Here is the article about The Feminist Porn Awards 2008, where I won the Golden Beaver Award for Canadian Content.

This is the line where I'm mentioned:
"Firefighter-turned-filmmaker and web producer Bren Ryder will join the directors at the Revue Cinema to talk about her work."

Ya!

Full Article by Susan Walker

[...]The new paysite joins the ranks of Pink and White Studio’s CrashPadTheSeries.com and Australia’s AbbyWinters.com in the emergent lesbian/queer niche.

Currently, GoodDykePorn.com features content previews, Ryder’s blog, a newsletter, a free content area and downloadable videos for members. Ryder says she also would like to expand the social networking component of the site, and add an area where other filmmakers can post short videos.

A desire to fill the void created by “traditional” lesbian content — generally produced by straight companies with straight performers for a male audience — is what motivates Ryder and other lesbian filmmakers like her to make alternative content that portrays an aesthetic that is more authentic and diverse.[...]

Full article by Joanne Cachapero

[...]Though there are a few dyke porn films that can be found in select video stores, there's very little to be found online amid the hundreds of thousands of mainstream and even gay porn sites. Not only is Ryder filling a niche, but as a Vancouverite it seems her work has become a source of pride for the community.

"I get e-mails from people frequently just voicing their support. I think that queer women are looking for it mostly because they know that it doesn't exist. They've looked for it and they know that it's really hard to find, or that what they want to see isn't out there," Ryder says.

Support was evident in spades at the website launch, and it was clear from the burst of applause and cheers as the movie title flashed across the screen that good dyke porn is certainly needed.[...]

Full article by Sondi Bruner 

[...]Bren is eager to make an impact, not sweep this fledgling industry; the goal for her is to enrich the modest beginnings and inspire - even assist - others in doing the same.

Sitting at the premiere later that night, though, I can't help but notice that there are things that set Good Dyke Porn apart.  I saw Crash Pad last year too, and while not every scene got me going - I commended what I saw.  It was a  refreshing change from the unrealistic male-centric straight versions of lesbian sex, and hotter than the overly educational approach of earlier dyke porn.  Good Dyke Porn took it up a notch further though.  The 22 minute montage, consisting of the early months of Ryder's work, brought this year's capacity crowd of curious dykes to rowdy and appreciative applause.  A casual survey of my fellow movie-goers confirmed I wasn't the only one who was disappointed when the all too brief tantalizer came to a close.[...]

Full article by Diana Murphy  

SEXUALITY / Bren Ryder's own brand of dyke porn

SEX ON OUR OWN TERMS: Bren Ryder is making the dyke porn that appeals to her. 'Women want to see themselves on film--different types of women and what they really do in bed,' she says.

(Sarah Race photo)

Sex.

A short word loaded with meaning, like the word love. What is it about sex that makes us crazy?

We use sex in so many different ways--for pure pleasure and frolic, to physically express affection, to reconcile after a lovers' quarrel, or as a weapon to manipulate and get our own way. Sex can be slow and romantic or fast and raunchy. Sex can make us act silly; visions of Tom Cruise's infamous couch-jumping incident come to mind. Sex can be self-destructive. Sex can be creative. We attach judgment and morality to sex.

Society is so saturated with sex that we obsess about it. Sex brings out our insecurities, our fears, our egos, our sense of self and self-worth. But most of all, sex is one of human nature's most fascinating mysteries.

For local filmmaker Bren Ryder, her interest in sex--particularly lesbian sex--led to the creation of Good Dyke Porn, a website for women to share their sexuality with others.

"It's going to feature sex between women who are really having sex, who are really enjoying it, and really wanting to be there," says Ryder over breakfast. "The website itself will be sex-positive and community-based."

The home-grown prairie girl suggests good porn involves variety--something that's lacking both in mainstream presentations of lesbian sex and in lesbian-made porn itself, and that's a gap Ryder hopes to fill.

"For lesbian porn, in particular, people are used to seeing the mainstream porn, and it's not real," she says. "They're used to seeing the Barbie doll types with long nails and they're sort of fooling around a little bit, and that's sex. It's a perspective for men. Largely, what's missing is the female perspective. There's so few female directors in porn. It's mostly made by men."

Citing examples like San Francisco's Crash Pad and Toronto's Dirty Pillows--which have both screened at Vancouver's Out on Screen Queer Film Festival--Ryder says she's optimistic more women filmmakers will step up to the porno plate.

"It's starting to grow," says the Winnipeg native. "It's an industry that's so young right now. There just isn't very much out there. People who aren't in the community, who aren't queer, don't understand that because they think, 'How could that be possible? Porn is everywhere. It's completely saturated throughout the world.' [But] when you have one, maybe two, real lesbian films being released, there's a lack.

"You want to have different types of sex films," she continues. "Things that reflect you and who you are. [Women] want to see themselves on film--different types of women and what they really do in bed. That's what I want to portray. That's what films like Crash Pad and Dirty Pillows are trying to do. We need more and more people to do it."

Currently, Ryder is building a library of films in preparation for the summer launch of her website. The women--or models--incorporate a broad spectrum of body types, ages and gender expressions. They include couples, strangers and former film crew members who decided to get in on the action in front of the camera.

Ryder herself steps from behind the camera to appear in some of the scenes.

"I was pretty nervous," she reveals. "It was my first time in front of the camera. I'm normally a behind-the-camera person. I'm not the performer type. But part of taking on this project was conquering my fear--fear of being a pornographer as my occupation, fear of exploring sex in all of its forms, and fear of being in front of a camera having sex with somebody."

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies from the University of Manitoba, Ryder's filmmaking career got sidetracked when she opted for a "real" job with a pension, and began training as a firefighter.

"I think as a masculine woman, I tend to have a bit of an easier time than feminine women do. I think [male firefighters] accept me as being a little bit tougher--even though I may not necessarily be--than the other women who are feminine. I didn't really like being around the type of men that firefighting attracts; they seem to have this perspective that something is owed to them or that they're better than everybody else and that they're better than the women, especially at firefighting."

Ryder quickly realized she didn't want to work nights, didn't like doing First Aid, and chose to return to her passion--filmmaking.

Through her profile on Superdyke, Ryder started recruiting women for her Good Dyke Porn project. She says the response has been primarily positive, with a few skeptics.

"Some people are concerned that Good Dyke Porn isn't inclusive enough for trans people or people who don't identify with the word dyke. It can be inclusive, but I'm putting my focus on what I want to do, where I am, and what I identify with. There are quite a few more women like myself who will identify with it. My focus is the dyke porn and I want to contribute to that market."

Ryder agrees that society has many misconceptions about lesbian sexuality.

"I think the misconception is that [women] want it to be all soft and there's a story, and have the soft lighting and they're gently touching and it's very lovely. There's a place for that too, but we want to see hardcore sex. We want to see everything and experience the down and dirty sex that they're experiencing."

The filmmaker wants to convey a clear message: "that sex is great. That it's nothing to be ashamed of and watching women having sex is nothing to be ashamed of. I want it to be a safe place for people who don't normally watch porn to be able to come and see these beautiful images of different types of women and different types of sex and to know that it's okay."