Former Helix Studios scene and novel writer Taylor Saracen, and former Helix model-turned-publishing assistant Cameron Parks have started a podcast about working in the adult industry, called My BFF Said.
Parks and Saracen grew incredibly close during their time at Helix Studios’ parent company and publishing arm, 13 Red Media.
“The podcast really doesn’t have anything to do with 13 Red, aside from the fact that we met there,” Saracen exclusively told The Sword. “While we talk about some of our shared experiences, the show is more about us as friends than about the company.”
Parks’ and Saracen’s podcast is surprisingly sublime. In the wake of all this high-octane drama, the real-life BFFs offer something that is not at all a takedown of their “former studio” (you-know-who is never mentioned) but a treatise on what working in porn does to the psyche as a whole.
The show is a must-listen for anyone who is interested in the real-life workings of creating your every fantasy.
“We started the podcast because we realized we were living in this strange world that most people don’t know about,” Saracen said of the podcast’s impetus.
The first episode, entitled “In The Beginning,” describes how Saracen and Parks met, along with all the pressures that come with working in porn.
For instance, the young 20 year-old Parks, who worked behind-the-scenes as a crew member, would awaken every day to stressful text messages, demanding things be done. He became so stressed, he admits in episode one to going on Rogaine from his hair falling out! The sense I personally got from listening is that a lot was asked of Parks while little resources were given to him. And perhaps, we can all relate: We’ve all had jobs with too much to do, and not enough time to do it.
And Saracen? She had to juggle models who wanted books and scenes, not to mention creepers that tried to use her to get to the models. But the former teacher is too smart to fall for any of that!
“We wanted to talk about the adult industry in a genuine way. Not only that, we have a fun friendship that’s pretty extraordinary,” Taylor continues.
By removing all traces of the brand name for which they are known, the focus becomes on their chemistry and that fun friendship. Fans can identify with Taylor and Cameron outside their body of work as they share their stories and experiences.
Peppered throughout fun chats about how the pair are basically long-lost siblings, Cam and Taylor are open about what the day-to-day is like in a porn company. There’s the fun friendships–models do, after all, have great personality–and the stress of meeting deadlines, and trying to keep everybody happy.
They talk about the friendships forged that will last a lifetime, as well as how working in Porn has shaped them as people.
“We’re in very different places in our lives so we can give each other out-of-the-box advice and support that may translate well to others. Plus, we make each other laugh A LOT.”
My BFF Said has been gaining traction as the story edges closer to the infamously canceled book tour that supported the novel about Joey Mills, Electric Soul. But will the podcast go into detail about the defunct tour? Saracen didn’t commit to it, but didn’t rule it out.
“A lot of people were frustrated that we didn’t discuss Joey’s tour in our ‘Book Tour Lure’ episode, but we honestly ran out of time (we talk about our time management issues in [upcoming] episode five). We’re not ruling out a ‘Book Tour Lure 2’ where we talk more about the other tours and include Electric Soul.”