The former cam-girl Isa Mazzei has made a fantastic career step: From cam girl to screenwriter for an international Netflix film! After the hit thriller produced for the streaming specialist, Mazzei has now published her biography.
Isa Mazzei owes her time as a camgirl an impressive start into the film business. In 2014, the 28-year-old began streaming as a cam performer Like many girls on platforms like Stripchat, Mazzei chatted with countless users, stripped, flirted, talked about her life, performed and masturbated in front of the cam. Over time, her work inspired her to write a script that became a globally successful Netflix production.
Already in her school days, Mazzei dreamed of becoming a writer. At the same time, she loved to provoke with her body and to explore her sexuality. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mazzei says, »In high school, I owned the identity of being ‘the slutty one’. I would take my clothes off at parties. I’d brag about how many people I had kissed. I developed this fascination with sex work because it seemed like this place where it was okay to express those parts of yourself.«
Later, Mazzei chose her literary passion and studied comparative literature at UC Berkeley. Afterward, she was at a loss of how her life would continue. »I was trying to find myself, and throwing myself at jobs, and just being brutally unhappy. I kept coming back to this idea of sex work.«
Finally, she started working as a camgirl under the name Una. Part of her open approach to sexuality and her career as a sex worker is that she does not glorify her experiences. »There were a couple of experiences that felt violating, for sure.« At the same time, however, she saw and sees the advantages of work: »As a woman, it becomes normal to get catcalled on the street or feel like someone is going to grab me in a bar. Camming was the first space where I had really clear boundaries that I could set and enforce.«
According to Mazzei, her work not only helped her to express herself but also to deal with sexual trauma from her childhood. »Camming was healing because it was this space where I had agency over my body. It took feeling I was safe to be able to confront that trauma safely.«
Even today the author is absolutely adamant about the positive experiences she had working as a camgirl. »It was the hardest job I’ve ever had. It’s all-consuming all the time. It’s not just the time you spend streaming online, it’s the emails you’re answering, the Snapchats you have to send; it’s the costumes, and the lingerie, and the props, and the games you have to prepare to make sure you’re not boring people.«
She worked as a camgirl for about two years and then came up with the idea for a script set in the cam industry. The idea for »Cam« was born, a psycho-thriller about a camgirl pushed out of her life by a mysterious doppelganger. A befriended director, Daniel Goldhaber, quickly decided that he wanted Mazzei to help realize the project.
The leading role was played by Madeline Brewer, a US actress who had previously played in »The Handmaid’s Tale« and »Hustlers«. Netflix decided to produce the movie and stream it on its service. With that Mazzei’s work as a camgirl was over, but her career as an author seems to have just begun.
While the film was still being produced, Mazzei decided to write her own book about her own real experiences in the industry. The result was »Camgirl« available in bookstores now. Mazzei emphasizes that they describe the reality of the job, and unlike in the film, did not want to exclusively entertain.
In the interview, she stresses: »I really want to help normalize and destigmatize this industry. When I was working as a cam girl, people would decide things about me before they met me, and then they’d say, ‘Oh my God, but you’re such a normal person!’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, sex workers are normal people.’«
Although she still finds this effect sobering, she wants to continue fighting for the normalization of sex workers. »It’s kind of a shame that I had to become successful in something mainstream for people to take me seriously as a person.«
After the huge success with »Cam« in 2018, Mazzei and Goldhaber are now planning further projects. Two films are currently under development and Mazzei is also working on another book. Her experience in the industry will continue to play a role.
She continues to see her time as a camgirl positively and as an important, liberating step towards finding herself: »Camming, first of all, gave me a lot of confidence in myself. Confidence as a businesswoman and as an entrepreneur. It really showed me that I could create something that was successful – which was incredibly validating. Camming was also the first place where I learned that I could set and enforce boundaries around my body and my sexuality and that was also incredibly empowering.«
»Cam« is still available on Netflix. You can view a trailer here. The book »Camgirl« is now available at all bookstores.