ENTREPRENEUR Melissa Whitehead says she is single-handedly trying to shift the sleazy image of adult entertainment in Britain after launching her own digital porn channel targeted at women.
The 24-year-old, who calls herself Amanda Kiss and lived in Brill Close, Marlow, for 12 years, is the brains behind interactive digital satellite channel Pout Uncut. It is aimed mostly at a female audience who can choose what they want to watch.
Melissa, who attended Spinfield School, said: “I didn’t plan to get into the porn business it was just something that came up. I was given the chance to launch the interactive TV channel and I grabbed it.” After gaining a dance scholarship at the age of 11 she studied English and drama and on graduation went to work at Sky TVOs The Dating Channel.
After working her way up from a varied range of jobs from runner to production controller, at the age of 23 she met up with Digital Interactive Television Group and went on to launch the UKOs first fully interactive adult channel Pout Uncut.
Melissa said: Going into partnership with the group was a business decision but after a while I developed a personal passion for the service.
I was a 23-year-old woman and considered myself trendy and up to date and I never felt like watching a porn channel D they had a sleazy and uncomfortable feel.
I wanted to create a channel that was accessible to young professional women and men that had a trendy feel and was female friendly but was one that guys could watch as well.
She now runs the majority of the channel’s business including having an overview of production and post production.
To complement the channel Melissa has developed an online shopping service.
She said the support of her parents, who still live in Marlow, has been vital for her during her career so far.
She said: My dad said it was not important what I did but that I was successful doing it.
Earlier in the year she attended a school reunion and found people were excited to hear about her job.
She added: When I tell people I work in the porn industry it is a bit of a jaw dropper. First of all they don’t believe me but people are very interested in the job I do and have a lot of respect.