GramFAQ

Gram Ponante has been writing about the adult industry since 2002. He is a regular contributor to Fleshbot, Gamelink, The Naughty American, and XBiz, and he is the former managing editor of AVN.com. Since launching GramPonante.com in January, 2005, Ponante has been quoted online, in print, and on the air in media around the world as an articulate and engaging commentator on the porn business.

Mr. Ponante enjoys drinking and opening packages. He lives in Los Angeles.

Q. Is Gram Ponante your real name?

A. No.

Q. Why did you choose to adopt a "nom de porn"?

A. A company at which I'd been hired had a reputation of registering people's names as domains. Cybersquatting cases, then as now, are expensive to fight. Therefore I had a contest among my friends to give me a "porn name". The winner went to the Internet Anagram Generator and typed in the words "porn magnate" and came up with the name that graces this website.

Gram Ponante is a persona that shares certain virtues and vices with the person who created him. My real name is easy enough to find, as are those of most of the people who work in the mainstream or adult industry, but it is respectful to keep them separated.

Q. Have you watched so much pornography that you hate it?

A. No, but I'm far more interested in porn as a business and a social phenomenon, and I tend to like the individuals who make porn more than I care about the porn they make.

Q. Do people/organizations pay you to write about them?

A. Sometimes, and it has made me rich, rich, rich. Click here.

Q. Do you work in places other than the adult industry?

A. Yes, but working here is as legitimate a job as working elsewhere, with an equal number of ups and downs.

On September 11, 2001, I was in Cabo San Lucas working for a reality TV production company. When I and the rest of the production staff learned of the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the first thing our executive producer said was: "This is going to push back filming." I didn't have an adult industry analogue to that kind of stupidity and ignorance until this series of events.

I've done a lot of work with basic cable entertainment companies, and the thing I like about porn is that, in general, at least porn says it's porn.

Q. Why didn't you print my press release? Why did you make a joke about it? Why didn't you print it exactly as it was written?

A. It was not because I don't love you.

Q. Why do you use a yellow Hummer 2 to obscure the dirtier aspects of the photos on your site?

A. I explain that here.

Q. Sometimes your writing style is different between posts. Do you have ghostwriters?

A. No, but I do adopt different voices now and then, and when I go on vacation I sometimes have people fill in (who are clearly credited). FYI, when I write like an absolute buffoon it is an homage to certain chatroom lurkers, porn publicists, performers, directors, and wannabe gonzo journalists who take themselves and the adult industry too seriously.

If you'd like to know more about Gram Ponante, America's Beloved Porn Journalist, consult your local library or click here.