Joanna Angel
Joanna Mostov (born 1980), known professionally as Joanna Angel, is an American pornographic and mainstream actress, director, and writer of adult films. She founded the website "BurningAngel.com" in April 2002 with her roommate Mitch Fontaine, and has been credited with helping the growth of the alt porn genre. Launched as a response to websites such as "SuicideGirls", the website featured alternative performers acting in exclusively hardcore scenes with a stronger focus on a punk aesthetic. Early life. Angel was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Israeli mother and an American father. She was raised in River Edge  in Bergen County, New Jersey, where she attended Cherry Hill Elementary School and graduated from River Dell High School in 1998. After graduating, she enrolled in Rutgers University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature with a minor in Film Studies. She worked in a kosher fast food restaurant in Teaneck during high school, then at an Applebee's and another restaurant called Happy's Health Grille during college. She eventually relocated to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, and with Mitch Fontaine created the website "BurningAngel.com". Pornography career. Angel is a former model for  Suicide Girls, a softcore pornography website. In her early 20s she founded the "indie-punk-porn" site "BurningAngel.com", featuring interviews and stories of sex with band members, along with nude photographs. Drawing inspiration from a live sex performance by porn actress Nina Hartley, Angel later began making hardcore movies for the site. According to "Encyclopedia of the Zombie", Angel is "regarded as a major influence in the mainstreaming of alt porn", and is credited with making the genre financially viable. She has produced and performed in several zombie-themed hardcore films: "Re-Penetrator" (2005), "Dong of the Dead" (2009), "Evil  Head" (2012), and "" (2013). She said in a 2006 interview, "I think [alt porn is] a movement. I think I've started something." Angel has written, produced, directed and starred in films available exclusively through "BurningAngel", as well as appearing in more traditionally distributed adult films. She was under an exclusive contract with VCA Pictures, which expired in March 2007, and was, at one time, represented by the adult talent agency Bad Ass Models. Appearances. Following the success of "BurningAngel", Angel has been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers, including "The New York Times". Angel briefly wrote a monthly sex  advice column for "Spin". She also contributed a chapter to the book "Naked Ambition: Women Pornographers and How They Are Changing the Sex Industry". In 2010, Angel appeared in a public service announcement for the Free Speech Coalition on the topic of Internet copyright infringement of adult content, directed by Michael Whiteacre. The spot, entitled the "FSC All-Star Anti-Piracy PSA", found her in the company of adult performers such as Lisa Ann, Julie Meadows, Kimberly Kane, Ron Jeremy and Wicked Pictures contract stars, Alektra Blue and Kaylani Lei. In 2011, Angel was named by CNBC as one of  the 12 most popular stars in porn. CNBC noted that she owns her own studio and that the "punk look" that she and her other actors share has created a new genre in the porn industry, called alt porn. Also, in 2011, Angel made a cameo on the Adult Swim show "Childrens Hospital", in the season three episode "Night Shift." She played herself as a porn star and family friend of Rob Corddry's character Dr. Blake. Angel sometimes appears on Cracked.com as a friend of the columnists and appears in the music video for "Sound Wave Superior" by Emmure . In 2013, Angel appeared in the independent film "Scrapper", starring Michael Beach and Aidan Gillen, along with the ensemble cast musical comedy "Skum Rocks!" In 2014, she had roles in the crime drama "The Owl in Echo Park" and the Kevin Nealon comedy series "Racquetball". She also appeared in the documentary film "Doc of the Dead", which features Interviews with Max Brooks, Stuart Gordon, Jacqui Holland, Robert Kirkman, Greg Nicotero and Judith O'Dea. Personal life. Angel dated fellow porn star James Deen for six years, between 2005 and 2011. On December 2, 2015, Angel appeared on "The Jason Ellis Show  to give more details about her violent and scary" six-year relationship with Deen. Angel married fellow adult film actor Aaron "Small Hands" Thompson on October 31, 2016. Angel is a Democrat. In 2015, she endorsed Bernie Sanders for President of the United States in the Democratic primaries for 2016 U.S. presidential election. Awards. Angel was nominated in 2006 for the AVN Awards for both Best New Starlet and Best Actress, and although she won neither, she did take home the award for "Most Outrageous Sex Scene" for her appearance in "Re-Penetrator". She was nominated for the 2009 AVN  Award for "The Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year".