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, emos, scenes, skaters, ...

-themed

pornographic films Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...

. The name "Eon McKai" is a

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

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 pu ...

. 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 website that revolves around pin-up model, pin-up photography 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 university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

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

Veronica Hart Jane Hamilton (born 1956 or 1957) is an American film director and former pornographic film actress who performed under the stage name Veronica Hart. Described by columnist Frank Rich as "a leading porn star of the late '70s and early '80s", Ha ...

. Hart put him in touch with the adult video company VCA Pictures, who signed him as a director in 2004. In 2006, after producing several features for VCA, McKai was signed by Vivid 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 Goth or Goths may refer to: * Goths, a Germanic people Arts and entertainment * Gothic rock or goth, a style of rock music * Goth subculture, developed by fans of gothic rock * ''Goth'' (2003 film), an American horror film * ''Goth'' (2008 f ...

, 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 stage ...

porn. His influences include

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

, early "artistic" pornographic directors such as Alex de Renzy, The Dark Brothers, and

Stephen Sayadian Stephen Sayadian, also known as Rinse Dream, is a multimedia artist who was active in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the advertising creative director for Larry Flynt Publications and an art director and production designer for VHS box art covers a ...

, as well as the aesthetic of alt porn websites such as

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

AVN Adult Entertainment Expo The AVN Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE) is an adult entertainment convention and trade fair, trade show held each January in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada and is sponsored by AVN (magazine), ''AVN'' magazine. AEE is the largest pornography ...

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 or performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity ...

addiction, then opened a small

post-production Post-production, also known simply as post, 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 indivi ...

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, sex educator, and pornographic film director. She is most recently known for her book ''Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships,'' which is often recomm ...

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

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

, 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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

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

by Alex Bakst, ''

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. 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. ...

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

SexTV SexTV was a Canadian documentary television series that explored a diverse range of topics related to human sexuality and gender. Created by the Canadian media executive Moses Znaimer, the documentary-series premiered in 1999 on national broadca ...

'', January 20, 2007. (Links to

RealPlayer RealPlayer, formerly RealAudio Player, RealOne Player and RealPlayer G2, is a cross-platform media player (software), media player app, developed by RealNetworks. The media player is compatible with numerous container file formats of the multimed ...

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

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

), 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 under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

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