Greg Lansky
Born (1982-12-12) December 12, 1982
Paris, France
CitizenshipAmerican
Occupation(s)Artist
Entrepreneur
Investor
Years active2005–present
Known forFounder of Vixen Media Group
AwardsAVN Director of the Year
XRCO Best Web Director
Websitegreglansky.com

Greg Lansky (born December 12, 1982) is a French artist, entrepreneur and investor based in the United States. He has directed and produced a number of adult films he describes as art.[1] Lansky was a founder of Vixen Media Group in 2014, one of the largest companies in the adult entertainment business, and was its chief executive officer until January 2020 when he sold his full stake in the business.[2][3][4] In 2022, Lansky released the sculpture "Algorithmic Beauty".[5]

Biography

Lansky was born on December 12, 1982, in Paris, France.[3][1] He was raised Jewish.[6] Lansky attended marketing school in Paris and worked for various TV networks.[1] After dropping out of school, he briefly worked in television production in Paris and interned with a production company that produced reality TV shows. Shortly after he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career.[7]

Business ventures

In 2005, Lansky moved from Paris to Los Angeles and started working in adult entertainment industry. In 2006, Lansky was given a directorial contract. Lansky went on to direct many titles for New Sensations/Digital Sin until 2007. Lansky opened his production company and began directing and producing for the web-based adult network Reality Kings. Lansky stopped working for Reality Kings in 2014 to concentrate on creating his own company.

In 2014, Lansky founded Vixen Media Group and established its suite of award-winning studios: Vixen, Blacked, and Tushy.[8] In 2018, Lansky transitioned into running his company and producing rather than directing.[8]

Rolling Stone profiled Lansky and his "adult entertainment empire," and Ad Age called him "a master of SFW marketing."[9][10] Kanye West revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that his favorite porn website was Lansky's Blacked. Lansky offered West the opportunity to direct an adult film, and the pair were photographed together backstage at the 2018 Pornhub Awards.[11] Several hip hop artists have showed association with Lansky and his brands including Post Malone, Lil Pump and Trippie Redd.[12][13]

He sold his stake in Vixen Media Group in January 2020 to pursue other business ventures.[4]

In 2022, Lansky began releasing artwork online. In an ode to the Venus de Milo, "Algorithmic Beauty" is a six-foot eight-inch marble sculpture of a nude woman "covered in plastic-surgery scars, cellulite ripples across her posterior" holding up a mobile phone. His works have been considered divisive with some critics recognizing the insight into modern culture and the dark side of technology, while others dismiss it as superficial, crass and failing to make any substantial contribution to the discourse.[5][14]

Recognition

Greg Lansky at the 2016 AVN Awards in Las Vegas, NV

Lansky has been compared to Hugh Hefner and is credited with having "elevated the [adult] business as a whole."[12] He was called "the most-pirated man in porn," and the movies his company produced are "some of the most-watched adult film content in the world."[15] Lansky has been referred to as "The Spielberg of Porn" and his Instagram was called "the most NSFW" profile of all time by GQ France.[16][17][18]

Awards

During the 2018 AVN Awards, Lansky became the second man in history to ever win AVN Director of the Year three consecutive times.[19][20]

  • Best Web Director – XRCO Award – 2014[21]
  • Best Web Director – XRCO Award – 2015[22]
  • Best Director – XRCO Award – 2016
  • Best Release – XRCO Award – 2016
  • Best Cinematography – AVN Awards – 2016[23]
  • Director of the Year – AVN Awards – 2016[23]
  • Best Director – NightMoves Award – 2016 (Editor's Choice)
  • Director of the Year – AVN Awards – 2017
  • Best Director – Non-Feature AVN Awards – 2017
  • Best Marketing Campaign AVN Awards – 2017[24]
  • Director of the Year – Body of Work 2017 XBIZ Award
  • Best new Studio: Vixen – DVDEROTIK Awards – 2017[25]
  • Director of the Year – AVN Awards – 2018

References

  1. 1 2 3 "How One Pornographer Is Trying To Elevate Porn To Art". Forbes. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  2. ↑ "I Spent The Day With An Adult Entertainment Company". YouTube. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  3. 1 2 XBIZ. "Q&A: Director Greg Lansky Discusses BLACKED.com, Career". Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  4. 1 2 Warren, Peter (2020-01-14). "Greg Lansky Sells Stake in Vixen Media Group AVN". AVN. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Greg Lansky: the artist with a scandalous past". The Spectator World. 27 February 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  6. ↑ "Artful Porn and anti-Semitic Threats: The Man Behind the "HBO of Adult Films' Bares All". Haaretz. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  7. ↑ "Kanye West's Favorite Pornographer Is A Master of SFW Marketing". AdAge. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Lansky Inc. — Meet the Man Who Made Himself A Brand". AVN. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  9. ↑ "Versace, Champagne and Gold: Meet the Director Turning Porn Into High Art". Rolling Stone. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  10. ↑ "KANYE WEST'S FAVORITE PORNOGRAPHER IS A MASTER OF SFW MARKETING". AdAge. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  11. ↑ Victoria Johnson (August 11, 2018). "Kanye West Reportedly Offered 'Full Artistic Control' to Direct Adult Film". Complex.
  12. 1 2 "Jerking Off to Capitalism: The 1 Percent Fantasies of Greg Lansky's Vixen". Jezebel. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  13. ↑ Julien Perocheau (25 January 2018). "Post Malone se déplace dans Las Vegas en hummer militaire pour aller à un salon du porno" (in French). Views.
  14. ↑ Goforth, Claire (2023-02-23). "'Big Honkers Venus de Milo': People divided over former pornographer's modern recreation of famous statue". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  15. ↑ "The Most-Pirated Man in Porn Is Getting Angry Adult film director Greg Lansky sends 50,000 takedown notices a month". Inverse. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  16. ↑ Snow, Aurora (18 February 2017). "Meet the Man-Making Porn Great Again". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  17. ↑ "Dans sa bio Instagram, Greg Lansky se décrit comme "CEO & Artist". Son œuvre se compose majoritairement de seins et de fesses". GQ France. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "'Steven Spielberg of porn': Stop stealing my adult films". The New York Post. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  19. ↑ "2018 AVN Awards Show Dazzles in Vegas". AVN. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  20. ↑ "Sex, Death, and Social Media at the Annual Porn Awards". Vice. February 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  21. ↑ AVN, Peter Warren. "30th Annual XRCO Awards Takes It Back Home - AVN". AVN. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  22. ↑ AVN, Peter Warren. "XRCO Announces Winners of 2015 Awards - AVN". AVN. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  23. 1 2 "2016 AVN Awards". 2016 AVN Awards. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  24. ↑ "2017 AVN Awards". 2017 AVN Awards. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  25. ↑ "2017 DVDEROTIK Award Winner". April 2017.
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