The Beginning of Spark Erotic

BY URVASHI

Thank you soooo much for your support. You cannot even imagine what it means to us that you share our vision, enjoy our art, and believe in our efforts.

We wanted to take a little time to let you know a little more about the birth of Spark Erotic and where we are today.

Spark was born from Urvashi’s Eye, an erotic photography business created and operated by Kama and myself, Urvashi – a husband/wife team. Celebrating the New Year of 2015, I began to form the idea of taking our signature look into film.

Having been an erotic photographer and model for the past decade had forced me to take a deep look at myself and my views on sex and sexuality in general. It pushed everyone of my buttons. I remember each step of the way feeling very nervous and afraid but deciding to press into the discomfort rather than shield myself from the experience. I asked the hard questions of why I felt the ways I did and if that was an appropriate response or a trained one. I wanted to reclaim a part of me I felt had been shamed and guilted into hiding. Doing the work through photography was gratifying and fulfilling. I felt that I had healed from the many wounds society and personal experience had placed upon my sexuality. It left me feeling humble and unable to be judgmental about other’s genuine journeys and expression. It also left me feeling proud, strong, and confident. I loved being female and I loved being sensual and sexy and sexual.

I wanted to use Kama’s and my experience in photography to artfully depict authentic sexual expression in film. I felt as if there was nothing I had found in porn that felt real when sex was involved. Whenever I watched porn, I cringed. It always left me feeling uncomfortable, embarrassed, slightly dirty, betrayed, angry, and confused. I could feel aroused, but the other emotions got in the way. Instead of making me amorous, porn usually made me feel sexually numb. I wanted to make films that had hardcore sex that women would want to watch. Not only would they want to watch them, they would be turned on and want to share this with their partner(s). These films would make them feel sexy, confident, and powerful. I also wanted to reach the male audience. I wanted them to see a hot, hardcore sex scene, but one that they didn’t want to just get their rocks off to. I wanted to draw them in as well, to make them identify with the story that led to the sex. I wanted sex partners to watch our films in mutuality, sparking discussion as well as passion.

Another major part of this, is that I wanted to make films that I felt would educate the viewers on accurate human sexual experience. I felt that from what I was observing and the conversations I had with so so so many people, that people were getting their sex education or sexual expectations primarily from porn. As I delved into the facts I discovered that the average age children see full on hardcore sexual acts is 11, that young men in their twenties are having erectile dysfunction from porn addictions, and that 42% of sexual images/films represent different forms of abuse and misogyny towards women, to name a few. I wanted a true representation of sex but also to portray ethical sex. I didn’t want anyone shamed, humiliated, or harmed, or to depict any situation that would be deemed wrong, ie: cheating or incest. I wanted people to feel good and to feel good about themselves after watching our art.

As I explained my desire to Kama, he instantly caught the vision and whole heartedly supported my efforts. Together we took the leap from photography to film. A whole new world!!! Our first obstacle hit immediately. We had to decide how we would stand out. We both felt that anyone could make “pretty” “feminine” porn, but what would differentiate us from the old formulas and still maintain an audience?

In the films we wanted to produce, I wanted to use real life couples and singles who had actual passionate connections. I wanted to treat them as real actors, not sex workers. The idea was to form a “Team” we would work with. A group of friends who we would watch and see who was mixing and mingling and had that certain “spark” that we would capture. When we would film them, there would be none of that awkwardness of two people just meeting and being told to have sex. We would capture the true magic of respectful, loving, HOT sex.

I wanted to show all the sex in context. I wanted to do short little features from 5 to perhaps 30 minutes in length. The films would all have stories with a beginning, middle and end, with the sex naturally coming into the story line. I wanted to shoot with the same style, class, and high quality that our photography company had been known for. I wanted to marry Hollywood with MTV with real sex. I had a vision, but we were missing an important piece. I had a certain look in my head of how I wanted these films to appear, even feel like, but I knew that Kama and I somehow just couldn’t catch it by ourselves. There was a particular energy that I just felt we were not tapping into.

Enter Cortez. . .

Cortez and I discovered each other on a photoshoot back in 2014. An ambitious young man who had just dropped out of college in Florida to pursue his passion of firefighting in his home state of Colorado. He casually mentioned a video he was working on during a break and I made him show it to me. Being completely self-taught using substandard software and equipment, he did so bashfully, thinking his efforts would be received politely and then forgotten. What I saw blew me away. His editing and filming approach was exactly what I had envisioned for Spark Erotic. It was as if what I saw inside, he was producing. I began to shiver thinking of what his potential truly was if this is what I was seeing when he was just “fooling around”. I knew I had found the missing piece, here was the energy I’d been seeking. I poured out my vision to him and he felt it too. Kama and Cortez also had a great connection instantly. They both have the same love for the art of filmmaking and for mastering their different aspects of editing.

We poured ourselves into the homework of filmmaking. Out of the three of us, I had the most background in the field. My Mother was an artist who worked in many different mediums, one being photography. By the time I was 5, I was falling asleep to the sound of her working away in her darkroom in the basement below me. I loved joining her there. Bit by bit she explained each process and let me begin to work and learn the art of black and white film processing. I always possessed a camera and was encouraged to take photos and to work in the darkroom. In college I majored in theatre and often worked as an actor in small budget and student films.

Cortez had done a little modeling and had worked as an extra on a Hollywood feature. Kama has an amazing ability to research and learn so his understanding came from this and the decade of experience with our photography. This is the extent of our qualifications. We had to learn by doing and stumbling around and figuring things out on the fly. And, I should honestly reveal, we still are!

Kama lead us into watching all sorts of film tutorials. We drank those in…..we still do. Our friends complain that they can no longer enjoy watching movies or TV shows with us. We are always pausing, rewinding, discussing every nuance. Every image is school to us. We find inspiration everywhere and strive to surpass expectations.

It took almost a year for us to set the foundation of Spark Erotic. We had the vision and philosophy behind what we do, but now we had to build the infrastructure. Kama and Cortez went to work on creating our wonderful website and establishing distribution channels, while I began to develop our social media strategies and reach out to our communities, bringing awareness to who and what we were about.

We worked together to “dreamstorm” great stories that we began to turn into screenplays, storyboards and shot lists. We set up lights and did mock shoots to discover how best to capture the style we were going for. We discussed soundtracks, props, locations, makeup……..we’ve had to learn every aspect of our art and wear every single hat between the three of us. We’ve had to carefully judge each of our skill sets and match them to the responsibilities of each element of managing the building of the reality of Spark Erotic.

Within that year of preparation, growth and learning, one of the most important intentions was to build meaningful relationships with people so we could invite just the right personalities onto the Team. The building of our Team is at the core of who and what we are and want to represent. Our vision is to have our Team of singles and couples develop authentic relationships we can then capture with true passion and desire flying between them. Each Team Member is carefully chosen on the basis of their personalities to fit into the company for this very reason. Together we find time to come together to enjoy each other’s personalties and to work as a group to discuss ideas for new storylines to develop. We listen closely to their fantasies and work to make them a reality. By using their very real sexual daydreams, together we bring magic to the screen. We are co-workers, but also close friends.

Redemption was the first film from our foundational year. We felt we had created an amazing first effort with our intrepid newcomer, Rogue. Her incredible performance had left us stunned. It obviously left a mark on our viewers as well. Our first official “showing” was at AVN to a tight group of highly respected and experienced producers, directors, and cinematographers. Their collective praise for Redemption created quite a buzz, and we were told we were “on to something.” Within months of release, Redemption peaked international interest after receiving an award of merit at the 2016 Brief’s Erotic Short Film Competition. It went on to acquire official selections in Film Festivals in Milwaukee, Toronto, and Barcelona.

Redemption’s success helped launch us to the next level. Important people within the Industry began to take notice of us. Erica Lust, saw Redemption, took notice, and contacted us.

Early into this whole journey, Cortez brought Erica’s TED Talk, Time for Porn to Change, to my attention. The first time I watched, my whole body broke into goosebumps and I began to shake. She was verbalizing on a broad international platform everything I felt and believed and envisioned. When I had tried to tell people what I saw Spark Erotic being and doing, everything she was saying, was what I had said. I felt so encouraged and emboldened from her speech. I saw that there were pioneers out there who were boldly blazing ahead with this movement. Immediately she became my new idol, my mentor, my S’hero! I wanted to grow up and be her – a sexually liberated and powerful woman who was changing the face of the porn industry.

When I envisioned what Spark Erotic would be, I saw it as a part of a new Sexual Revolution – a way to positively and authentically produce sexual images that drew people into it as art. That the sex would flow naturally from a story; it would be in context. The people portrayed would be real couples, or individuals, who had deep attachment and passion for each other, which would translate to sexuality and sex that would feel natural, honest and hot!

We saw the films themselves as being educational as well; in that the sex was so real and sensual, people would see true human interaction, not the awkward performance based on unnatural acts of common pornography. We wanted to give people an honest place to enhance their own sexual response from. Finally, we wanted to make a clear distinction between porn and erotica in our audiences’ minds as well. Which is a whole other post in itself……

Erica’s studio in Barcelona is, in my opinion, currently the finest producer and curator of erotica on the planet. We have had the good fortune and privilege of being asked to sign with them. Our art is being launched internationally by her. We could not be more thrilled or feel more honored. We are looking to hang our hat with several more distinguished companies and will be pursuing those options in the very near future.

Spark Erotic has now produced several stimulating features that we have shared with you, our favorite audience, our Patreon supporters. We are so grateful that you have appreciated our efforts and have come along side us to carry the vision forward. We are excited you have chosen to join the Erotic Revolution!!!

We are still a super small company. Because of that, we so greatly value your backing. By becoming a member here, you become part of our Team, helping us to move forward in all things Spark. We are thankful that so many friends have offered their time, talents and resources to also further our efforts.

We are excited as we look forward to the New Year and the continued growth of Spark. With your support we will carry forward the good work of happy, healthy sexuality and relationships through the medium of film and photography.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for coming along side, affirming and supporting the dream!