AHF Blasts XBIZ; Duke and Helmy Respond
 
By Rhett Pardon from xbiz.com
Friday, Jul 30, 2010   

LOS ANGELES — The AIDS Healthcare Foundation publicly blasted XBIZ on Friday over the adult industry media company’s decision to reject a paid advertisement espousing its ongoing campaign to require use of condoms in the production of all adult films.
The AHF, which disseminated a 1,200-word press release through Business Wire, said XBIZ has "clearly decided to take sides with the industry by shutting down AHF’s freedom of the press and our free expression" and that it is XBIZ’s "desire to curry favor with those in the industry who may be angered by AHF’s ad."

AHF’s advertisement urges industry leaders "to begin the process of instituting the necessary changes to make the industry safe" with on-set condom use.

"AHF could be your best ally on the road to reasonable safety regulations," the ad reads.

Alec Helmy, XBIZ’s president and publisher, responded to the AHF’s charges, claiming the media company has aggressively covered the issues of adult performer worker-safety through the years and that it feels the AHF’s attempt to regulate the adult industry is misguided.

"We feel that the solutions AHF has proposed are unrealistic and problematic," he said. "We have given equal weight to their argument in all of our online and print news coverage.

"Running an ad of this nature would cross the line in terms of our position, particularly since we are a supporting sponsor of the Free Speech Coalition."

The FSC on Friday evening lauded the media company over its stance and said the AHF and its leader, Michael Weinstein, are "grandstanding."

"I applaud XBIZ for its courage and commitment to the industry and its wisdom in not allowing AHF to use this industry publication as yet another avenue for disseminating its propaganda," FSC Executive Director Diane Duke told XBIZ."AHF has launched a number of attacks against the adult entertainment industry.

"They have filed countless, frivolous lawsuits and complaints against the industry, Cal/OSHA, Los Angeles County and AIM. Neither the industry nor its performers want anything to do with AHF or its sensationalistic grandstanding."

OP/ED by Jeremy Steele

The Bill Margold Experience
(Read this with someone you hate)
(Not Starring Sasha Grey, but someone much more important… to himself, at least):
—————————————————————-
From P.A.W.’s website: "Our Mission:
 
Provide an umbrella of mental, physical, spiritual and emotional
support to any and all who seek our assistance…"
—————————————————————-
Late Winter/Early Spring, 1996:

I was still pretty new to the industry, learning the "who’s who", and "what’s what", when I asked my
agent, the one and only (at the time) Jim South, who the guy talking non-stop in the next room was. Jim informed me, in his courteous, Southern drawl, that he was   "Counseler to the stars, Mr. William Margold."
 
Out of curiosity, some days later, I paid the man a visit.
 
In preparation, I made sure to pay careful consideration to the attire which I wore, in due respect to both his status in the industry, as  well as to his own formal dress code.
 
To his belly-bulged hawaiian shirt and unshaven face I wore an old AC/DC shirt.
 
Upon entering his foundation (the room upstairs, opposite corner of  World Modeling, my first impressions included a lot of little  stuffed teddy bears strewn about the one room office, and a pungeant, unpleasant smell which seemed to be embedded in the walls, and which made me want to grab one of those teddy bears quick, shove into my face  and breathe into it!
 
I caught Bill in mid-monologue and in fine form:
  "The best thing Savannah ever did was DIE!"
 
He said this most disturbed and disturbing statement to his virtually empty audience as if rehearsed. Yet as I listened I was completely fascinated by his strange words. It wasn’t what he said which struck me so much as the way he said it,  with such superfluous self-importance. It just seemed so self-evidently silly, actually… and almost amusing.
 
As he continued, I thought to myself, "Who WAS this porn diva, Adolph Hitler?"
 
"… It was her death which lead to the formation of P.A.W.  (protecting Adult Welfare"), he continued.
 
And as he still continued on and on, I wondered:
  "I wonder what she did that she would deserve to die. What about her  loved ones? Did they deserve to suffer, as well? What is wrong  with this guy?"
 
I thought my thoughts silently. Then, following his moving  speech I introduced myself as new cummer male performer, going by the name "Jeremy Steele".
 
Quickly, he slinged a derisive remark my way. Mine is a  "terrible" name, he insited. First of all, "’Jeremy’ is not
a masculine name", he claimed.
 
"WTF?", I thought to myself. "That happens to be my real first name!"- a nice insult to both me and the mom who bore and named me…"
 
"…And Steele, that name is way too overused", he concluded.
 
Let it be noted for the record that this opinion  preceeded the arrival or Sydnee or Lexington, as well as  a fat batch of other ‘Steeles’ which came and went (no pun intended) after I left the business for a year and a half duration (between early -mid 1997 and most of 1999).
 
Changing the subject, to one much more important, Bill went on to brag  about how he created and runs a "non-profit" counseling organization  for the industry.
 
"That’s great", I sarcastically and remittently thought to myself.  "Now I have someone to talk to about the self-esteem  issues he’s just created for me. This guy must be a genius!" 
 
The fact that this guy liked to talk as much as a heroin addict likes  to shoot up was self-evident. Unfortunately, I was not quite having the  the same high listening as he was talking.
 
Still, I had to admit, it was, at times, in it’s own way, entertaining,  even mesmerizing, at times, in it’s absurdity and weightiness.
 
He asked me what I was doing in the porn industry. I told him I was fed up with all the bullshit of Hollywood and the shitty telemarkeing job I had (even though I was doing well enough at it).
 
He then informed me that there are ONLY THREE reasons to get into the porn industry; either: a. Money. b. Sex or c. Fame.
 
AND, there is ONLY ONE reason anyone should get into this porn and  that is reason c. : Fame.
 
I thought to myself "Wow. This guy is something…".And as the moron babbled on more (you can’t expect to get a word in), I thought to myself:
 
"What if a person chooses to do porn for THEIR OWN reasons? Is ‘Fame’ REALLY a reason to do anything? Should not one perform or act
for the love of acting and cathartic self-expression, not just a narcissistic urge to be famous and contemptously act superior to others?
 
"Further, isn’t the search for ‘Fame’ in and of itself, potentially alienating and destructive? Haven’t Savannah and some others proven  that? How about doing porn as a rebellion against society? Or for the fuck of it, the fantasy or just the thrill and the experience of it?
 
"Are we not, more or less, all whores anyway,  within a slave society, and if so, what’s the shame with a little sex on camera? Or am I fooling myself?"
 
Even in my, at times, crazy mind, it became quickly evident, that as far as Bill Margold was concerned, there was ONLY ONE correct point of view: HIS. End of story. This hardly seemed at all to me, however, to be the kind of mindset needed of a sympathetic, sensitive and  supportive counselor for whores in need.
 
I quickly began to take pretty much The Bill Margold Experience in  reverse proportion to how ultra-seriously he took it himself. All the
while, however, I was always civil and respectful to him as the edler  statesman he is, in spite of his arrogance and constant necessary,  quick-quip put-downs.
 
Overall, I simply took him as a questionably informative, occassionally entertaining joke,  occassionally interesting, even as he is still always full of himself.
 
Bill Margold likes to address us "porn stars" as his "children". I take issue with this. Although he may talk to us like we’re children, we are NOT
children (well some of us,at least). And we certainly are not HIS children. He’s not my dad, and for that I’m glad.  In fact, if I was so unfortunate to have been his child  I’m sure I would’ve run away from his house/foundation a long time ago.
 
He also refers to the industry as the "Family of X". If ours is a  "family", you can say it’s quite incestuous as well as dysfunctional, at times, to say the least.  There’s also a lot of family members coming, going and disappearing, so theoretically, Bill ought to be  quite busy.
 
And certainly, a good family will always help it’s own, and some  good counseling could never hurt.  Not around here, I’d say. And thus, this is where Bill Margold and P.A.W. comes in, right?
 
 
One day, I (too soon, actually) got to put Bill’s role as "Papa Bear" (as he refers to himself) of the "Family of X" to the test…
 
Several months into the business, I was going through some personal,  emotional issues: I had met a nice non-industry girl who I ended up
telling, in utter brutal honesty, that I was a porn performer/actor/model/star.
 
Almost as soon as I told her this stunning information she disconnected her phone number (the same night, even), and I never saw or heard from
her again!
 
So, as you might imagine, I was feeling a bit down, questioning who I  was, including what the hell I was doing in pornoland; wondering if I
should keep it "up"; if I should be keeping certain things to myself;  wondering if it was possible to have a "normal" relationship, or it I
even should, while being a professional and legalized "whore" (as Annie Sprinkle put it), etc.
 
But as I expressed these issues to Bill I would get no answers;not even an attempt or a consolation for my woes.
 
Instead, and to my surprise, after I told him my problems he proceeded to talk entirely about himself, including his claim that his penis was large!
 
Now, what this had to do with my problems and how these claims of his could help me I had absolutely no idea. But one thing I knew for sure
was that would be the first and last time I would ever call the P.A.W.Hotline!
 
End of Part 1.

NL-Jenna has an official ebay page now where you can buy her designer brand heels, dresses and more.  You just missed out on her Range Rover though! Since it didn’t meet the reserve it might be going back up on the block. The $31,000 just wasn’t enough… Here’s the link  www.houseofjamesonebay.com

 

Fame Registry has garnered a reputation in recent years as one of the top statistical websites in adult entertainment by using a unique points system to track the most admired porn performers in the business. In addition to its monthly Most Popular-themed honors, FR will present the inaugural Fame Registry Porn Star Awards via Twitter on August 30.
Fame Registry owner and operator Kelli (who also runs Kelli Internet Services, an umbrella of adult industry and performer sites) kindly granted Luke Is Back an online interview to discuss the background of FR, next month’s awards presentation, and her other numerous projects within the porn business.

Can you tell us about Fame Registry and the purpose behind the website?
When I first bought the domain name years ago I was going to make a venture into running a mainstream celebrity site, much like my collection of porn star fan sites. They have been successful for me for the past decade-plus, so I figured logic would dictate that a mainstream site based on celebs would be the same.

So just before I put too much work into it, another website posted their list of top porn stars and I was like, “OMG, no way! That list can’t even remotely be accurate.” I don’t know why, but that really annoyed me to no end. I then Googled a few other sites trying to see how they came up with their top porn star lists and I realized that really people just pull names out of their ass to come up with their lists.

So then I decided to run a domain name valuation on the stars they listed.

In short, I would take each porn star and treat her name like she was a domain name – like Bree Olson would be valued as BreeOlson.com and Chasey Lain would become ChaseyLain.com – and I ran them through the established valuation process as if these stars were domain names.

I then used this information to come up with my own list of popular porn stars. I shared this information with a friend and he posted about it on his blog. I really had a great time investigating the popularity of porn stars so I decided that is what I was going to make out of Fame Registry.
It would become a site that would track hundreds of porn stars using data that is publicly available and then we will use that data to determine a real way to see who is most popular.

What criteria is used to determine the monthly winners in each category?
I realized right away that no single source of information could be used to determine the popularity of a porn star. I mean, just because a porn star has the most friends on MySpace doesn’t mean she is the most popular porn star in the world now does it? Or just because a porn star has been in more movies than another, does that make her the most popular porn star?

So what I did was come up with a list of resources like the site that tells us who gets more searches, a list of porn stars who grace the pages of men’s magazines like Penthouse, Hustler, Club, Genesis and Swank. Then I made a database of every porn star who has ever won an award from AVN, XRCO and FAME.

That took foreverrrrr.

From there I started keeping track of every porn star’s official website, MySpace page and then later on Twitter. I don’t track Facebook pages because far to many porn stars get their Facebook pages deleted at random, so they get left out of the calculations.
At first I did everything by hand, typing it all up, doing all the calculations using simple PHP scripts. In time however the site grew to over 180 porn stars and that is when I had my sister April start helping me update the site every month.

We run each of our 20 some odd reports once per month. It then automatically updates all the lists we show on the site like the hot 100 list, the most popular porn star on Twitter, the porn star with the most popular official website, and so on.

I can only imagine the amount of work involved in running a page such as Fame Registry. How much time do you spend maintaining the site on an average day?
Not including the time it takes to add a new star to the website, which I try and add one or two a month, April and I spend the last 2 to 4 days of each month doing our updates. Some reports are more automated than others, with just simple PHP scripting while others have to be done by hand. There is just no way really to automate reports like the AVN awards. When the winners list is posted each year we add them in by hand.

Are there others involved in operating FR or do you run the website entirely on your own?
I do most of the work myself, but April helps me do the end of the month updates and my husband Zach Roberts helps me by when I send out press releases a few times each year. He checks my spelling, grammar, etc.

Let’s discuss the upcoming Fame Registry Porn Star Awards, which will be announced via Twitter on August 30. Why did you decide to create the awards?
In 2009, someone asked me who the winners were overall for the previous year, so I came up with a method to calculate the winners for the year based on the winners for each previous month.

This year I refined and improved the calculation method for the year, but just before posting the results I came up with the idea to buy little award trophies to give out to the winners, and instead of just doing an overall thing I broke it into the categories. There is really no major reason I did it. I just wanted the girls who work hard for their fans each and every day to have something that says, “Hey, we totally recognize your efforts and we appreciate it.”

This year’s awards will be for the calendar year 2009, is that correct?
Yes, the winners will be based on the calculations made from 2009. That means that porn stars we just started tracking this year won’t qualify for the awards we are giving out this month. They will, however, qualify for the awards for next year!

Is this the first year the FRPS Awards will be distributed?
Yes. Like I said before, last year just put up a list based on the overall most popular for 2008. It wasn’t until this year that I came up with the idea to give out actual awards and broke them up into categories based on the type of lists we display on the site for each month’s normal update like the most popular porn star on Twitter, etc.

Do you plan to make the Fame Registry honors an annual event?
Absolutely. I don’t know if the award trophies will be the same look every year, but for sure the awards will go out every year.
Can you explain how the 2009 award winners will be determined?
Every month we enter huge amounts of data for each porn star, like how popular her official website is, how many friends a porn star has on MySpace, how many followers she has on Twitter, how many times she has been in various magazines, how many movies she has been in that year and so on. I then use that data to determine the winners.

We use a very simple point system. For example, each month we track porn stars on Twitter. So I take the top 20 porn stars on Twitter, that is those with the most followers, for every month of 2009. I take the one with the most followers for that month and give her 20 points, the next most popular gets 19 points and the least gets 1 point. I do that every month for the entire previous year. So then I add up all the points, and in the end, the porn star with the most points wins.

You would think it would be the same every month, but actually data fluctuates a tiny bit here and there, and where like one month a porn star may be #6, she may be #9 the next month and that small difference can really hurt or help her overall points for the year in any given category.
The winners in each category will receive an actual trophy to commemorate their victory, is that right?
The little trophies I picked from this year are adorable. They have stars on them and one of the stars spins. But, you know, next year I want to have something different, I’m just not sure what we want. I have ordered like 40 more samples for next year.
I saw a photo of the trophies to be presented on Fame Registry. They are beautiful.
Thank you. I actually ordered 3 different samples from a trophy company to try and determine which one I liked best. So they wouldn’t go to waste though (because I hate spending money on something to just throw away), I had them engrave the names of 3 of my young nieces on them and gave them to the kids and told them they won them for being so fabulous!

I showed those sample award trophies to my sister, April, who helps me with the website. She picked one, I picked another. So we showed my housekeeper and she picked the third one. LOL.

So then we showed my mom and my husband, and in the end the one little trophy with the spinning star won.

Which category in this year’s awards intrigues you the most personally?
Well, actually a few of them. Right off the bat the one that comes to mind is totally the Website of the Year Award. When running the numbers for that the winner didn’t come out to be who I thought it would be and it turns out the two top porn stars were only 1 point away from each other. It was without a doubt the closest call.

Two other categories I like are the two I most recently added, which is for the Publicist of the Year and the Adult Industry Blog of the Year. I added these categories after getting a press release one day from Josh, Teagan Presley’s husband about some project they were working on.

I just realized how little attention we give to the people behind the scenes. These are the guys or girls doing the leg work, putting in the hours and the effort that help to make our stars famous.

A porn star can only go so far on her own. A really top porn star will tell you that it takes a team to keep her life together and one very valuable member of that team is her publicist. A good publicist can really make the career of a star.

The same concept applies to adult industry blogs. They really don’t get the attention from the other award shows for some reason and they really should. The people who run those blogs dedicate hours and hours each and every day posting stories for fans about their favorite porn stars. They are the source of news for the fans out there and without them, where would the industry be? How would those die hard fan boys know where their favorite porn stars will be appearing at one week or what movie is coming out?

Adult industry blogs are an important, yet often overlooked part of our industry, and that is why I chose to honor them with an award.

Has there been a significant amount of interest in the awards amongst fans via emails, more Twitter followers, increased traffic on the FR website, or other vehicles?
Way more than I would have even expected. I’ve gotten several emails thanking me for running the site, which is always nice, and the other day we had 9,804 unique visitors to the website. How crazy is that? Normally the site gets about 1,500 unique visitors a day on average so seeing that skyrocket to 9804 was really great. I love seeing numbers like that.

In addition to owning and operating Fame Registry, you also run Kelli Internet Services (www.Kelli.net), a collection of adult websites. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Yes, that is actually how I got my start in the business some 14 years ago this August. Basically I run "fan" sites dedicated to specific porn stars, mostly former Vivid girls. At first I was only doing websites for Vivid, going back since 1998. I would create the fan site and in return for promoting what was back then their VHS movies, I would get free photos and exclusive interviews and sometimes movie trailers.

It was great. I would work hard at creating a quality free website and the results paid off because I have had some great success with those websites. I try and always focus on quality over making money. I try very hard to keep things like ads to a very, very minimum. When you visit one of my websites you get a site about that girl, not a bunch of horrid ads like you find at most of those sites. As a result I enjoy an unusually fabulous affiliate sales ratio. In some cases my sites send traffic to sites that perform as good as 1:50. If you are familiar with sales ratios with affiliate programs you’ll know just how great that number really is.

For the most part I do the same thing some many years later, only now I just don’t limit myself to Vivid girls. Don’t get me wrong, I still totally love Vivid and enjoy a great financial results from promoting their movies, but well, to be honest, a new company took over running their website and they have been kind of mean to me, so I just focus my efforts on people who do appreciate me like Tori Black. I work closely with the people who run her official website. They share with me photos and movie clips to add to my site and in return I send them the traffic from those pages to her official site.

Are you involved in any other projects pertaining to the adult industry?
Oh, yes! I’m so glad you asked. This year I produced my first adult movie called Hocus Pocus XXX. I wrote the script, picked the what turned out to be huge cast and picked out all the costumes. You can learn more about that at www.HocusPocusXXX.com.

I’m also in the process of writing what will soon be a downloadable e-book called The Fame Registry’s Guide to Being Famous. Basically it will be as the title says, a guide to being famous, some do’s and don’t if you want to be a famous porn star. Ideally I want it to cover everything a porn star would need to know about what it takes to be THE biggest porn star in the world and make a bazillion bucks doing it.

Then there is the work I do with studios like Amateur District and All For You Entertainment. I help producers get the scenes they shoot on DVD through these two labels. The economy has changed, even from just a year ago. Studios and website owners aren’t really buying new scenes like they were. So I help them take the work they’ve already done and get them on DVD and make some money so they aren’t out the money. It really just started with one guy, helping him out and then before long helping one guy turned into 5 and then 10 and now even some porn stars. We have some great movies coming out like The Love Twins XXX Home Movies. It is the actual footage shot by the Love Twins themselves. There is also I Love Renee Perez, one of the only boy/girl movies Renee Perez has ever done. Oh and there is an entire series of movies coming out with this guy Uncle Jesse. He’s this older gentleman that back in his hay day was a mainstream Hollywood stuntman

He was even a stuntman in that Ghostbusters movie. He was the stuntman for Dan Aykroyd. Well, instead of facing retirement as he aged like everyone else, he decided to start doing porn. He shot enough footage for like 5 or 6 movies and we will be putting them out over the next year.

Besides all of that I also have some things in the works with Briana Banks, Nina Mercedez, and Jay-Rock, who you may remember as the guy who originally discovered Vivid girl Meggan Mallone. I can’t go into any details right now about what things I am working on with them other than to just say I am so totally excited about these projects!

What advice would you give to someone looking to enter the porn business independently in an online capacity?
Always be honest and always have good manners. I can’t say this enough, but seriously have good manners, have good manners, have good manners. LOL.

There is no reason to go on Twitter and start trashing people. There is no reason to go on industry message boards and say mean things to people. There is never an excuse for having bad manners because you never know how that person you were rude to might hurt your career later on.

There is a man who I won’t name, but anyway, he got screwed out of about $20,000 by a guy. The guy who got screwed out of the money happened to know someone from a really big company and cost the guy who screwed him a $60,000 job. On the other hand, I didn’t know who the guy was either, but I felt bad he got treated like that by someone and I offered to help him with some promotion for his next movie and gave him some marketing tips I’ve learned.

He was so grateful he helped me by hooking me up with his friend who just recently bought a chain of adult retail stores to help sell Hocus Pocus XXX. How great is that?

I could have sat back and did nothing because it wasn’t my business that someone screwed him, but instead I went out of my way to help him and in the end it helped me.

I know you think I’m talking about karma but I’m really not. I’m actually talking about networking. You have to put yourself out there and chat it up with others in the same industry at sites like XBIZ.net and the like, and in doing so build your reputation as a good person.

Fall over yourself to help other people because you would be surprised just how small our industry really is. So many people know so many others and if you are fabulous to one person, that will come back to you later on. People make not brag about who they know but you know what? Every single person in this business knows at least one person and that could be the one person you need to help you with something in the future.

One last question: Luke Is Back is going to win the Fame Registry award for Adult Industry Blog of the Year, right? (Laughs)
LOL.

You never know who will win the award for the most popular adult industry blog, but I promise you this … when it comes time to announce the winner, which is my birthday by the way (August 30th), I will be sure to call you out by name and say, “HEY ADAM, THIS IS FOR YOU! Whoooo hoooo!”
Thank you, Kelli. We appreciate your time.
Thanks for your time. I’m sorry if I rambled on too much. LOL. I so tend to do that.

ADAM & EVE ANNOUNCES INCREASES IN  2nd QUARTER SALES AND PROFITS!

(maybe it has something to do with their great taste in picking contract girls?)

Hillsborough, NC — Adam & Eve and AdamAndEve.com<http://AdamAndEve.com>  (http://www.AdamAndEve.com/news), America’s most trusted source for adult  products, are pleased to announce increases in sales and profits for the second  quarter of 2010!

Despite the ongoing economy insecurity, Adam & Eve posted a 3% increase in sales  and a 7% spike in profits over second quarter 2009.

“As a company that is continually profitable, we are very pleased with the  second quarter 2010 results,” says Chad Davis, Director of Marketing for Adam &  Eve. “We attribute these numbers to the continued growth of online sales. Once  again, natural and organic search results improved dramatically, 150% , without  adding any direct advertising cost.”

Adam & Eve Internet Marketing Manager Rich Atlas agrees. "Operating in a highly   competitive space, Adam and Eve has found rank and revenue success with organic  search; we attribute our success to a long term keyword and content driven  strategy that embraces customer needs while meeting search engine requirements.

In addition, sales from offline marketing such as radio and television increased  14% over second  quarter 2009. And while sales from the traditional paper  catalog continued to decrease, internet sales from www.AdamAndEve.com<http://www.AdamAndEve.com>  were up 8% during the second quarter of 2010.

“The transition from catalog orders to website orders is something we have both  seen and anticipated for some time. We believe this shift toward online sales is  both because longtime customers are converting from the catalog to the website,  and because new customers are hearing about AdamAndEve.com<http://AdamAndEve.com>  for the first time from new & developing marketing channels,” summarizes Davis.  “The huge variety of quality adult oriented products, as well as the ease and  anonymity offered through ordering from AdamAndEve.com<http://AdamAndEve.com>  continues to be the reason we remain successful.”

With more than 10 million satisfied customers and nearly 40 years of experience  Adam & Eve continues to be the nation’s most trusted and largest adult  superstore.

For more information on Adam & Eve, visit the website at www.adamandeve.com<http://www.adamandeve.com>
or contact Director of Public Relations Katy Zvolerin at 919.644.8100 x 3121 or

NL-I told you all i am going to the AVN show. http://www.lukeisback.com/?p=13074 This is one of the seminars I would like to attend (provided it’s not early in the morning tho, come on I need my sleep, lol)

Miami, Florida – Minka Studios founder, Juan “Nikko” Vargas will take part in the “3D: Fad or Future?” panel discussion on Friday, August 6, 2010, in Hollywood, Florida during The AVN Show.
 
Sitting on the “3D: Fad or Future?” panel with Vargas will be J. Lalls, Daniel 3D and legendary producer and director Axel Braun. Moderated by AVN Associate Managing Editor, Steve Javors, the panel discussion promises to be an eye-opener for many in the industry that are still undecided on whether to venture into 3D productions for adult.
 
Vargas has no problem answering those that are timid concerning 3D productions. “3D is a great opportunity to increase revenue in the adult industry. I hope to be able to dispel some of the common myths about stereoscopic video production on this panel. One of the greatest myths is that 3D production is very expensive. That is simply not true. Production of 3D video can be done economically and the returns are worth the extra investment over a regular HD production.”
 
Vargas founded Minka Studios, and during the past 14 years his crew has applied many different types of technology to 3D production. When Vargas started using 3D camera rigs, they were designed for open space and very static positioning to produce good video display. However that has changed significantly in the last three years. Vargas said, “We have developed a proprietary 3D camera rig that is very mobile. It is lightweight, can get within an arm’s length of the performers and can be used in any location the camera man and the director choose. We have produced 3D videos in association with Pleasure Dynasty that have the feel of reality shows, using the 3D rig just as you would any hand-held video camera. It gives 3D high-definition quality, while allowing for so much flexibility in shooting, and that is what the adult industry needs.”
 
Minka Studios is offering the entire adult industry the ability to produce 3D video, by providing production and post-production services from their Florida home base. The packages include location shoots and editing and mastering of the finished video. For information on Minka Studios production facilities and packages for all adult entertainment genres, please contact Vargas by email to juan@minkastudios.com.

Federal Judge Dismisses FSC’s 2257 Suit
By Lyla Katz and Rhett Pardon, XBIZ.com
Tue, Jul 27 2010 03:30pm PDT

PHILADELPHIA — U.S. District Court Judge Michael Baylson has granted the government’s motion to dismiss FSC’s 18 U.S.C. § § 2257 and 2257A lawsuit.

The decision comes nearly 10 months after FSC’s initial filing.
“We are disappointed but not surprised,” said Diane Duke, FSC’s executive director. “We could tell at the onset that this judge was going to be a challenge.”

FSC and its attorneys are reviewing the decision and will comment further on the decision later this week.
“We’ve known all along that the [federal] district courts would be a challenge, as they are staffed with Bush appointees.” Duke said. “Our next option is an appeal at the [federal] circuit court level. We are in the 3rd [U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals] — an optimal circuit for our appeal.”

The FSC, in its original complaint, said the revised 18 U.S.C. § § 2257 and 2257A regulations are unconstitutional, as well as an unfair burden placed to producers to comply with the regulations.

At the time FSC attorney Michael Murray said he planned a “substantial constitutional attack.”
The 14 plaintiffs attached to the suit with the FSC represent a rainbow of individuals, organizations and companies that one way or another publish or screen erotic material, from performers to photographers to studios to an adult entertainment business journalist.

The 14 co-plaintiffs in the case are:
The American Society of Media Photographers, which represents 7,000 members.
Barbara Nitke, a teacher at the School of Visual Arts in New York and a commercial photographer.
David Steinberg, a photographer and writer of sexual issues.
Nina Hartley, a performer and website owner.
Michael Barone, a photographer.
Dave Cummings, an adult industry performer who owns numerous websites.
Tom Hymes, an adult industry journalist who runs a website.
Sinclair Institute, which operates sexual health clinics.
Channel 1 Releasing, which operates a gay porn studio.
Barbara Alper, a photographer.
Carol Queen, a sexologist and feminist sex educator.
Dave Levingston, a photographer.
Betty Dodson and Carlin Ross, who co-host a website.

On Tuesday, Baylson rejected the FSC’s case, focusing on the trade group’s 4th Amendment challenge.
Baylson, in his decision, said that "the government has a substantial interest in preventing sexual exploitation of children in the production of such depictions."

He noted "producers of such depictions have adequate notice that their records will periodically be inspected by government officials" and that "Congress has both authorized inspections and created rules, further fleshed out by implementing regulations, governing the procedures that inspectors must follow."
Baylson also said that his holding is consistent with case law relative to administrative searches and that the searches are for "specific and limited purpose" of inspecting records required in a regulatory scheme.

part one http://www.lukeisback.com/?p=13098

part two  http://www.lukeisback.com/?p=13132

Legendary Adult Movie Star Seka Sits Down with RSR to Talk about Her Career and Love for the Sport of Boxing Part 3 of 3
 April 11th, 2010  Bad Brad  http://ringsidereport.com

Exclusive Interview by “Bad” Brad Berkwitt

When Muhammad Ali beat Sonny Liston in 1964, it changed boxing in my opinion.”–Seka  http://ringsidereport.com/?p=2012

In Part I & 2 of our exclusive interview, Seka talked in-depth about her career in the Adult Movie Industry and the industry as it stands today.  In Part IIl, she takes us back in time with her thoughts about the sport of boxing, a sport she has followed since her childhood.  From her thoughts on “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali, to her thoughts about a Retirement Fund, are all covered in this second part of this remarkable interview.

The comparison between boxing and the adult film industry has always been there.  Both have been secretly adored at times only to be considered immoral by the same people.  Both have been on the chopping block and blamed for certain misdeeds of the public, which is why this interview is important and why RSR is bringing you Seka.

Ladies and Gentlemen, RSR welcomes back the One and Only Seka…

BB:  When did you first start following boxing and what are your earliest recollections?

In the early to mid sixties, when Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay at the time) was just starting out and you would see the old black and white films.  He was a pretty man and when he beat Sonny Liston in 1964, it changed boxing in my opinion.

BB:  Do you get out to the fights often? If so, which ones have you seen lately and what were your thoughts on them?

I have been, but it was years ago when I lived in Chicago and went to the local fights there.  It was really fun watching and having two good looking guys with muscles and no shirts on, was pretty hot!  (Laughs) But later of course, I would go on to really watch the sport and appreciate the skills they had which is just amazing to me. Boxing is an amazing sport that when that bell rings, it’s only Fighter A vs. Fighter B and that is when you see just how great they are.

BB:  Who are some of your personal favorite fighters over the years and why?

Muhammad Ali, as I mentioned before. To watch him in his prime was to watch precision.  He was just an amazing athlete.  I respected the fact that when he took his stance in the late sixties…he did not just talk, but walked the walk. He gave it all up. You have to respect that.

I also love Evander Holyfield.  I liked his style and felt he always fought with a strong determination in the ring.  Rocky Marciano was another one I feel the same way about. He was a brawler in there and they make for exciting fights.

BB:  What boxing match more than any other, can you vividly remember in your mind till this day?

Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton I in March of 1973, when Kenny broke Ali’s jaw, winning by a split decision. That was a huge upset back then and I was shocked.

BB:  What fighter in the last 25 years do you personally feel not only was big in boxing, but transcended the sport as well?

I would have to say George Foreman.  And yes, I have his grill!  (Laughs)  For him to come back like he did after a ten year layoff, then when he won the title in his mid forties, was just amazing. On his grill, I have to say, George really knows what to do with his meat.  (We both busted out laughing)

BB:  Do you think the sport has moved forward or back since you first started following it?

I don’t think it holds the same prestige of say when Muhammad Ali fought in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s or even a generation before Ali with Carmen Basilio who was an exciting fighter and you could almost bank that anytime he fought, his eyes were going to be swollen shut.  Fighters of yesteryear were like God’s and today, the champions are not that well known which is a shame. I think with all of these belts, that makes it hard for the common boxing fan, to say, so and so is a World Champion.

BB:  What is your favorite boxing movie and why?

I love the Rocky series and always have.  Just look at the cast and there you see the great ensemble of powerhouse actors and actresses.  Also, how can you hate a movie with a lot of hunky men in it? (Laughs)

You know another great boxing movie was “The Great White Hope” that starred James Earl Jones.  I really enjoyed his acting as Jack Jefferson (based on the first ever Black Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson) and the story as well.

BB: Since you came from an industry that has been referred to as being brilliantly marketed throughout the years, do you think boxing needs better marketing? If so, how do you think it should be done?

I don’t know that is needs better marketing, but better management for the boxers is a must.  They need this because they are constantly getting ripped off.

BB: If you had the power to change one thing in boxing today, what would that be?

I wish they never would have let Mike Tyson back into boxing ring after he bit a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear off. It was terrible for the sport and for the millions watching to see that.

BB:  Do you favor a mandatory retirement fund for all boxers and if so, how would you like to see it accomplished?

Yes, I do think they should have one.  As you know, I love Baseball and they have one.  To be honest though, I am not really qualified to say how it could be set up, but I do whole heartily wish they had one.

BB:  Finally, what is the saying you live your life by?

“Just be nice.”

Anything you like to add about to the the interview?

I really enjoyed having the opportunity to talk about boxing because I do love the sport and all sports for the most part.

To find out more about Seka you can visit her website  Seka.com

There also is an email address there to reach her and she wanted all the RSR readers to know, that she personally answers all of her emails.

NL- With the list of stars that Vicky now has in her army, I think it’s time for a movie. All these amazing women in one place doing a g/g/g/g/g/g/g/g orgy would be worth paying for! Congradulations Vicky, I think you should change your name to the Vicky Vette EMPIRE!

FRANCESCA LE’ LAUNCHES NEW OFFICIAL SITE WITH THE VICKY VETTE NATION NETWORK

Hall of Fame adult star Francesca Le’ Francesca Le’ is proud to announce that she is launching an all new Official Site and that she has joined forces with Vicky Vette in the Vette Nation Network of websites.  The all new Official site http://www.francescalive.com not only features Francesca Le’s videos and pictures, but provides fans and members weekly interaction with not only Francesca Le’ but also all of the girls in Vette’s pornstar network (the ‘Vette Nation Army’ Network) which includes adult stars like Sara Jay, Sunny Lane, Deauxma, Bobbi Eden and others).  Francesca Le’ will be promoting her new site with Vicky Vette with a personal appearance at the upcoming Adultcon in Los Angeles September 10-12.

Francesca Le’ is quoted as saying: "I am thrilled to announce an all new Official Site.  I can’t wait for my fans around the world to try it out.  It is not a revamp of a previous site. We started from the ground up to build a completely interactive website.  Vicky Vette has been doing some really kick ass new things on the internet so teaming up with her was a no brainer.  I have been let down by so called trusted webmasters before so I decided to try something different – a pornstar network run by a pornstar who knows what fans really want… balls to the wall movies to download AND interactivity.  I am putting myself into the new site 100% with weekly camshows, new content, and features that you can only get there….. and yes, I am happy to say I am wearing camo in the Vette Nation Army. Just call me Field Marshall Francesca when you see me.. he he!"

Vicky Vette is quoted as saying: "We have been working long nights behind the scenes to launch not only Francesca Le’s new site but also to upgrade every aspect of the interactive pornstar experience for fans.  We encourage the fans to interact as much as possible with their favorite girls and to get to know them.  Francesca Le’ is a Hall of Famer who is immensely popular so I was flattered to say the least when she trusted me with running her Official Site.  The addition of Francesca Le’ dramatically improves our roster with another proven star with an established track record.  My goal is to have the best live interactive pornstar network on the planet and girls like Francesca Le’, Sara Jay, Deauxma & Sunny Lane make that possible.  Everyone likes girls in camo right?" 

Francesca Le’ & Vicky Vette plan to promote the new site with a joint appearance at the upcoming fan event, Adultcon, at the Los Angeles Convention Center Sept 10-12.

CLICK HERE INSTEAD http://www.hustlerworld.com/hustler-video/sing-cast-aint-glee-xxx/

Check it out, the words are funny as hell, and those cast members really can sing!

I’m not tech savvy enough to embed the link in the box, come on!