Joanna Angel

Joanna Angel is an American performer, director, writer and entrepreneur whose career is defined by BurningAngel, the independent adult site she co-founded in 2002. Born on December 25, 1980, in Brooklyn, New York, she graduated from Rutgers University before BurningAngel became central to the alt-porn movement. Through that venture, Angel helped establish a punk- and tattoo-driven independent adult aesthetic. The site anchored her work in Brooklyn and U.S. productions while supporting her identity as an independent creator-business figure. From that base, she expanded into directing, screenwriting, performing and mainstream media, building a career that joined those roles rather than separating them.

Casey: A True Story is a 2021 narrative feature that Angel directed. Evil Tiki Babes, released in 2020, brought Angel a 2021 AVN Best Screenplay — Comedy win. Angel’s awards record includes AVN and XBIZ acting, directing and screenplay honors. It also includes multiple Hall of Fame inductions, with AVN/XRCO recognition in 2016. Earlier, in 2007, she won XBIZ Crossover Move of the Year. In 2023 she co-hosted the XBIZ Awards with Small Hands.

She is also known for her role in the alt-porn movement and for a director-and-writer career that spans independent adult production and mainstream media. Her work as a performer, director and writer has remained tied to the independent adult aesthetic she helped develop through BurningAngel, and to the alt-porn current that the site represented. The venture became a defining part of her public profile.