SPOTLIGHT FEATURE: An Interview with Olivia Isabella and Grizel Halberstadt at Olivia's Playground and Sinema- Ramon Federal Reporting...

Staff Reporter • Monday, March 15, 2010

Olivia Isabella and Grizel Halberstadt talk about the origins and operation of Olivia’s Playhouse & Sinema



 Olivia Isabella and Grizel Halberstadt, co-owners of Olivia’s Playhouse and Sinema, talk about how they built their sex club sim and why they think it’s the best one in Second Life.

Second Life Enquirer sat down in the spartan office of Olivia Isabella and co-owner Grizel Halberstadt at Olivia’s Playhouse and Sinema on March 11, 2010, a little after 6 pm Linden Time to talk about the origins and operations of this well-known sex club.

Olivia began by recounting her earliest days in SL... 

I started SL on November 15th, 2006. I was home sick from RL work, lying in bed with tissues and cough syrup, watching Good Morning America (or the Today show). they (GMA) were talking about the seven new wonders of the world and they did a segment on Second Life and how people were logging on and making money in this virtual world. I got out of bed and signed up. [I was] curious about the money making adventure. Then...I found myself in awe of the technology. So i built Olivia...(leans in and tells a secret.....actually....my rl husband and I built Olivia).

Olivia's started as my house I decorated and it was awesome then I found myself alone and bored in my house. So I figured out how to "advertise" in search and discussed opening a sex club with my RL husband....(just wanted to make sure he didn't mind)....and I opened Olivia's Playhouse. I wanted playmates in my house. [This was] about January of 2007

Grizel chimes in:

I came around 10 months later
Olivia corroborates that account, saying,

Griz showed up about 10 months later....and she was a strong willed woman FULL of ideas for the playhouse (giggles).....at first.....she kept wanting rights to build and move things

Grizel Halberstadt: I like to arrange
Grizel Halberstadt: I'd buy her stuff and have ideas

Olivia Isabella: I wasn't really trusting of anyone yet...not to give them rights to what I had built
Grizel Halberstadt: I was okay with that
Grizel Halberstadt: I was!
Olivia Isabella: but she was what, shall we say, persistent!  After a couple of months....I gave in.  The club was hopping and we were growing so i gave her rights to rearrange and move things while I went and purchased more land.

 Ramon Federal: did you do much advertising?

Grizel Halberstadt: I kinda went nuts

 Olivia Isabella: not at all, no. (to give her more room!)

 Olivia Isabella: I just made sure the KEYWORDS were in our search and descriptions.  People search for Sex
 Grizel Halberstadt: they get very specific
Olivia Isabella: one rule about the playhouse though: NO ESCORTS

 Grizel Halberstadt: they all want something special

 Olivia Isabella: I wanted SL experience to be FREE yet CLASSY!
 Ramon Federal: so you included lots of specifics
 Olivia Isabella: Griz makes it classy!

 Grizel Halberstadt: I try.  We keep getting better and better.  This is what... Olivia’s 4.0?
Olivia Isabella: yes, lots of specifics....as many as the minimum words would allow

 Grizel Halberstadt: we just added a dungeon and a rental apartment for hourly rentals.  Both are doing well.

 I think kidstar keeps the dungeon going all on his own  hehe
Olivia Isabella smiles, true. We have a dedicated clientele

Asked about the sim‘s finances, Grizel says: We get lots of moderate donations
Olivia adds: well...Griz and I put in a lot of our own money....it's fun! Though the money making possibility is what got me to research SL.  I stay for the fun and freedom and friends.

 Grizel Halberstadt: I like…I guess having a place that brings people to make something that keeps them coming back
 Olivia Isabella: hmmmm.......the tips are good....but people don't realize that it takes the RL power of the people running it to fund it
 Grizel Halberstadt: yeah, it takes more time than I like to admit

 Olivia Isabella: so they go through times of not tipping.....then surprise us with big tips. We just never know
Grizel Halberstadt: yeah right now it's pretty steady though

 Olivia Isabella: very steady
Grizel Halberstadt: the rental is doing well, very well I'd say.
 Olivia Isabella: the work is pretty well done, we can sit back and enjoy now
 Grizel Halberstadt: yeah i like to mix it up still

Ramon Federal: how many visitors a month would you say you get?

 Grizel Halberstadt: adding new things
 Olivia Isabella: Griz....who is an amazing designer....did ALL the design and labor here
 Grizel Halberstadt: i am always tweaking, I don’t let her pick up a rock

Olivia Isabella: how may visitors per month?

Grizel Halberstadt: we get about 400 a day steady
 Ramon Federal: ok

 Grizel Halberstadt: couple less, couple more but 400 average a day

 Olivia Isabella: we [get] around 17,000 per month i believe
[18:39] Grizel Halberstadt: individuals
 Olivia Isabella: 16,180 to be exact
Ramon Federal: that sounds impressive. how does it compare with the very busiest sims?

 Grizel Halberstadt: we've had a pick up recently pretty significant, we are still small  but we like that.

Ramon Federal: how much of your capacity are you using? how many more visitors would you like?
 Grizel Halberstadt: we have a lot packed in a small space without looking like it

Ramon Federal: or do you want to stay small and selective
 Olivia Isabella: we're smaller but someone said the other day that Olivia's is like an SL institution

Grizel Halberstadt: well more are always welcome
 Olivia Isabella: we've been around forever
 Grizel Halberstadt: yeah we've been around, that most people into this sort of thing have at least been here at least once.
Olivia Isabella: yes

Grizel Halberstadt: or heard of us

Ramon Federal: what do you think makes Olivia's popular with its clientele?

 Olivia Isabella: the friendliness, the classiness, the privacy, the fun and of course the best sex playground in SL!
 Grizel Halberstadt: i think it's that it's a classy place, you don’t see a ball field when you walk in. We don’t have many noobies if at all.  You come and it’s beautiful people and they TALK.

 We all know each other here you will see as many, if not more, outside the house as inside.
 Olivia Isabella: but noobies are welcome....we'll just give them love lessons and Griz performs extreme SL makeovers
 Grizel Halberstadt: lol I do

Ramon Federal: how's the lag? is that much of a an issue here?

Grizel Halberstadt: it can be
 Olivia Isabella: depends on SL. That can be anywhere.
Grizel Halberstadt: when it gets bad I make efforts to shut off unused scripted things
Olivia Isabella: at first I wasn't happy with the whole move to adult land
 Grizel Halberstadt: luckily we are about the only thing in this sim
 Olivia Isabella: but i love it here

 Ramon Federal: so tell our readers why they ought to visit Olivia's Playhouse?
 Grizel Halberstadt: the people
 Olivia Isabella: the beach is very sexy, the club is sexy and our clientele are intelligent and sexy!
Grizel Halberstadt: the bar is happening. We’ll hang and joke around. Most of our regulars come just to hang out there.  Some have never even BEEN inside
 Olivia Isabella: Olivia's has outlasted A LOT of sex clubs in SL....other's may come and go but Olivia's is a sex staple in second life.....
Grizel Halberstadt: yup! we just evolve with it

 Ramon Federal: and you attribute that to what?

 Olivia Isabella nods

Grizel Halberstadt: my desire to never leave well enough alone? heh

 Olivia Isabella: longevity and just being REAL in SL
Grizel Halberstadt: I think it's the people still
Olivia Isabella: We accept everyone for who they are or who they want to be
 Grizel Halberstadt: our crowd is some of he funniest nicest people

Olivia Isabella: it's safe here
 Grizel Halberstadt: and they don’t take to some of the garbage many clubs have. We run a tight ship, respect is utmost.  You act like a jerk you likely won’t be coming back

 Ramon Federal: do you spend much time here yourselves these days?

 Olivia Isabella: i go around and spy on the competition and shake my head at some of the places that are poorly maintained.

Grizel Halberstadt: yeah, it's sad. I come every day and check beds
 Olivia Isabella: don't get me wrong...there are others that have tastefully run clubs....
 Grizel Halberstadt: make sure everything works
Olivia Isabella: This is like home
 Grizel Halberstadt: it is
Olivia Isabella: and we work as a team

Grizel Halberstadt: we all do Van included

 Ramon Federal: say something about your bartender, Vandell

Grizel Halberstadt: ladies man

 Olivia Isabella: Grizel, Vandell (SL's Best Bartender), Bjorn, Shadow, Alibi.....and all the others who make Olivia's possible
 Ramon Federal: what does he bring to the place?
] Olivia Isabella: Vandell.....the ladies!
Grizel Halberstadt: he is kinda of a smooth calming force

Olivia Isabella: he's a great conversationalist and very charming
 Grizel Halberstadt: calming force, the ladies love him, the men love him. He is smooth incarnate. funny as hell too. We have to beat ladies off him with a stick.
Ramon Federal: so, wrap up by telling us what you expect at Olivia's for the near- and mid-term future?

Olivia Isabella: now we just have to make sure the women don't fall in love too quickly with Van as he is NOT a one lady man....if they get that idea....they learn the hard way
 Grizel Halberstadt: yeah
Olivia Isabella: lol

 Grizel Halberstadt: well we are out of land and prims
 Olivia Isabella: Olivia's is here to stay positive
 Grizel Halberstadt: so just more being selective in what we put out only the best
 Olivia Isabella: IF it all goes well....Olivia's may expand

Grizel Halberstadt: everything with a purpose, I hope so!  I want more prims!
Ramon Federal: any ideas about what you might add next?

 Grizel Halberstadt: I’d love to have a proper flat beach

 Olivia Isabella: but right now....we are content with what we have going and very proud of the sex empire we've built
 Grizel Halberstadt: but we can’t do that here

Olivia Isabella nudges Griz again

Grizel Halberstadt: heheh

Olivia Isabella smiles

 Grizel Halberstadt: adding... I never know what I'll do next, the dungeon is the newest thing
 Olivia Isabella: that's true!  hell I never know what she'll add next
Grizel Halberstadt: and it's done well, did you like the porno posters, O? I spent hours looking for those
 Olivia Isabella: I love all you do!
Grizel Halberstadt: hehe I think I'm gonna sell those in boxes, people seem to like them

Ramon Federal: say something about the porno posters

Olivia Isabella: if anything I’m afraid one of my competitors will steal Grizel away from me and hire her for design
Grizel Halberstadt: well we have the porno "sinema" it has the only real sexballs in the place so it only seemed right the porno theatre had porno posters

 Olivia Isabella: lol

Grizel Halberstadt: so I went looking for vintage ones the modern ones are not interesting
 Ramon Federal: where did you find them?

 Grizel Halberstadt: there are a few sites if you search with catalogs of them, both for reference and for sale
 Not easy to find, but they are there.

 Olivia Isabella: Ramon....we have THE BEST in sex animation here, people should know that
Ramon Federal: and you assembled them all in the lobby of the sinema? say more about that
Grizel Halberstadt: well I have them inside and out, so you see; I think 16 in all .All from the mid 60's to early 70's
Olivia Isabella: Grizel and I searched for THE BEST in sex beds, animations....ONLY the perfect poses are allowed here
 Grizel Halberstadt: yeah,  if I don’t like it, it doesn’t go in

 Ramon Federal: do these include animations for multiple simultaneous partners?

Grizel Halberstadt: I stuck with all b/w photo nudes

Olivia Isabella: from the beach to the bathroom.....all perfected to give our clients the BEST in sex animation with their lover....to enhance the theatre of the mind
 Grizel Halberstadt: almost all the beds do three and four ways, the dungeon bed does up to six and some balls in the theatre do three i think.  If the animation is poor it doesn’t make it in.

 Ramon Federal: ok. wrap up by telling us the satisfactions you get from running Olivia's
 Grizel Halberstadt: you first O

Olivia Isabella: it's a place to escape from reality yet have the realness of fun and friendship. A place to play naughty and nice
 Grizel Halberstadt: I've made real friends here
Olivia Isabella: we all have!

The interview completed, Second Life Enquirer eavesdropped on the two women with their guard down:
 Grizel Halberstadt: this is the first lime we've USED this office for office things hehehe

 Olivia Isabella: hehe cool!
Grizel Halberstadt: probably the first time you've SAT at that desk

Olivia Isabella: 2nd time: lol

http://oliviasplayhouse.ning.com

SLURL of Subject Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ixunda/102/217/29
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Contact: Ramon Federal