Dirty Sexy Saint (film)

Passionflix is an entertainment streaming platform and production company. Founded in 2017 by director and producer Tosca Musk, screenwriter Joany Kane, and producer Jina Panebianco, it focuses on releasing original film adaptations of the best-selling romantic novels, while also streaming classic romantic movies. Passionflix also makes erotic thrillers.''''

''The Hollywood Reporter'' describes Passionflix productions in general as "saucier than Hallmark but much tamer than porn, tamer even than some R-rated movies." No frontal nudity below the waist is shown. As co-founder and CEO Tosca Musk explains, "Passionflix is there to remove shame from sexuality... We are there to encourage connection, communication and compromise in relationships and we’re there to validate emotions." Movies and television series on this platform are categorized according to a "barometer of naughtiness" ranging from "Oh so vanilla" (for romantic comedies) to "NSFW" (not safe for work). ''The New York Times'' characterizes these as having "simple" plots and "sometimes unrefined" acting. ''Wired'' opines that the "acting is good, the actors are hot, and the plots deliver; don’t ask about the cinematography." Each film has a budget of no more than $10 million and is typically shot within a fortnight. "Founding members" or "Signature members"—fans who paid a premium subscription—have the right to be on set during filming and offer their views on what should be done. Some might even appear as extras. Musk likens this form of fan service to having her own "focus group" on set.

Although the platform is technically available worldwide, licensed contents can only be watched in the United States. Subtitles are available in nine languages.

Company history

In 2015, Joany Kane conceived of a movie-streaming service focusing on romance—a "Netflix for women"—dubbed Passionflix. Tosca Musk and Jina Panebianco joined Kane in her efforts to create this platform and Passionflix was officially launched in May 2017. The streaming service went online September 1, that same year. Musk stated that her goal was to capture the market for adaptations of romance novels, a genre generally neglected by Hollywood, and to tell these stories from the female perspective. Musk, Kane, and Panebianco take advantage of their prior experience making television films, which can be produced more quickly and affordably than those on Netflix. But Musk maintains that her company does not compete with Netflix because it aims at a niche market. She complains that mainstream entertainment productions "tend to be more about the victimization of women than they are about sexually free or sexually empowered stories about women" and that "I kept getting into conflicts with network executives, who were not interested in stories about empowered women embracing their sexuality." Although the customer base is predominantly women, the number of subscribers who are men has been growing. For the first three years of Passionflix, Maye Musk (Tosca's mother) ran the company's Instagram account.

Originally headquartered in Los Angeles, Passionflix was relocated to the Atlanta metropolitan area in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to advantage of the State of Georgia's tax incentives for film production, the low cost of living and housing for the company's employees, and the quality of public schools for their children. At a public screening of the company's first film, ''Hollywood Dirt'' (2017), Musk persuaded 4,000 people to pre-pay $100 each for a two-year subscription. She then used this money to convince potential investors that there was merit in her business idea. In 2020, Musk managed to raise $4.75 million in venture capital funding for her new company. In 2022, she received another $9.4 million in investment. Investors in Passionflix include Jason Calacanis, Kimbal Musk (Tosca's and Elon's brother), Lyn and Norman Lear, among others.

Initially, each original film was produced for just around a million dollars. But the budget steadily grew as the company moved towards producing series and historical romance movies. By 2024, Passionflix has reached a stage where the company's name is no longer unknown to romance authors, making it less challenging to negotiate an adaptation.

In late January 2025, hundreds of customers canceled their Passionflix subscriptions in response to Tosca's public support of her brother after he was accused of giving a Nazi salute. In early June, the Passionflix website temporarily went offline due to a surge of visitors. This incident coincided with the public altercation between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Tosca Musk used this opportunity to promote her company's new series ''The Black Dagger Brotherhood'', an adaptation of paranormal romance novels of the same name by J.R. Ward.

Original adaptations

Passionflix originals

TV series adaptations

''Quickie'' short films

References

External links

Official WebsitePassionflix IMDBPassionflix InstagramPassionflix TwitterPassionflix Facebook PagePassionflix YouTube Channel

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Streaming television in the United States
Romance films
Internet properties established in 2017