Eon McKai (born 1980) is an American director of

alt porn Alternative porn (also known as alt porn, alternaporn, or simply alt in context), a shortening of "alternative pornography", is a subgenre of pornography that is centered around alternative subcultures, such as goths, punks, emos, scenes, ska ...

-themed

pornographic films Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotica ...

. The name "Eon McKai" is a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

and a tribute to punk singer

Ian MacKaye Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (; born April 16, 1962) is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label and the frontman of hardcore punk ...

. Ian MacKaye considers this "surreal", but has said that he does not lose sleep over the matter.

Career

McKai was involved in the internet-based alt porn scene soon after its emergence and photographed some of the early sets on

SuicideGirls SuicideGirls is an online community-based website that revolves around pin-up photography sets of models known as the Suicide Girls. The website was founded in 2001 by Selena Mooney ("Missy Suicide") and Sean Suhl ("Spooky"). Most of the site ...

. After graduating from the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

School of Film/Video, he decided he wanted to go into directing pornography and introduced himself to pornographic film director

Veronica Hart Jane Esther Hamilton (born October 27, 1956) is an American former pornographic actress and current adult film director who performed under the stage name Veronica Hart during the 1980s. She is sometimes credited as Jane Hamilton, V. Hart, Ver ...

. Hart put him in touch with the adult video company

VCA Pictures VCA Pictures (Video Company of America) is an American pornographic film production and distribution company. The company was founded by Russ Hampshire, and was formerly a major player during the 'Golden Age of Porn'. Throughout the 1970s and 198 ...

, who signed him as a director in 2004. In 2006, after producing several features for VCA, McKai was signed by

Vivid Vivid may refer to: Music * Vivid (band), a Japanese rock band * "Vivid" (song), by Electronic, 1999 *"ViViD", a 2016 song by Loona from '' HeeJin'' Albums * ''Vivid'' (Vivian Green album), 2015 * ''Vivid'' (Crystal Kay album), 2012 * ''Vivi ...

to head a new imprint of theirs called VividAlt. McKai's films are alt porn-themed hardcore pornographic films, casting younger actors with an "alternative"

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

, or otherwise subcultural look, many of whom are not established porn actors. Going against the predominant trends in adult video, McKai prefers to shoot features with a plotline and high production values rather than

gonzo Gonzo may refer to: People * Gonzo (nickname), a list of people with the nickname * Radislav Jovanov Gonzo (born 1964), Croatian music video director Radislav Jovanov, also known as Gonzo * Matthias Röhr (born 1962), German musician whose sta ...

porn. His influences include

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, early "artistic" pornographic directors such as

Alex de Renzy Alexander de Renzy (August 13, 1935 – June 8, 2001) was an American director and producer of pornographic movies. Born in New York City, de Renzy served in the United States Air Force as a Survival Instructor. Back in the United States, ...

, The Dark Brothers, and Stephen Sayadian, as well as the aesthetic of alt porn websites such as

, BurningAngel, and GodsGirls. After a personal revelation at the

AVN Adult Entertainment Expo AVN may refer to: Medicine * Atrioventricular node, special region of conducting tissue in the heart * Avascular necrosis, medical condition Transport * Air Vanuatu, by ICAO airline code * Avonmouth railway station, UK, by National Rail code Com ...

in 2010, McKai completed his contractual obligations to Vivid Alt and retired from the industry. He spent some time recovering from a heavy

meth Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamphe ...

addiction, then opened a small

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...

studio, hiring former pornographic actors and directors to help them transition out of the industry.

Reception

McKai's work was well received by alt porn fans, but was also criticized by those who feel that he appropriated the aesthetic of alternative subcultures for use in pornography, or who questioned his credibility and connection to alternative subcultures. After leaving the porn industry, one of the actresses in his films, Keiko, referred to McKai as "edgy as a butterknife". Others, such as porn reviewers Roger Pipe and Scott McGowan, denounced McKai for what they see as his artistic pretensions, with McGowan stating "If people jack off to your art, you're not the artist you think you are". McKai's namesake commented that “the whole punk-porn thing is really just about fashion. If I put on a hat, chaps, and spurs and made a cowboy-porn movie, it wouldn’t make me a real cowboy.”

Tristan Taormino Tristan Taormino (born May 9, 1971) is an American feminist author, columnist, sex educator, activist, editor, speaker, radio host, and pornographic film director. She is most recently known for her book ''Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Susta ...

, however, defended McKai's work as authentically based on his own lifestyle and sense of

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

, and views the idea of creating artistic porn as much more worthy than simply churning out product.

Filmography

Director

* ''Art School Sluts'' (2004) * ''Kill Girl Kill'' 1-3 (2005) * ''Neu Wave Hookers'' (2006) * ''Girls Lie'' (2006) * ''Debbie Loves Dallas'' (2007) * ''The Doll Underground'' (2007) * ''On My Dirty Knees'' (2008) * ''Art School Girls Are Easy'' (2009) * ''Content'' (2009) * ''Tres Flores'' (2009) * ''Eyelashes'' (2010)

Producer / Executive Producer

* ''The Rebelle Rousers'' (2006) * ''Man's Ruin'' (2007) * ''Morphine'' (2008) * ''Circa '82'' (2008) * ''Sugar Town'' (2008) * ''Live In My Secrets'' (2009) * ''Pussy a Go Go!'' (2009)

Self

* ''SexTV'' (Documentary) (2007) * ''Debbie Does Dallas Again'' (TV Series) * ''The New Erotic: Art Sex Revolution'' (2011)

References

External links

*
"Eon McKai - Art School Sluts"
interview by Daniel Robert Epstein, ''

'', January 8, 2005.
"Generation XXX"
by Peter Gilstrap, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', December 11, 2005.
"Art on His Sleeve: The Eon McKai Interview"
by Gram Ponante, ''GramPonante.com'', 2005.

by Alex Bakst, ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

Online'', October 20, 2006.
"Eon McKai's Altporn Liberation Army"
by Violet Blue, ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'', February 8, 2007.
"Eon Mckai: Alt-porn Auteur"
''

SexTV ''SexTV'' is a Canadian documentary television series which explores many issues about human sexuality. The show premiered in 1998 which aired on Citytv and channels owned by CHUM Limited, and spun off a television channel called '' SexTV: The Cha ...

'', January 20, 2007. (Links to

RealPlayer RealPlayer, formerly RealAudio Player, RealOne Player and RealPlayer G2, is a cross-platform media player app, developed by RealNetworks. The media player is compatible with numerous container file formats of the multimedia realm, including MP ...

video)
"Eon McKai Interview: He's So Alty"
''Porn Star Interviews'' (

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

), April 13, 2007. (page links to

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

audio file)
"Eon McKai: Porn For The Rest of Us"
by Omniphiliac '' Deviant Nation'', April 16, 2009.
"Sociology Of Sexuality lecture at UC Irvine"
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKai, Eon 1979 births Alt porn Living people American pornographic film directors American pornographic film producers