Each month, XBIZ spotlights the career accomplishments and outstanding contributions of Women in Adult. WIA profiles offer an intimate look at the professional lives of the industry's most influential female executives.
Jessica Jasmin’s heart has always been in production, but there were a number of stops along her route to becoming creative director for Gamma Entertainment.
I want to push the boundaries of content and strive to create something different, something as entertaining as it is arousing.
Prior to joining the adult industry, she worked briefly in mainstream production. Finding that job opportunities seemed to depend less on work ethic and more on who you know, she took a job with a health organization, creating medical videos, building the group’s website and marketing. She describes it as a good job — but not one she felt passionate about.
By contrast, she felt thrilled when she was offered a shot at an advertising position at Gamma. Having gone to film school with Frank Stacy, Adult Time’s marketing director, Jasmin had only heard good things about the company. Once she took the plunge, she never looked back.
From her initial role as a media buy video editor, she rose through the ranks to eventually helm brands such as Wicked, for whom she directed the XBIZ Award-nominated 2023 feature “Blast From the Past.”
Jasmin also oversees Alpha Studio Group’s ASGMax Films, a gay content pipeline that includes Disruptive Films. Disruptive’s “For You, I Will” — inspired by the Netflix stalker-killer romance series “You” — won Gay Feature of the Year at the 2024 XBIZ Awards.
To top it off, Jasmin co-directed “For You” alongside Siouxsie Q and Michael Vegas, the prolific duo who also took home the trophy for “Director of the Year — Gay Movies.”
Now, as WIA’s Woman of the Month, Jasmin sheds light on her career path, current projects and coming attractions.
XBIZ: Discuss your early years as a media buy video editor for Gamma.
JASMIN: From the start, I was interested in the content and marketing side. I loved diving into the data and finding out which of my banners and videos did the best. It was a slow buildup, but I started to see a pattern, taking notes on what worked well versus what didn’t and learning from the results. I started creating reports on my findings and sharing them with my team.
I talked to different departments to get information from all sides. I would compare results from the same scene on media buy, on the site and on other sales channels. It wasn’t an assignment from my leads, but I wanted to push the best content out, so I’d share my findings with partners and collaborate to have some clips and key moments integrated into scenes.
XBIZ: How did your skills and interests evolve over time, and eventually lead to you becoming a brand manager for Disruptive Films?
JASMIN: It was an organic evolution. I wanted to be in charge of content and pushing out the best we had to offer. Once I was capped in the media buy role, I moved into leading a design team and managing the marketing assets for all sites. Around that time, I assisted with Girlsway by giving my suggestions for photo sets and thumbnail images.
As my role evolved further and my team expanded, I found myself managing content specialists, designers and some productions. When the company started toying with the idea of bringing in more original content, I pitched Bree Mills on an idea called Disruptive Films. She thought I was talented and decided to give me this brand to see what I could do with it.
XBIZ: Did Mills play a part in you becoming creative director?
JASMIN: I always looked up to Bree. She was a model for my own career goals. Even early on, I would talk about how much I wanted to do what she was doing. Coming from the film industry, producing and creating audiovisual content was a dream of mine.
She was working on WebYoung and creating a site called Girlsway. She asked me for my opinion on some of her early scripts, which I considered to be a sign of her trust in me — and as Bree put more trust in me, so did the company. I worked hard. I took in different projects and tried to be involved with content as much as I could. I am loud and clear about my goals; that’s how I created my place within this industry.
XBIZ: Talk about your approach to managing a team and interfacing with various departments.
JASMIN: Teamwork is of paramount importance to me. I’m a very transparent manager who’s blunt but fair. I don’t unnecessarily sugarcoat anything. I trust in my team members and I build trust with them. Success is a team effort. From preproduction to the production level, each person brings something to the table. Collaboration is everything to me and there’s nothing I love more than having someone from another team give me a great idea, or having a conversation with them that sparks something we can work with. I’m always on the lookout for new ideas!
Being in charge of brands means taking care of every little detail and making sure whatever represents them is on point, so my job involves talking to a lot of departments on a daily basis. The best way to communicate with everyone is to be very clear about your vision for each brand, and be prepared with examples when you need things to be reworked.
XBIZ: Describe your strategy for balancing creative risk-taking with delivering already-proven content.
JASMIN: A lot has changed in the past few years in terms of what subjects can be addressed and how they can be presented. This makes it difficult to create taboo content, but our goal is to adhere to the guidelines while pushing as far as we can. The challenge is staying creative in an industry that’s constantly evolving. The same goes for our high-performing content. We don’t want to do what’s been done. We work to find a new angle.
XBIZ: How do you apply your marketing savvy to production strategies?
JASMIN: I am in constant communication with different sales channels. I get reports on what works and what doesn’t. For example, a scene could do well on the site, but do terribly as a mailer. The goal is to understand everyone’s wish lists and know their top sellers.
Being well-versed in production is important because I know what’s doable and what isn’t from an on-set standpoint. It’s all about having open communication with the sales channel, sharing your side of the business and coming up with solutions. How can we incorporate that trend into this scene? How can we shoot that type of picture? Things like that.
XBIZ: What projects from the past year are you most proud of?
JASMIN: This has been a great year. I’m very proud of Wicked. It is such an iconic brand with a legendary past. This year, I took over and handled the brand and I’m very proud of what we accomplished. We had groundbreaking releases like “Reckless” and “Privilege.” I also released the first movie I solo-directed, “Blast From the Past.” It was a fun, entertaining film that was well-received by our Wicked fans.
I love solo work, but working with other talented directors is a blast too. I had the opportunity to direct our chilling Disruptive Films feature “For You, I Will,” alongside Michael Vegas and Siouxsie Q. We stepped out of the box with this movie. It was full of challenges that we overcame together. We shot a murder scene with the actors shooting their parts separately on different days! It was pretty cool.
XBIZ: What was it like seeing “For You, I Will” win XBIZ Gay Feature of the Year?
JASMIN: Indescribable! That moment will forever live in my memory. This was the second movie I directed alongside Michael and Siouxsie, and to see it recognized by the industry was unreal. I’m just so grateful. All the work and the people working behind the scenes made this movie happen. I was already proud of everyone and how it came out. The win was the cherry on top.
XBIZ: What’s next for you this coming year, careerwise and in terms of movie projects?
JASMIN: There’s so much to be excited for. I’m going to work hard to ensure that the brands I manage move forward. We’re creating several projects with Jim Powers for GenderX Films and Biphoria. James Avalon just shot a clever sci-fi thriller.
Of course, Wicked will continue to shine. We have a bunch of interesting projects in the works. Seth Gamble will be back for another blockbuster and more of his cinemacore-style movies. We have Mike Quasar writing and directing one of the funniest comedies I have seen in a while.
I’ll be co-directing an erotic thriller for Disruptive Films with Michael Vegas and Siouxsie Q. I have my own Wicked project coming up and I’d love to collaborate with Seth Gamble. My goal is the same as it’s been since I started in the industry: I want to push the boundaries of content and strive to create something different, something as entertaining as it is arousing.
