A producer at SexTV sent me an email today. They're looking for johns for an upcoming episode. The people at SexTV are good people; I've worked with them in the past.
"Hi Susannah,
My name is Layal and I work as a researcher for CTV, Canada's leading broadcaster. I am contacting you because we are currently producing a story on Johns that goes beyond the usual stigmas and explores the diverse reasons why men and women pay for sex. I was hoping to get your perspective on this topic, as someone who has written extensively on sex work and who has created an anonymous outlet for both Johns and call girls to share their stories. I was also hoping you might be able to connect me with people who could share their personal stories. But first, a bit about us...
SexTV is a documentary-style show that explores issues and art related to gender, relationships and sexuality - around the world -in an intelligent and thought-provoking fashion. Over the past ten years we have produced issue-based stories such as Sister Wives: Born Into Polygamy, Umoja (an all-female village in Kenya), The Mommy Wars, Censorship in Hollywood, In the Company of Men: Gender in the Face of War and The Boy Code: Forming Masculinity. We've also produced features on a wide range of artists whose work deals with gender and sexuality, including Carolee Schneemann, David Cronenberg, Nobuyoshi Araki, Lauren Greenfield, Catherine Breillat, Grayson Perry, Nan Goldin, Margaret Cho, Marina Abramovic, Richard Kern, Terry Richardson, Annie Sprinkle, John Waters, Larry Sultan, and many others.
I am wondering if you might know of any Johns who would be willing to share their stories, or if it would be possible to post my contact information on your blog so that those who are interested could get in touch with me? Ideally, we are hoping to speak to people who are willing to disclose their identities, but of course we are also open to speaking with those who are wish to share their story but remain anonymous. We often have producers traveling to New York and Los Angeles so ideally we are hoping to connect with people who live in those areas, or around the Toronto area, though it is possible for us to travel to other places in North America.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Layal
Layal Al-Haidari | CTV Inc.
Layal[dot]alhaidari[at]chumtv.com"
Relatedly, I've got a new letter from a john: "I'm a Young Black Guy."
