Matt: It would just be like one long "That's what she said" joke as this video.

Maia: Super long.

Matt: Oh! Lindsey [laughing]: Oh my gosh!

Matt: This is not going to go well. [WHIP CRACKING, COUGH]. Lindsey: Welcome to Sexplanations end the year chat with my friends Matthew Gaydos and Maia Ledesma. So you know there have been some changes here. Matthew got promoted so that he is now the head of Co-

Matt: Productions. Lindsey: Yeah.

Matt: At Complexly. Lindsey: Yeah.

Matt: Yeah. That's my job title. Lindsey: Matthew got promoted so he is now the head of Co-Productions at Complexly, and he is the producer of Sexplanations. And then Maia - you came in and you now do the videography, direction, and editing of Sexplanations.

Maia. I do. Lindsey: We're in the Holy Fucking Science studio because our set is getting ready.

Matt: Literally right now they are painting it. Lindsey: We're going to transition there with the new year and in the meantime, Maia and Matt and I have been working in all sorts of fun projects as you've seen. So we kicked off the year with "Foreplay."

Matt: Which is one of my favorite looking videos even though I didn't shoot it. That was video where we had to shoot some extra b-roll. I did not have time, and our friend Nick Jenkins - Lindsey: Who was the original videographer of Sexplanations!

Matt: Yeah he stepped in to help us out and went and shot some lovely b-roll at your house. Lindsey: Yeah.

Matt: And it looks great. It looks very cinematic. Lindsey: "Revictimization" was the most powerful video that I have made.

Matt: That's also one that I think about every few weeks that like, "Oh, this could be shared now. This could be very helpful right now." Lindsey: "Disability and Sex" that was one that I had been looking forward to for four years, and I finally found a way to put it into a video and really make it that powerhouse statement. Sex swings! Ah!

So fun! The last one I'll mention is the "Evolution of Masturbation." It was written at a time when there is a lot of romance going on in my life and I had to focus on myself and my pleasure and what that looked like in the context of all of my ancestors and how we got to this place.

Maia: That was my first video, too. Lindsey: Yeah!

Matt: I was gonna say, I thought that was your first video right? Lindsey: Yeah, any other favorites?

Matt: The like "How to Touch a Boob Part 1 and 2" videos were... Not only did we like I think do them well, but also like to kind of use it as a little bit of a statement of like, "We printed out male nipples to put on the female nipples -".

Maia: Yep.

Matt: Because like that's what YouTube allows for some weird reason. Lindsey: I really liked when you made the little music video for the "DIY Dildos."

Matt: Oooh yeah. That was fun. Yeah, just because also I had never really done anything like that. Like I never done any sort of like music remix thing, and I think when I did it, I was like, "This is good!" And I like played it for my office-mate and I played it for you.

And I sent it to like... I think I maybe maybe even send it to Hank and I was just like, "Listen to this!" [Lindsey laughs]

Matt: And then like five minutes later he was like - [dancing] And I was like, "Yeah! See? It's stuck in your head!" Recently like Maia, you just did something somewhat similar with the musical in the "Does Size Matter?" video. Lindsey: Jelquing!

Pumping!

Matt: Right, and I think that was like a whole like other level of having the visuals involved and yeah... I like when we can... Lindsey: Play. What about you?

Lindsey: Any highlights of your short career here?

Maia: Right. My two months here?

Matt: Sounds like it's ending! It is not. [Maia laughs]

Maia: I'm going to go back to the Big Dicks video because that was... That was just a really fun shoot. Like up until that point had been pretty standard like, "Okay, set up the camera. Lindsey's gonna talk." And then you know, we'd try a few different ways to frame it.

And then with this one it was like, "Oh!" Like this is the shoot that also took like two hours because I'm like, "Oh, what if we did this and did this?" And we were just like throwing ideas that each other and trying a lot of different shots... But I like when there's more variety in that. Lindsey: Yeah, and the wand!

Maia: Oh yeah, I... Yep. So I'm a bit of a Harry Potter fan. And so when Lindsey wrote that line in the script,.

I'm like, "We need a Harry Potter wand in this shot! It just has to happen." And so that was really fun to put together.

Matt: Our personalities get to show up in the videos as well. Not just yours. Lindsey: It's so true! So what about parts of the year where you were surprised or you learned something?

A growth moment.

Maia: I've been on a couple shoots where you've collab-ed with other YouTubers, and they represent areas of. YouTube that I don't frequent as much so it was really eye-opening to be able to sit on those interviews and learn about... For example, we had Stevie on recently and when she was describing how when women who are, you know, attracted to women first come out, sometimes I take on this "predatory lesbian" persona and the way she described it suddenly put it into perspective for me. I'm like, "Oh, that's what you call it.

That makes sense when you're describing it. So I appreciate it when you bring on other people and sort of share different perspectives that. I wouldn't normally be exposed to.

Lindsey: What I learned in the last year is really everything that you see on Sexplanations is something that I have learned. Because I'm researching it or I am figuring out a way to present it that I haven't before. The comments I learned from, the questions on Twitter and Tumblr and Facebook and...

So much learning is happening, trust me! I'm appreciative of it. It's a great process.

Matt: I think for me just like hiring someone and going through that process that I've never really done before. Lindsey: We're so glad you're here!

Matt: Like I've worked retail jobs and like been a manager at those, but it's a very different experience from not only hiring someone but then essentially like handing off your responsibilities and being like, "Here. Do this job I've been doing." It was hard at first to like get into that mindset of like, "Just because it's different doesn't mean it's the wrong way to do things." As much as I still am like hands-on in like the planning and script editing and that part of the channel, it's been very nice to be able to take a step back and just trust you guys. Lindsey: And you're doing a really great job. It's so fun to be in the office with you and kind of read you as this straight-laced person that's like.

Harry Potter nerd-esque. I think you know, "There's no way that Maia's going to make a sex joke!" And Maia makes sex jokes the whole shoot!

Matt: Maia is more skilled than even me or you at saying some of the video titles and some the video topics with the straightest of faces. Lindsey: Oh yeah!

Matt: Like more so than like... When we talk about it, like - It's like, "Oh, so we're going to do the uh... Big Dicks video" and like there's a little bit of hesitation. And then like Maia is just like, "So we're doing the Big Dicks video on this day and then we're doing this..." And it's just like - it's like she just said what kind of like food she wanted at a restaurant.

Like it's just so natural and just like no hesitation.

Maia: I don't know what that says about me. [Everyone laughs]. Lindsey: What can we expect from the next year's Sexplanations? Any more HP graphics?

Maia: Always.

Matt: So yeah, expect more Harry Potter things because it's going to happen. Lindsey: It's happening!

Matt: Yeah. I'm excited for the new year just because I mean the last two months have been settling into this new dynamic of like our trio, working on the videos. And I think going forward in the new year, now that we're comfortable working in this trio... It's like we just bought the tool box and like we figured out what all these tools do, and now we're like, "Alright, let's use the tools to build this mail box or something...

And so next year we're going build a mail box.

Maia: A vagina mail box!

Matt: That's much better!

Maia: Yeah!

Matt: See, that's why you got hired. [Maia laughs] Lindsey: I think that it's going to be awesome to have a new set.

Matt: Yeah. Lindsey: And re-branding. From the get-go I have never liked the female/male symbols, and that was such a part of our intro. It still is.

It has been. It's in this video, too. And so I'm so excited to kind of look at what ways sexuality can express itself and how Sexplanations does that uniquely.

Matt: What are you guys looking forward to you in 2018?

Maia: Shooting in 4K.

Matt: Yeah! Lindsey: Yeah?

Maia: Yeah. I mean, I've never shot in 4K before, and we're getting a new camera! And it'll be an interesting challenge but I think a fun one.

Matt: It's gonna make the shoots way easier for all of us. Lindsey: And we're talking about a possible trip to Vegas or Amsterdam to investigate the brothel scene and what it looks like when prostitution is legal and I think that that's important into the Patreon community and and so it's important to us. Special thank you to all of you who share your support with us on Patreon and to our sponsors over the last year and to those of you who write in the comments and share videos and talk with us and just give us your feedback and love. It really means an incredible amount to all of us.

Stay curious!