reached on patrick.carnegy@keofilms.com or on 020 7490 3580 ext 1065.

If you want further proof as to who I am, please just let me know the best way of providing that and I'll do my best to provide whatever you need.

Many thanks,

Patrick

Patrick,
I also think you should look at how the SESTA & FOSTA bills in the US are panicking people over there, the impact it has on us, and the fears we have for our futures with legislation here.

We're constantly asked where our docs could be based when looking at a topic, so that's something I'd be really interested in hearing about. If there is a certain area of the country that seems to have a higher demand / or if there's a place where sex workers find themselves touring / travelling to more often than others?

Punters are everywhere and therefore prostitutes are everywhere - they always have been and likely always will be.

What has changed a lot over the past twenty years or so is the cost and accessibility of public transport including flights, which has meant people are far more mobile than they were. The internet means that researching suitable places to work is far easier as is moving your ads around, but in terms of demand I don't think any one place has any higher demand than anywhere else outside the obvious factors like population size.

There's often a fad 'touring' location which people flock to for a few weeks or months and then somewhere else takes over as it becomes more saturated but there's no real pattern to that either - I've known it be Glasgow, Exeter, Oxford, Gatwick, Heathrow, Coventry and a fair few others. They tend to be smaller cities with cheaper hotels (Oxford being an exception) and therefore less competition including from brothels and agencies (a heavy pimp presence tends to lower the local market rate) but still with a decent population size to muster up enough work to keep busy.

And that's all you get out of me for free, I'm afraid. Like everybody else here, my time is money and my rates are on my site .

Hey

How much will I get paid to help with your research?