The Colonel on What is Porn Really Worth?

Devolution Now
 

Op/Ed By The Colonel

 

Remember the big Blu-ray/HD-DVD showdown; and how Blu-ray ultimately crushed and defeated it’s rival? Of course you do, but if you don’t care, then you’re among the majority who despite the vast advertisement, the rolling hype machine and Blu-ray’s undeniable capabilities and qualities, instead of spending hundreds of dollars into building a Blu-ray library, prefer to keep your Netflix subscription and pay as little as $8.99 per month which allows you to rent one DVD at a time(exchange each DVD as often as you want all month long), plus provides you with unlimited streaming of your favorite movies and TV series  to your PC, Mac or to your big screen TV if you own an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, newer TiVo, or a similar device. And for whatever you can’t possibly find on Netflix’s ever growing archives, you have YouTube, Hulu and many more places where your favorite video clip from your favorite 80’s underground punk rock band or an episode of your favorite obscure TV series from the 60’s is a mouse click away. Sure, the quality is often crappy and images are choppy and pixellated, but honestly do you care? Does anybody care? Truth be told, the feverish pursuit of top quality is no longer the only concern.  In this day and age and economy, convenience matters more, a hell of a lot more. So let me ask you this: When the mighty Blu-ray, despite it’s absolutely breath taking quality and all the goods it delivers including interactive menus, hours of special features, BD-Live, etc. is hurting and losing the game to convenient online streaming, what chance does porn have?  For better or worse, the answer is next to none.

See, that’s the nature of the beast that is porn, it’s a disposable, junk product. Period. Think of MacDonald burgers: You can wrap them in gorgeous sheets and print the faces of the latest comic book hero/teen singer sensation on their boxes. But nothing changes the fact that they’re cheap, disposable, junk food; poor man’s excuse for a meal. The same fact applies to porn: It has no aesthetic, long lasting values. The majority of porn consumers are like MacDonald customers: To them, porn is the quick fix, the last resort, if you may. They watch porn to jerk off and get off and get on with their daily endeavours, they don’t watch porn to be artistically or spiritually inspired; and they could give two fucks about the story line, acting, glamorous settings, etc. Every porn movie has a very short life expectancy and an even shorter expiration date, in a few months it’ll lose every and all effect and relevance. That’s the grim picture of the porn industry in the 21st century: Garbage in, garbage out and nobody gives a shit. However and as bad as it is, but not all hope is lost. There are still actual, potential solutions that can prolong porn’s survival and turn it into a profitable business yet again; because let’s face it, today porn is far from a profitable business, and none of the short-term gimmicks had no real, significant effects so far. In previous articles, I discussed some of the actual, potential solutions including switching the primary method of content delivery from DVD distribution to cable broadcasting, streaming live shows, touring, utilizing 3D technology in the right stance and the right subject matter, etc. In this article, I tend to debunk some myths disguised as solutions and the hype surrounding them. One of these myths is porn parodies, greatly considered the porn’s latest savior and surrounded in hype, false advertisement and misinformation. In order to get to my point, I need to explain some facts:

When we look at the history of porn, it becomes evident that story driven porn flicks and parodies were the product of the rain coaters era, the 70’s and the 80’s, when people had to go to filthy, hole in the wall XXX theatres to watch porn. The main reason behind the story driven porn flicks was to keep the audiences in the theatre after they’re finished jerking off to the first scene of the movie. When XXX theatres became obsolete and replaced by home videos, the audiences were given the option to skip the mindless non-sex scenes consisting of nauseating story writing, pathetic attempts at acting and overly ridiculous cheesy dialogues and get to the fucking; and that’s why and how the gonzo sub-genre was created in the early 90’s. The purpose of gonzo was to eliminate the unnecessary gap between the sex scenes and cutting to the chase. The creation of the gonzo was the eventual, inevitable evolution of porn which marked the point of no return.  Gonzo changed things, it introduced both pornographers and the audiences to a realistic, intimate and personal experience that was entirely new and exciting. I for one can never go back to the time before gonzo, and I know the majority of the audiences cannot, either. It’s like turning back the clock to a time that was neither convenient nor very pleasant.

Now to my main point: Contrary to hype, porn parodies do not break any significant sales grounds. In fact, here is some general sales data that you may find useful:  Today, porn companies ship around 800 to 1000 DVD units of a new title for an average wholesale price of $4 to $5. In other words, when you hear about the latest best seller porn title, keep in mind that by today’s porn industry standards, best seller means that title has sold an average of 1000 DVD units.

As for the additional revenue sources, most of VOD web sites charge their consumers 8 cents per minute of which they pay an average %20 to %25 sales commission to porn companies. Clip stores are where porn companies present their individual scenes in several different formats (WMV, AVI, MPEG, etc.) They have the option to set the price on their scenes, and receive an average %40 to %60 sales commission. Video member sites like VideoBox usually purchase licensing rights for the average price of $300 per title; and last but not least, cable channels and hotel chains do not pay any considerable money to license new titles, either. If you notice, you’ll see most of softcore titles playing on Playboy Channel, Cinemax, Starz, etc. are several years old and barely feature recognizable performers.

All in all, currently the minimum cost of producing a new porn title from A to Z (shooting, editing, DVD replication, packaging and distribution) is $6000 to $7000, while the maximum profit can be made on that title is around $10000 on a best seller; and once the title is released, it can take up to 6 months to collect the profit it generates. At the end of the day, the best a porn parody can do is to sell an average of 200 DVD units more than a gonzo title and make an extra $1000 to $2000; and if you think that extra pocket change will make a significant difference in the long run, then you need to do a serious reality check and redo your home work.

The next myth that I tend to debunk is the fight against the online piracy and tube and file sharing web sites. Let me say one thing in advance: There’s nothing we can do about that; not now, not ever. Online piracy has been the subject of many heated arguments for the past few years, here are some of the solutions offered that while logical and respectable, but are impossible, and I’ll explain why. Most tube and file sharing web sites are in the clear and obvious violation of US Code Title 18, Section 2257, because they do not have the required performer data in their possession, data which is federally mandated under Section 2257. In other words, despite hosting pornographic videos, they don’t have the authority to host and display them. Therefore some producers and legal consultants suggest porn companies report these web sites to the feds and create a legal nightmare for the operators of the illegal tube and file sharing web sites. Viable solution, right? In fact, no. The United States government is not very fond of the porn industry, for all they care, they prefer to see pornographers destroy and tear each other apart and go down in flames. The day they come to aid and support the porn industry will be a cold day in hell; and even if they ever did, many of these web sites operate not within the American soil, but from the far corners of the globe, in places like Scandinavia, Cyprus and Thailand; far beyond the jurisdictions of The United States government.

Others suggest that porn companies boycott those who advertise on tube and file sharing web sites including phone sex companies, dating web sites, toys & novelties stores, etc. Another viable, yet impossible solution. There are too many people, too many voices and too many conflicted interests involved in porn industry. It’s impossible to agree on any particular issue. For every porn company that decides to boycott this or that advertiser, 10 other companies will do business with that advertiser as long as they make whatever small profit from it.

The cold, hard fact that we need to accept is that tube and file sharing web sites are here to stay, and as much as we want them to disappear, they won’t go anywhere. We can choose to continue our business and work on actual, potential solutions, or we can amuse ourselves with short-term gimmicks and myths and self deceit, or we can just give up and quit altogether. In the end, it doesn’t matter what each and every one of us chooses to do as an individual, devolution has started, and the world will go on with or without us.

74 thoughts on “The Colonel on What is Porn Really Worth?

  1. When someone comes out and reveals the real, inside numbers of an industry then it really is close to the end. Fuck.

  2. johnny1290 says:

    God that’s depressing.

    I thought getting those dollars for every outlet available -cable, foreign? , softcore, web, etc etc was supposed to make porn viable?

    Come think of it, last time I rented a porn movie in a hotel it was some godawful 90s porn that must have cost $2 to get the rights to.

    If there’s no money in DVD releases, then do you have to pull a bangbros and shoot for internet then package your scenes on DVD to earn a few extra dollars?

    I haven’t bought/rented porn in years but I might buy a teensforcash or bangbros dvd if it were $5 someplace.

    Hmmm that doesn’t leave much profit for anybody.

    You know what? Only thing I can think of is girls, and everybody else, will have to get paid less.

    Cut the talent price in half, slash overhead and crew costs, maybe by shooting in florida and still put out an acceptable product?

    Once vivid and other companies go under, ‘stars’ will have to work cheap and often to get their name out there, and even finance their own vanity porn DVD features to support their merchendising/website/dance tour/escorting/model agency empire.

    In the meantime, Florida looks pretty good until people start getting arrested.

  3. johnny1290 says:

    You know, back in the day, those porn mags that were just stills from a movie -had a cover price of $30 or something, I remember buying some from adam and eve LOL-anyway those must have been a helluva tough way to make a buck too, putting out the money to print those up and sell and ship them, but people did it.

    Slow money, but money none the less.

    How does vivid keep the doors open, or are they tapping the lines of credit/cash reserves?

  4. johnny1290 says:

    Also, as you mentioned, Coloniel, that 7 or 8 large is the *minimum* cost, IIRC Vivid budgets *were* in the 10k range, but now what, 8 or 9? I would have to think that a porn-parody must cost around that 10k mark.

    So the company throws 10 large to a director and says come back with a picture. Hopefully he doesn’t invest the money in crack and smoke it up, but if he does deliver, months later and late, naturally, the best you can hope for is to break even or make a grand on DVD sales, then scrounge for money from every other avenue you can imagine?

    Even at 8 or 9 grand that’s a lot of risk and time. I guess if you make $1500 or 2k you’re getting ~20% on your money within a year?-ish, and you put enough of it out there, and have enough in the pipeline…nah gotta make what, 50% to pay employees and keep the lights on?

    Where is the real money coming from? website memberships?

  5. Houstondon says:

    “Now to my main point: Contrary to hype, porn parodies do not break any significant sales grounds. In fact, here is some general sales data that you may find useful: Today, porn companies ship around 800 to 1000 DVD units of a new title for an average wholesale price of $4 to $5. In other words, when you hear about the latest best seller porn title, keep in mind that by today’s porn industry standards, best seller means that title has sold an average of 1000 DVD units.”

    Selective statistics have been used since the dawn of time to “prove” points that were untrue so why not allow the Colonel to go unquestioned too? Well, I agree that the general state of the industry is economically poor but not as bad as he suggests. I’d ask him what is the “average wholesale price” of a title by Evil Angel, Jules Jordan, Wicked Pictures, or Vivid as well as the “average” number of units moved by each.

    In reference to his comments on sitcums, I’d ask what they average wholesaling for and how many they move in the first 90 days, then how many after that for the better releases. Even if he works at IVD, he won’t have the complete numbers or the complete revenue streams involved. Granted, not all sitcums are created equally (the X-Play titles are the best, regardless of where they are distributed) but every time the industry markets one properly, they sell a LOT more than 200 extra units as suggested. Is this just an example of them shoveling against an inevitable tide? I don’t think so, at least not yet.

    Any system based on numbers relies on getting solid information, something no one will provide in porn. If sales are way off at Digital Sin, that doesn’t mean Digital Playground is DOA too, and every once in awhile, a friend there tosses me a bone regarding numbers (some better than others). Catering to micro-niches may help some individuals too but ultimately, the “value of porn” is directly impacted by the quality of the productions and talent used in those productions, something to be considered when booking generic mope A with generic female B in most of your scenes.

  6. Colonel, I think this is the most insightful article you have ever written about the Industry. Really concise and pragmatic. But where’s the hope?

    Companies like Adam and Eve and Vivid aren’t buttering up the Capitol for nothing. They are trying to cultivate a positive, professional image to raise their standing in the public sphere. Respectability and professionalism helps to draw Uncle Sam’s demagogic wrath elsewhere when his periodic porn pogroms arise.

    As for the tube sites? Their day is coming. Trust me. Interpol & UNICEF are watching and child abuse is persistent problem on those sites (I know firsthand). It might seem laughable but the UN doesn’t fuck around when it comes to child porn or human trafficking and they have alot of influence on local governments when it comes to that department–or even when it comes internet crimes in general. Hell, the UN and the WTO even were able to put pressure on China to start taking measures to curb internet piracy–succeeding in restricting content on the Chinese tube sites Todou and Youku. Also take note of the growing numbers of international child porn sting operations headed by Interpol.

    Also, in your analysis of porn’s transitional history, you forgot one major driving force that may be responsible for the Parodies’ extra pull: female consumers. We are living in the golden age of raunch feminism–the product of post-modernism and technological advances that help women master and elevate their libido. More women are watching porn now than ever before (granted, they are still in the minority) and producers need to be mindful of their INCREASING viewership. One thing about women is that they are able to maximize the erotic value of adult content and their viewing approach is more holistic, given the nature of female sexual response. They are also highly discriminatory but loyal consumers (provided the formula that originally attracted them to the producer’s content remains the same).

    Just my 2 cents…

  7. RickMadrid says:

    Colonel: That was pretty good!!! I think the east coast is going to do pretty good this year along with Florida. I have 8 shoots scheduled for New York, 5 in New Jersey, and 4 in Miami. Damm anybody got any cheap Caverjack fo sale!! LOL. Keep up the good work and see ya all soon when I get back. And watch out for the LAPD and Glendale PD DUI traffic net there going up out there all over the place. OUT!!!

  8. Very interesting Colonel. Isn’t it also true that movie production firms, share titles with one another for sale in retail stores and VOD sites. Seems like more dollars go thru the pipe this way. Reading these numbers, I realize it must be hard to maintain studios and overhead. Just like everything else, it’s very difficult nowdays.

  9. You had me until your bullshit numbers for average production and post-production costs. Six to seven thousand? Out the door? Porn-nigga please. Maybe for titles at the lowest end with girls so unappealing most guys would rather j/o to farm animals.

    Let’s see, average 5-scene b/g movie: Cost for female performer 800-1000 ea. Meatpuppet = 4 to 6 hundred ea. Agency fees, 100 per. That’s somewhere between $7k to $9k right there. Then, someone’s gotta shoot it, i.e., a crew of some sort. So let’s add another $1k to $4k right there, depending on if one guy shoots stills and video and does it all or you have a small crew of a shooter, stills guy, grip, lighting, makeup. Now we’re at $8k to $13k. Oh yeah, add location, some food & water, misc. That’s another $1k to $3k depending on lots of variables. Now we’re at $9k at the low end to $17k at the high end. And yeah, I’m talking gonzo, all-sex, whatever.

    Then there’s post: Editing, authoring, art, printing, replication. You see where this is going? I won’t even include advertising or marketing. (Those things cost money too, btw.) So, probly another $3k to $5k, w/out advertising, depending on various things. So now we’re at $11k to $22k out the door. That’s a far cry from your six or seven thousand out the door.

    While I agree with your assessment of parodies, those parodies cost more towards the high-end to produce. And while I think parodies are simply fad-ish–altho I made some big-selling ones about a decade or so ago, The Sopornos, so there’s nothing new about them–I’m having a hard time believing companies like Hustler and New Sensations and Mullen’s company keep cranking them out just to take a huge, gigantic loss on each one.

    Yeah, the biz sucks right now. XXX no longer = $$$, leatwise, in an automatic kinda way. But I still haven’t seen prod companies folding shop in the kind of numbers that have been predicted in the last few years. They’ve cut back, yes, but outa bizness? Many are still here. And company owners are not the kinda guys, as a rule, that put money into consistently loser investments. I’m just saying.

  10. come on jimmy, you can shoot it for 6k if you get some crack hos and shoot it all pov in your house/hotel room.

  11. @ih8u, You’re right. But then, I won’t even sell those 800 to 1000 pieces with it. Maybe first time out I will, but after that, my “old guy gets lucky with a crack whore in a hotel room” series is buckwheat.

  12. The Colonel says:

    Johnny1290 says:

    ‘So the company throws 10 large to a director and says come back with a picture.’

    That’s right, unless the producer handles director duties himself. It all comes down to your reputation and connections in porn industry: If you’re an established fellow, you can get people (performers, videographers, location owners, etc.) to work with you for a fair rate and within your budget. They’ll do it, because they know you’ll hire them again; and these days everybody needs to work as much and as often as they can.

    Like you mentioned, there was a time when you had many additional revenue sources, from shipping both VHS & DVDs of a title to selling stills to magazines, launching membership web sites, etc. Those days are long gone. Today, the only companies that can stay in the business are those who have enough funds to keep releasing titles on a steady pace. If somebody wants to hire people based on so called industry standard rates, release a few titles and waits to collect the money on those titles in order to finance his next ones, he’ll be out of business in less than a year. That business model no longer works; along with many other short-term gimmicks that I explained in this article.

  13. The Colonel says:

    Pornster, Rick & Origen, thank you for your comments.

    And Origen, while I agree with you on the fact that some tube and file sharing web sites host materials such as child pornography, but I have to mention those are in the minority. So even if Interpol and other international organizations crack down on those few, the rest will still continue their business freely. As for your point about the female consumers, they’re mainly the reason porn parodies sell relatively good these days. But as I explained, the difference between the sales of a parody title and a gonzo title is not significant, and will not make an effective difference in the long run.

    And Lee, you are correct, content trading has been going on in the porn industry for a long time.

    And Jimmy, I don’t know you and from reading your commentary, I don’t think you’re in the porn industry. You have a perception of how things work and how much they cost these days. Your perception is wrong. Read my response to Johnny, hopefully you’ll find it helpful.

  14. The President says:

    I think jimmyd is James DiGiorgio. What are you up to these days, JD?

  15. I heard that ! Hey JimmyD ! Looking Good on your new Harley. Right On Dude ~

  16. The Colonel says:

    If JimmyD is in fact James DiGiorgio, he’s been in the porn industry for well over a decade; and if he’s still working, he should know how things operate these days. In his commentary, JimmyD sounded like somebody with somewhat limited view. Nevertheless, James DiGiorgio is a good guy and I respect him.

  17. jimmyd’s # are spot on. i’ve done plenty of budgets and if you want QUALITY talent (5 girls lets say from LAD ) that’s at least $4500 ($800 a girl and the LAD fee)

    Please let us see your examples of a decent product produced in the past year made for less than 10k.

    The burden of proof is on you with a budget that low.

  18. …Some say JimmyD is not only In the Porn Industry..he Is the Industry. JimmyD and I invented the Internet back in the 90’s. Truly a Legend and World Famous.

  19. johnny1290 says:

    Thank you, Colonel, very interesting reading! I think the only part of this post directed to you is the first paragraph. You know the real scoop, I’m just relating secondhand info I heard on the street.

    Although that post-production puppy mill that shane’s world runs out of that house in chatsworth starts to make more sense after reading your article. Gotta keep the volume up to keep the money coming in.

    One thing you didn’t mention maybe because you thought it was obvious or not important is the producer-director takes his fee out of that 9 or 10k check he gets from the distributor. Or at least that’s what I’ve seen.

    The more time, effort, and money he puts into the production, the less he makes. Kinda messed up.
    Really it just seems like an expensive and stressful hobby to direct, unless you put out a shit product, and then who’s going to hire you again?

    I’m no expert, but I know a guy that knows a guy.

    It sounds like JimmyD is coming from the point of view of a producer for a studio, rather than a get it done director that has to do come up with a product for a set amount.

    I can’t remember what it pays for editing, 800 to 1200 maybe? and you have your own system, decks, drives, SFX library, etc. and you have to deliver a DVD master ready for duplication, those different versions for cable, the encoded version for the internetz, etc. Not to mention the stress of having it done in time, doing a pass or two with the director, drives crashing or encoding messes up. Looks like hell to me.

    Don’t forget music either, better get some bands off myspace that’ll let you use their stuff free.

    Duplication costs for the big guys is something like 2.50 or 3.50 a unit?-can’t remember, something just shy of the wholesale price- for a DVD packaged and shrink wrapped, which you can wholesale for 4 or 5 bucks like the colonel said.

    Not much money there.

    JimmyD-I don’t mean to speak for the coloniel, but what I think he’s saying is that 7 grand is the size of the check the studio writes to the director/producer. He can spend the money anyway he wants, but his obligation is to deliver the edited master, etc as I mentioned above.

    Duplication and advertising etc comes out of a different budget, along with having the lawyers review it and handling the paperwork. That’s studio stuff, not included in the check the director gets to produce the movie.

    And yes , that 10k budget I was talking about, that’s for a feature, not a gonzo. You’re not paying rate card for performers. You do people favors, they do favors for you back. Nah, no big names really either.

    Oh, and your small crew of stills, grip, makeup, shooter, etc. I assume you’re referring to the director shooting stills with his digital camera, the beat up light set he has in the trunk of his car, and his HD camera that he begs, borrows or steals for the day of the shoot, which he operates. Location? try the back yard or someone’s apartment.

    That’s how you do a 7-10k movie. If I told you some of the movies I know were done for that amount, you wouldn’t believe me, they look so good. But they’re a labor of love, certainly not profit, at least not for the director.

    Why do I give a crap about this topic? Ehhh I just want to sound like I know what I’m talking about, and blow my own horn. Besides that, I just think it’s a shame and I hate to see a buddy put so much time and energy into a job with such a small ROI.

    I’m far from rich, I work in mainstream and I’m a union guy. I probably work 1/4 as hard and make more than porn crew members. I dig the adult industry, it’s just sad to see it nosedive like it has.

    I can’t afford to work adult, like I said, it looks like an expensive hobby to me.

    Jimmy D or anybody else if you’d like to give some examples of where the profit comes from, or what movies were produced for how much, I’m all ears.

    I don’t have firsthand knowledge, so I can’t name names, but I know I’m basically correct.

    At a studio you couldn’t expect to have a DVD out the door for 7 grand, but as a director yes, you can deliver one. I don’t think there’s as big a gulf between opinions as it seems.

  20. The Colonel says:

    ih8u says:

    ‘The burden of proof is on you with a budget that low.’

    This is what I said in the article:

    ‘Currently the minimum cost of producing a new porn title from A to Z (shooting, editing, DVD replication, packaging and distribution) is $6000 to $7000.’

    I said the minimum cost, not the average cost or common cost. There are people who get things done with budget that low. I’m sure James DiGiorgio knows some of those people and has worked for them several times, for instance Anarchy Films and Guy Ovadia. I’m not going to explain how those people put out a new title with budget that low, and I’m not going to comment on the quality of their work, either. That’s their business; but I’ll explain how I handle my own business:

    I book 4 girls and usually 4 guys, unless I perform myself which in that case there will be 3 guys, hire one camera man to do all the videography, stills, etc. and one PA to set up the lights, serve the snacks, clean up the set, etc. I shoot all day long, and here is my cost breakdown:

    $1000 each girl for 3 scenes: Hardcore, blow job and solo/masturbation. Each scene goes into a seperate title. $4000 for girls; and I have enough connections to usually book girls and guys directly and without going through the agencies, unless there’s a particular new girl that I don’t have her contact information and cannot get it from anywhere else.

    $400 each guy, and they perform in 2 scenes, one hardcore and one blow job. $1200 to $1600 for guys.

    $1000 for camera man to work all day long.

    $200 for PA to work all day long.

    $500 to rent the location to shoot all day long.

    After that, I’ll pay $1500 for editing 3 movies: One hardcore, one blow job and one solo/masturbation, each for a seperate line.

    $500 for DVD authoring, per each title.

    $300 for box cover design, per each title.

    $300 for box cover printing, per each title.

    $750 for DVD replication and packaging, per each title.

    I don’t invest in advertising anymore, because it’s a waste of money.

    As you see, with an average budget of $9500 to $10000, I get 3 new titles, enough material for 3 months release which gives me enough time to collect the money and start over. Like I said before, everybody does it his way. To each his own.

  21. The Colonel says:

    Johnny1290 says:

    ‘One thing you didn’t mention maybe because you thought it was obvious or not important is the producer/director takes his fee out of that 9 or 10k check he gets from the distributor. Or at least that’s what I’ve seen.’

    In fact, here is how it works: If a director is hired, either he’ll receive a check in advance to deliver the final product and will get a percentage of sales, or he’ll be paid per each scene, one at a time. Most companies pay an average of $500 per scene to the director, and they expect him to do more than just directing (i.e videography, providing the location, etc.) In case of the producer and distributer, they usually split the sales %70 (the producer) to %30 (distributer).

    And you’re right, it’s indeed an expensive and stressful hobby; but then again, the old saying goes: There’s no business like the show business.

  22. I’m not Lazarus. I didn’t just rise from the dead. I’ve been working consistently in this biz since the early nineties and still do. Yes, I’m still working. I directed and shot about 7 or 8 movies for Hustler in 2009. Those budgets were all considerably more than the Colonel is talking about. And that was just for production, not post or the rest of the costs to put a movie out the door. I will be shooting more for Hustler in the coming year.

    I’ve shot other movies for others. In the past few years, I’ve worked as either a director/shooter, a shooter, a still shooter or all of the above. I worked plenty for Vivid, either shooting stills or stills and 2nd vid camera, mostly on PT’s set before he “retired.” I’ve worked regularly for TeraVision and still do, weekly in fact. I’ve directed or shot hundreds of movies. Edited even more. Shot stills on hundreds of sets. I’ve probly shot video for over three thousand scenes. I think I know a little about how this biz works, leastwise the production part, even in its current “dead man walking” condition, if that’s the condition it’s in.

    I haven’t shot for Anarchy in two or three years. When i did shoot for them, they were interactives with one female and one male performer. Yeah, those movies were shot for little. I directed/shot almost all Anarchy’s “Playing With… ” titles. Last I heard, they don’t shoot much of anything but, rather, they buy scenes from others and put them together. By doing that, they can put a title out for the money the Colonel is talking about.

    I understand how to cut content up into more than one title. I’ve been doing that for years and years. Nothing new about that. That’s been going on forever. Back in the early nineties I ran post for Sin City. We were doing that then. Sheesh. None of the people today invented any of this stuff. I didn’t invent it either.

    What is this? Zack and Miri make a porno? Anyone who shoots porn as a labor of love is an idiot. It’s a fucking business. A paycheck. That doesn’t mean you have to shoot it like shit. You do your best. I do my best. Maybe that’s why I’m still working? Other than that, it just means it is what it is and, for the most part, nothing much has changed except for more than a few of the people… obviously, I’m not one of them.

    If you’re getting talent from LAD, Goldstar, or most of the other agents, the girls are gonna cost what I said they cost, plus agency fees.

  23. sounds like the colonel went to the skeeter kerkove school of production. I would still love to see a title you produced, but I know in doing so you will tip your hand… I went to the jimmyd school. I pay people to do work and don’t try to cram it all in one single day. I also like to make 5 scene movies. most scenes I like to shoot in a day is 4. 2-3 makes me happy. 1 seems like a waste of prep time. I’m also guessing you have the girls do their own makeup and hair. I’ll book outside agencies but if it’s a girl from derek or mark, no way in hell. don’t need to burn those bridges if they find out.

    and if you do this for a hobby…. well.. i don’t know what to say to that. only person I know who shoots porn as a hobby is khan tusion.my hobby is traveling and cooking. I don’t like to deal with stress of porn if I don’t have to. for me it’s a job, not a lifestyle.

    I also don’t see how a 4 scene b/g bj or solo mast movie sells very well. but if you say it, it must be true, we have only your word to go on.

  24. First of all, congrats, another great and interesting post in Cindi’s site.
    You said something really remarkable:

    The cold, hard fact that we need to accept is that tube and file sharing web sites are here to stay, and as much as we want them to disappear, they won’t go anywhere. We can choose to continue our business and work on actual, potential solutions, or we can amuse ourselves with short-term gimmicks and myths and self deceit, or we can just give up and quit altogether. In the end, it doesn’t matter what each and every one of us chooses to do as an individual, devolution has started, and the world will go on with or without us.

    Of course the tubes are here to stay, I don’t like them at all is matter of fact that even the quality is often crappy and images are choppy and pixellated but why the porn fans are going to pay for something they can get for free. I don’t use to watch porn tubes because I love the good quality in images, but I am sure those creepy videos is that all the fans need to jerk off and feel ok with their cocks.

    Another different thing is the P2P programs like torrents or emule, just a week ago in Spain our Presidente Zapatero had to correct her prime minister about the law that the government wanted to launch about the sharing files with the P2P programs. The Government tried to do the same that the French did some months ago disconnecting the internet user that had the impudence of downloading files or sharing files with utorrent or emule programs. Quickly all the internet users mobilize support to fight agains the law of disconnecting people from internet for sharing files.
    Results of that demonstration of internet users on the streets? The president Zapatero had to change the law that the government wanted to promulgate in a few months.

    So, I am agree with you Colonel, times are changing in porn businnes probably now is time to look for new solutions for selling better the product. Porn Comedies?…I think that this is not the main solution for fixing the problem, they are funny…but I am a gonzo lover 😉

    Happy New Year 🙂

  25. The Colonel says:

    Look ih8u or whatever you call yourself, I don’t know who you are and what you do, and I could give two fucks. I explained to you how I conduct my business just to prove the point that there’s no rules book to follow in the porn industry, and everybody does it his way. I was around before Skeeter Kerkove came to this business; he’s long gone and I’m still here, so probably I’m doing something right, and I’m doing it better than him.

    I book whoever I want directly as long as they’re willing to deal with me directly, and I could care less about burning the bridges with any agent AKA pimp in the porn industry. They want my money, they better find and represent some brand new girls. When I know somebody and take her to dinner and movies on the weekend, I don’t see any reason why should I put up with her agent and pay money to book her for scenes. Furthermore, when a girl comes to work and earn $1000 per day in this day and age and economy, it’s not too much to ask her to bring her own wardrobe and spend 30 minutes to put on her make-up; and I assure you none of them have any problems with that.

    Since I’m dealing with a moron who needs everything to be explained to him in details, let me explain this to you as well: Hardcore titles used to consist of 5 to 6 scnes and special features (bonus scenes, BTS footage, photo gallery, etc.) That was when we were selling DVD units at the average wholesale price of $8 to $10. Since the sales have dropped more than %50 and the average wholesale prices are down to $4 to $5 per each DVD unit, many companies have resorted to including less scenes in their titles. I still include special features in my titles, but my current hardcore titles consist of 4 scenes. As for the blow job titles, mine consist of 6 scenes; I shoot 4 scenes the day I shoot the hardcore content, and get 2 additional scenes that I need through trading content with my fellow producers. And finally as for my solo/masturbation titles, they consist of 8 scenes of which I shoot 4 scenes the day I shoot the hardcore content, and again get the additional scenes through content trading. In between releasing my ongoing lines, I also produce girl/girl and S & M titles.

    This business is not my hubby, it’s my life and livelihood and has been my life and livelihood for nearly 3 decades. I survived in this business, because I never followed any specific rules book, and adopted and reinvented my work over and over again. Even in this dire economy, I make an estimated $50000 to $60000 per year; and I assure you I have enough connections and resources to continue my work for many more years. It’s fools like you who can’t think outside their box, and will be on the street in 12 to 18 months. Better luck in your next life.

  26. Congrats do you. I’ve only being making money off porn for 11 years, but I dropped out of college at 21 to do it so maybe when I’m as old as you I can piss on whoever questions me.

    And I never trust a whore to do their own makeup. Nor do I want to hang out with them after the camera stops rolling, take them out to dinner (sushi anyone?) or spend another cent on them more than I have to.

    Everyone does it their own way. I could care less if you know me, shit, I don’t know you, “The Colonel” or whatever you call yourself.

    I survived in this business because I’m smart. I get clients who want to spend good money on production and reinvested it in gear, not on fancy cars or over priced houses. Not saying you do, but I don’t..

    So feel free to piss on me some more. I could care less, cuz at the end of the day we are both hiding behind screen names.

  27. The Colonel says:

    ih8u says:

    ‘So feel free to piss on me some more.’

    I’d rather decline that offer, I had no intention to get into a pissing contest with you in the first place. For all I know, you’re a guy like me and many others in the porn industry, doing the best you can to survive and get on with your life and livelihood. Perhaps the biggest difference between you and I is that I’d love to spend money on sushi dinners and you don’t. Other than that, you seem to be a nice guy. Keep up the hard work, and I wish you succeed in your endeavours.

  28. The Colonel says:

    Thank you Pepe, always great to hear from you. Keep up the good work; and happy new year to you, too.

  29. Thanks, I actually love dining out, that’s my one vice and sushi is a fave; I just don’t invite porn chicks to dine with me.

  30. Well, the Colonel’s right about there not being any hard and fast rules, leastwise none with much in the way of consequences attached to them… should you break some so-called rules or one of those ‘we always did it this way’ rule-things. (2257 excepted, of course.)

    Maybe that’s a good thing?

    OTOH,maybe that’s part of the thing that fucked us? Maybe a big part? Lack of rules, I mean.

    There was a time there were rules. And, Colonel? If you’ve been making smut for 30 years — and I have no reason to doubt you. Heck, we probably know each other — but if you have, you certainly had to play by some of rules back in the day. And back in the day wasn’t all that long ago.

    People used to bitch and moan about the companies that had the locks on distribution. Anyone who has been around for more than 5 or 10 years could list those companies so I’m not gonna. But many of you know who they are or were. But guess what? When that was the way this stuff worked, I sure as shit made more money. Lots more. Stupid money, in fact. And I didn’t own any content! That was just from working in the porn mines as a director, producer, editor, shooter, whatever.

    So here we are with one of the most in-demand products on the freakin’ planet but, whores that we are, we’ve made so much product, i.e., we’ve created an incredible supply, one that goes way beyond the already huge demand — and a lot of that supply is now free. Free!!!!! — Well, it’s a fucking wonder anyone is making any money at all off this smut we make.

    I’m just saying.

  31. The Colonel says:

    You and I know each other, James, we worked a number of times, and I’d like to go on the record and say that James DiGiorgio is one of the most professional, reliable and talented people who have worked in the porn industry since the 90’s. He’s easy going, innovative and smart; the kind of person you don’t meet too often in this industry.

    On another note, you’re right, man. There was a time when people respected each other in the porn industry. They were not fucking each other over and cutting one another’s throat like they do today. It’s all changed now. Three things blew porn to hell: Greed, cheap video cameras and the internet. When cheap video cameras became available around the late 90’s, every Joe Schmo who could afford to buy one became a pornographer, every crack head asshole became an agent and started pimping his junkie girl friend/wife to get money for his next fix, and every street thug who had a land line and a garage in Chatsworth became a distributer. They saturated the market with so much garbage, and that slashed the wholesale prices in half and porn as a product became almost worthless. Then came the tube and file sharing web sites which offer full scenes in every imaginable category from straight sex to beastiality and scat, all for free, so who needs to pay for porn anymore? Things are not going to change and improve anytime soon, all a producer can do in the current situation is to keep his costs down, cut content up to as many titles as possible and release his titles on a steady pace, at least one title per month. We’ll see where things are heading in the next 12 to 18 months or so.

    It’s great to have you on this board, James, stop by and chat more often.

  32. Houstondon says:

    Jimmy D’s “Soporno” series was often more entertaining than the HBO series and even better, his audio commentaries with Rob Spallone could be fall down funny. He predicted much of the recent economic dilemma years ago but then he also complained about movies with plots/special effects (which some fans like/it gives them more reason to watch a whole movie instead of a quickie Tube clip).

    Those of you that ride out the current storm will find ways to survive, though if you’re busting your chops for 50-60k a year without benefits, I’d ask “why bother?” If that’s all you make living in S. California, you might want to check out the cost of living in thriving Miami (more bang for your buck, so to speak).

  33. Colonel, two out of three blew my business too.. Greed and the Internet. All our secrets went online and we fucked ourselves by feeding into it. As much as we enjoy the speed, many tell me the internet ruined them….we don’t use cameras, for the most part.

  34. Hey Don! Don’t remember complaining about sex-flicks with plots and such tho I do recall predicting some of the bullshit going on today. Maybe I was bitching about plot-driven movies cuz it seemed flicks without them got more attention and respect than those with them? (Dawn of the “Gonzo Age” and all.) No matter.

    Respect ain’t something one should expect making smut. Just look at the new article here, on LIB, about The Sopornos. If my name wasn’t on the boxes (shown in the article) no one would know I had a thing to do with them, much less that I directed, wrote, co-produced, shot and edited them. Oh yeah, I co-starred in #2 as well, as a porn director, Creme Rinze. (Non-sex role of course. No one wants to see me fuck.)

    Ah well. Such is the way of the jiz biz. It’s all about the girls anyway.

    Or should be.

  35. The Colonel says:

    Houston Don says:

    ‘Jimmy D’s ‘Soporno’ series was often more entertaining than the HBO series, and even better.’

    This statement alone speaks in volumes about the depth of your pathetic, utter stupidity; and confirms the fact that my decision in ignoring you and not bothering to respond to an ass licking fanboy like you is right. As much as I like and respect James DiGiorgio and his work as director, videographer, editor, etc. but the fact remains that his porn parody should be viewed and judged on its own merits, and if it’s going to be compared with anything, it should be with other porn parodies, and not with the original HBO series. Only a complete moronic buffoon will compare a porn parody with the original source material, only to conclude that the parody is better than the original; and by doing so, Houston Don, you showed your true colors and proved what big of a clueless loser you really, truly are.

    As for my business, like I told you several times before, politely and otherwise, my business is none of your business. Unlike Will Ryder and a few others, I don’t need you to kiss and sniff my ass to feel better about myself. You are not in the adult industry, and therefore your opinions don’t matter, like the porn reviews you write with one hand while jerking off with another hand. And last but not least, you don’t worry about me or anybody, I assure you I don’t *bust my chops* without making benefits. I know my business, and the way I manage my business and distribute my content, I make enough benefit to continue my work. I suggest you put your money where your mouth is, get your shit together, move out of your basement where you write your reviews and take a shot at the real world, try to make some movies and see where does that take you. But on second thought, if you had the slightest ability and resources to do that, you wouldn’t be a *porn critic*, would you? That truly is awful, and I can’t think of anything more embarrassing, ridiculous and self degrading a man can do with his life, whether as a job or as a hubby: Describing how people fuck on film. Go fuck yourself instead, you fool.

  36. The Colonel says:

    I hear you, Lee, the internet itself is a great technological advancement, but the way it was used and utilized, it damaged and ruined many businesses; and we haven’t even seen the last of it, we’re just going where it takes us.

  37. My God Don…I think the gentleman was merely passing a compliment on to JimmyD. I don’t believe the intent was to “sniff” someones Ass. We usually call on Shelly for such services.

  38. @BigLee,

    LOL! All forums are the same, regardless of the subject matter. The same-ness is often amusing and entertaining. Beats the hell out of half the stuff on the boob tube. (Note to younger readers: Boob tube = Old school reference to television, another form of entertainment… occasionally.)

  39. ok but aren’t these numbers being quoted by the guy who said he is an insider in the business and has never seen nor heard of male talent making more than $400 or $500 tops per scene??????????

    I would need to see these numbers on the accounts books before I believe them. A few years ago Bob Costas had a special where he claimed that the porn industry generated more revenue than all of television, all of sports and mainstream films combined. He estimated that it was in the $30 Billion range adding internet, cable PPV and DVD sales and rentals as well as other miscellaneous things.

  40. Houstondon says:

    Jimmy, I believe the comments about plotted porn were in regard to the feature Digital Playground made at the time. You earned the props I gave you back then for the comprehensive work you did on the series and I remember fussing at VCA for cutting the budgets and not using your services, the series declining nearly as much as the shitty HBO series did after season two (of course “Colonel” fails to realize that a funny porno can be more entertaining than a generic cable show but his lack of vision is why so many took him to task over his numbers).

    Colonel, as so many others have pointed out in the past, you shouldn’t get so defensive when you respond. Okay, we get it, you’re upset because you barely make a living in porn, raking in a whole $50-60k w/o benefits these days and scrapping by to keep working. A pittance in California by the way and you’re on the decline. Welcome to reality. Given your descriptions of the porn you make, the reasons should be obvious that you were never a solution to the fix the industry is in, merely one of the generic cogs that helped cause the downfall.

    You have no idea of the property I own, the age I effectively retired at, or the ROI keeping me smiling as I busted a gut reading your initial rant. I’ve never claimed to be in the industry or stupid enough to invest my own resources to do so, hence my financial fortunes being different than your own. I bear no grudge at your mean-spirited words since you really are clueless (about me and how to make a product people are willing to buy) but don’t worry, I’ll toss you some spare change when you’re washing windows at the curbside some day soon. It’s the least I can do for such a talented piece of work… 😉

  41. The Colonel says:

    Mariah Milano says:

    ‘I would need to see these numbers on the accounts books before I believe them.’

    You show me your tits and I’ll show you the numbers. But seriously, let me explain: Porn industry was at the top of it’s game around the biginning of the decade, we had multiple sources of revenue including VHS & DVD sales, membership web sites, XXX magazines, etc. We used to make up to $20000 per each new release. The bubble burst sometimes around 2006 when the market became oversaturated and tube and file sharing web sites started to operate; and today the entire market is in a state of decline. Still, if somebody is established and has 100+ titles in his catalogue, he can manage to continue his business, even though the profits are not even near what they used to be. But if somebody wants to get in the business and starts from the scratch, he’s better off taking his chances somewhere else, because he won’t even survive one year.

    In any case, the multi billion dollar porn industry as reported by Bob Costas and others is a myth. With the exception of a very few companies (Hustler, Vivid, Adam & Eve, etc.) nobody made millions in this industry. Furthermore, if you examine those companies business models, you’ll realize that the reason they made such a good furtune is because they had vast investments in many other areas besides movie production (cable broadcasting, toys $ novelties, chain stores, etc). Today, even those companies are in turmoil. One of Vivid’s sales people recently admitted they’re hardly shipping 1000 DVD units of a new release. Maybe somehow things get better, but as of now it’s hard to see just how.

  42. The Colonel says:

    Houston Don says:

    ‘You have no idea of the property I own, the age I effectively retired at, blah, blah, blah.’

    Great, another old fart retiree on the board with nothing to do and so much spare time. If by the property you mean your basement where you’re trying to get your limp dick hard during writing a review, then I believe I do have a pretty good idea of *the property you own*. Even if you had a decent place to live and some warm meal to eat, still it wouldn’t change the fact that you’re a dime a dozen loser and a small potato, nothing changes that fact. You know it, and I know it, so you can stop beating around the bush anytime.

    The only thing that I’ll tell you about my work is that I’m a professional, I know how to invest money and how to make benefit. That’s what matters and that’s why I made progress in the porn industry and lasted this long, and compared to the current status of the porn market, what I as an independent producer make today is significant, once you stick your tongue out of some of your favorite porn parody makers you can ask them about that. I’ve seen better days and made better money, anybody who worked in this industry in the recent years had. This is the rainy day, the perfect storm, but I assure you that I won’t go anywhere. You might go somewhere, you know, given your advanced age, deteriorating conditions and painful solitude that forces you to write reviews on porn movies just so you have something to do with your miserable existence and escape from your loneliness, even though you can’t even get your pencil dick hard enough to jerk off to those movies anymore; and perhaps that’s why you like story driven porn flicks so much: They stimulate your imagination rather than your old, fragile body, and in your pathetic dreams, you turn into Evan Stone banging Kayden Kross in Will Ryder’s Flight Attendants. So you get deeply lost in your fanboy/old man fantasies and praise that scene as Kayden Kross’ best performance ever, while in reality, you know nobody gives a shit about you and what you think and feel. None of the whores you praise so passionately will ever cross the line to piss on you if you’re on fire, but what the hell, you can dream on anyway, little fellow. You’ve got nothing else to do.

  43. freepornstarpix says:

    Houston Don, are you a millionaire or an heir to some sort of fortune? Then you really can’t imagine what it is like to make all your money in an easy field and then watch thieves eat 40 to 50% of your profit by giving away freebies. Its even hard to sell webcam site memberships now, because so much of that content (even gay webcams!) is on the tubes for free! Its even worse being in an industry where people won’t team up to blow up the homes of the pirates or do whatever to get rid of them.

    I can believe porn is a multibillion dollar industry, but 90% goes to companies like AT&T, Marriot (in room porn + internet access fees – people aren’t checking email in hotels, they are watching porn on their laptops!), and other companies that provide the infrastructure for the data to be sent all over the world via land, sea, and satellite. The rest is split among content providers, affiliates and so forth. The people providing the electronic infrastructure are still making their money because people want faster internet, digital, mobile access etc to get what is free.

  44. well showing my tits isn’t exactly an exclusive event! 🙂 But here goes anyway!
    ( . )( . )
    happy now? let’s see those figures!!!

    People aren’t watching porn on their laptops in their hotel rooms…I spend a lot of time traveling and I can’t remember the last hotel that had decent download speeds. Seriously, it’s almost always as bad as dial up!

    Well I do see the decline in the big companies but that’s their own fucking fault because they all fucked up when it came to getting into the internet when it first started. Other than Hustler they were all way behind and I remember hearing at Vivid one time when I was picking up a payroll check them saying that the internet wasn’t going to make it, and that was in 1999. Well now they can cry themselves to sleep because they didn’t have the foresight to get started on something that was pretty obvious to a lot of people early on.

    My living has continued to improve every month this year exept for September which was 3% down from August and I was out of the country for almost 2 weeks and gone from home the other 2 and not working on my sites.
    Brazzer shoots 7 scenes a day right now and is increasing it to 10 a day in 2010 so obviously they aren’t hurting either.
    So it seems that sites geared toward interaction and lots of video is the formula that seems to still be working well. Hardcore is the way to go still and I’ve noticed some of the amateur sites are dropping their monthly prices from $29 to $19.99 which to me screams “I wasn’t making any sales so let me do what K Mart does” and we’ve all seen what type of people shop at K Mart right? And not to mention even with basement prices K Mart is just about gone. It also tells affiliates to drop their links because they have no confidence in what they are trying to sell.

    Porn is what has pushed the technology with the internet. High speed? What else do you need 50mb download speeds??? I mean reallY? It’s to stream or download the new HD fuck videos that are 1 gb monster files!!

  45. Houstondon says:

    Freepornstarpix, I’m comfortable and will remain so no matter what happens to the porn industry. This bothers the trollish colonel who bemoans the fact that unlike him, I chose a better long term means of building wealth, one that can’t be stolen away so easily. The fact remains that he has essentially admitted to making cheap ass, shitty porn; cutting all the corners to make an end product that helped fuel the concept that stealing porn is okay since it sucks donkey balls. That impacts the rest of you but he has proven to be an island that doesn’t give a flip about anyone else so long as he makes a few measly bucks. My original comment was not a slam, only recognition of the fact that what he claimed to be making amounts to chump change (and not worth the trouble).

    “HD, you sure got under the Colonel’s skin fast. I can see why he is unwilling to list any of his work he is so sour on what he produces but that contempt surely shows in his work. Why is he so hateful?”

    My intention was not to piss him off but simply point out how the law of diminishing returns makes his current, self-admitted income far too low for the effort, an income that will certainly go south as all those factors mentioned tear into his livelihood further. The personal attacks on my own living and choice of hobby make him look even more like a child but then he probably believes his missing bike is stored in the basement of the Alamo too (Texas isn’t known for having basements by the way but the colonel’s knowledge of anything is suspect given his proclaimed expertise in porn).

    Colonel, you’d probably be better going back to defending child rapist directors than attacking what you know little of. Porn is all about fantasy so I suppose the fantasy elements you weaved so poorly about my private life can be forgiven as just another of your dime-a-dozen productions; the kind where you take footage to make additional scenes and fret when a reviewer points out it looks like it came from one of your other productions (ala Skeeter).

    I’m comfortable with my own level of expertise these days regarding porn and wonder why you came out fighting but as long as all the major companies disagree with you, I’ll have plenty of product to review, vote on, and otherwise “use” if it so suits me. But rant away like a lunatic all you like in your fantasy about me, it won’t change anything and provides insight into just how delusional you are (hint: I’m not nearly that old, don’t need any meds to get an erection, and it’s clear that given your extensive responses, at least you care…chump).

  46. The Colonel says:

    Free Porn Star Pix says:

    ‘Houston Don, are you a millionaire or an heir to some sort of fortune?’

    No Tara, Houston Don is not a millionaire, he’s some old, pathetic retiree loser whose wife has either divorced him or passed away, and his children (if he has any) are scattered across the country, doing their best to avoid his annoying phone calls and cheesy Christmas cards. He spends his long, lonely, miserable days fooling around the house and watching porn parodies; and tries to validate his meaningless existence by writing detailed descriptions about how whores fuck felons in smut movies, and passes those old man pervert notes as *porn reviews*. Sometimes he falls sleep during his *review duties*, and dreams of another dimension in which he’s a charming, good looking stud who’s fucking Kayden Kross in a Will Ryder flick. Then the phone rings and he wakes up. It’s the pharmacist on the line, calling to let him know his blood pressure and prostate medications are ready for the pick up. That’s Houston Don in a nutshell.

  47. Sure Bill says:

    “People aren’t watching porn in their hotel rooms…I spend a lot of time traveling and I can’t remember the last hotel that had decent download speeds. Seriously, it’s almost always as bad as dial up!”

    That’s funny LOL!

  48. Sure Bill says:

    @ Mariah Milano

    “We’ve all seen what type of people shop at K Mart right? ”

    Yeah, the same people who buy adult DVDs and join porn sites.

  49. Houstondon says:

    Bitter, party of one. That would be the Colonel of course, a guy that cheats performers by shooting multiple scenes while refusing to pay their day rate, cheats their agents out of fees, and edits the footage to sell it multiple times; providing the pirates and tube websites with their standard excuse that porn isn’t worth a shit so why should they pay…

    Mariah, guys like that hate being outted by reviewers, even young virile reviewers, at their antics to rip off customers. Given his statements here, it is clear he hates women, supports child rapists, thinks little of the customers that (used) to pay his bills, and doesn’t give a flip about anyone but himself. If that isn’t the bitter life of a confessed loser, nothing is. Otherwise, happy birthday Mariah, enjoy making more than he does as his life flushes down the toilet.

    PS: According to some of the top parody makers, their current efforts pay for their future efforts. Given the number of movies some of these people are making, they must be doing something right.

    PPS: KK isn’t even on my top 100 list though most that are can be readily hired on the cheap when they “like” someone. Sadly, the Colonel hires the low end of the spectrum so he wouldn’t know that…lol

  50. When I said the remark about the people who shop at K Mart I meant that they are looking for price rather than quality. people who bargain shop and don’t mind if the store is trashed or run down and the shelves are filled with broken products and opened boxes, as long as they save a few dollars.

    no insult intended big fella!

  51. The Colonel says:

    Alright Houston Don, you old, desperate, lonely leper dog, let’s see what you’re barking about today: I don’t cheat anybody out of anything. Girls and guys who come to work for me know what’s required of them, they do their job and get paid same day. I work with whoever I want, whenever I want; I assure you all of the girls on your *top 100 list* have worked for me, and whether I deal with them directly or go through their agents is none of your business. I also assure you my product sells well and enables me to live comfortably and continue my work. I make porn to make money, not to be congratulated and praised by some delusional single retiree like you in god knows where. I don’t need your tongue up my ass; you and the likes of you don’t matter to me, never did and never will. In fact, I won’t even allow my PA to clean the cum and lube and spit off the floor of my set with a print of your old man pervert notes AKA reviews ; that’s how I feel about you.

    Furthermore, I don’t hate women, in fact I love them, and can’t imagine my life without them. I have many friends among the performers. I take them out and take care of them; my relationship with them is based on mutual respect and trust. How many friends do you have, buffoon? When was the last time you had fun and sex in your isolated, pathetic life? I doubt if you can even remember. That’s why you need porn parodies: They enable you to fantasize of things that will never happen and people that you will never have in reality and in your excuse for a life. It truly is horrible and painful to be you, Houston Don, and you of all people know that quite well. The only light at the end of the tunnel for you is that you’re an old, broken piece of meat, and don’t have much time left. Soon the grim reaper will pay you a call, and you’ll be free of the misery of your existence. No more day dreaming, only eternal sleep.

    See you in hell, chump.

  52. Houstondon says:

    Wow, you’re even more bitter and delusional than I thought. Granted, you started a post providing ample information about your private business and when questioned, collapsed like an old deck of worn out cards but then that’s exactly what you are old man.

    You fussed about making chump change in an industry you helped destroy, you provide a crappy four scenes in your shitty titles (which limits which company you are talking about, most knowing full well that consumers want more, not some disease ridden POS skanks in a whole four scenes without any extras), and my live in girlfriend seems to enjoy the action just fine but you can tell that to your cats, all 12 of them, the next time you sit in your flea infested apartment counting your spare change to afford your weekly cup of coffee. lol

  53. I was told today that Vivid just shipped 6000 units of one release so maybe things are looking up!

  54. Houstondon says:

    Mariah, keep in mind that any time Klink hears good news about someone else, he gets testy. The chip on his shoulder over Will Ryder (he keeps bringing the director’s name up) is bad enough, next he’ll be complaining that Vivid doesn’t adhere to his personal “never provide over 75 minutes of crap” rule. Off to celebrate the New Year…

  55. The Colonel says:

    Houston Don says:

    ‘My live in girlfriend seems to enjoy the action just fine.’

    What’s your imaginary girlfriend’s name, you schmock? Let me guess: Kayden Kross, and the best thing is that she doesn’t even know you exist. It’s interesting how you speak of haveing a *girlfriend* right after I ridiculed the hell out of you over your pathetic obsession with the porn parodies. Feeling beaten up, cornered and embarrassed, don’t you? That’s fine, everybody knows you’re a fucking loser, whether they admit it to your face or not; *porn critic*, your title alone sums it up perfectly. I would have lectured you on how to get a life and do something more productive with the remaining of your existence, but you’re an old fuck with one foot in the grave whose time’s up; besides you’re more entertaining and fun just the way you are.

    By the way, I don’t live in an apartment, I’ve got a nice, little place in Hollywood area. If you could ever afford a Greyhound bus ticket, feel free to come over. You can serve my beer and coffee, clean my house and wash my underwear. I’ll look forward to wiping my ass with you throughout 2010 and beyond.

    P.S: Stop writing LOL like an ignorant, spoiled teen slut, you’re too old for that shit. Retired buffoon.

    P.P.S: Today, no company ships more than 1000 DVD units of new releases, not Vivid, not Adam & Eve, not Wicked and not any other company. It has nothing to do with the quality, there’s no demand and no desire and urgency to pay for porn at the current time. It’s a fact that all porn industry people are well aware of, whether some of them admit it or not. Some tell the truth and some don’t. To each his own.

  56. Houstondon says:

    If colonel klink was so proud of his crappy output, he’d reveal it but alas, it is common knowledge that he makes substandard porn (a whole four scenes per movie according to him) using substandard talent (again, he regales us with tales of how little he pays them) and knows up front that his work can’t compete with what other companies make, hence his disdain for reviewers and critics).

    I predict he’ll again respond (pushing his buttons is as easy as getting Lockwood to comment) with more personal attacks based on things he knows nothing about but that’s all he has, pretty sad. Still, when he is shining shoes at the airport, I’ll toss him an extra couple of bucks tip as part of the pity party so many will feel obligated to throw him.

    PS: “Some tell the truth and some don’t.” Yes, you’ve backpedaled enough times that it is clear why you hide behind the alias. The poor colonel is hoping to hear news on his pal Polanski, a child rapist he supports, in the new year but also if his beer can collection can bring him enough to buy his fix. Yup, he’s proven how little he cares what I think by repeatedly responding…chump.

  57. The Colonel says:

    Since you so desperately need my response, and I’m such a generous man with a heart of gold, I’ll respond to you, Houston Don, you cock sucker. Start taking notes:

    Houston Don: If Colonel Klink was so proud of his crappy output, he’d reveal it.
    The Colonel: Wrong as usual. The reason I don’t reveal my identity and work is because I prefer to keep writing articles and commentaries on LIB which is my hubby seperate from making porn which is my business. I explained that before on several occasions, but given your low IQ level and advanced age, it’s understandable that you often forget things and constantly sound erratic and moronic; must be the Alzheimer kicking in.

    Houston Don: It is common knowledge that he (The Colonel) makes substandard porn (a whole four scenes per movie according to him) using substandard talent.
    The Colonel: Another clear sign of your ignorance and mental and psychological deteriration. In the previous sentence, you bitched and moaned about me not revealing anything about my output; so if you don’t know what my output is, how can it be *common knowledge* that it’s good or bad? As for the four scenes plus special features per each hardcore title, I’m not the only one who does that. Many companies have been managing their releases the same way since the sales took a major hit and dropped more than %50 in the recent years. Perhaps you don’t know that, because like me, many other producers don’t care about you and your old man pervert notes, and therefore they don’t send you titles for *review* either. And as for the girls I use, they’re the same girls every other company uses, including some of those who appear in your favorite porn parodies. You have praised several of them several times as amazing performers, and wrote detailed descriptions of their wardrobes and bedroom techniques. With the exception of a very few girls such as Sasha Grey, Kayden Kross and Tanner Myers, I’ve worked with almost all of the girls who are currently performing in the porn industry; and the reason I did not and will not work with those particular girls, is because I never liked those drama queens and don’t need to put up with their stinking attitudes.

    Speaking of which, the other night I was talking to one of my porn whore friends, and we were laughing at you. She didn’t know you were a retiree senior citizen. When I told her that, she almost busted her gut laughing. I wish you were here so we could fuck with you in person and have more fun with you.

    Houston Don: (The Colonel) knows up front that his work can’t compete with what other companies make, hence his disdain for reviewers and critics.
    The Colonel: Another idiotic statement. My work can compete with what any other company makes. You know why, jackass? Because it’s not crime/drama, it’s not action/adventure, and it’s not sci-fi. It’s porn: P-O-R-N. As long as good looking girls deep throat on mean cocks and gape their assholes in close up shots, it’s good enough, and those who are willing to pay for porn, will pay for it. What my work as well as what any other company makes can’t compete with is *free*. That’s the concern and challenge, everything else including the opinions and barkings of a delusional, lonely retiree such as yourself is fun and games.

    P.S: I don’t need to *predict* anything, I know you’ll be back with your more-of-the-same old man blabberings. In fact, I’m counting on you to do that. You’re my latest bitch on LIB board, and I enjoy fucking with you, beating you up and humiliating you. I really, truly do.

    Back to you, chump.

  58. Houstondon says:

    Only a sad, pathetic loser of a pornographer thinks he is competing with his peers by offering substandard amounts of footage using second and third tier performers but that is as indicative of Klink’s recent whine-fest as he deteriorating spelling and grammar.

    I got on his last nerve when I pointed out his low income, he fired back an ill-informed response showing how little he knew about me, and he continues to take a beating because he is simply too stupid to see the truth.

    If any of you out there believe that four scenes is standard for a current release, by all means speak up and assist Klink in his ranting (perhaps in the third tier companies but not anything most people would knowingly purchase). He clearly suffers from an inferiority complex, hence his unwillingness to prove a single point of contention regarding his “product”, the quality of his underpaid talent, or most other aspects of his prolonged rants. That he believes he knows anything at all about my age, living conditions, or pretty much anything else is what some call “projection” so he either lives in his parent’s basement (as he often suggests others do) or in a rathole apartment as others here have suggested in the past but I really can’t expect him to keep up with the conversation given how lame he has proven of late (maybe the alcohol and drugs have rattled his brains or he simply lacked them to begin with). Poor, sad Klink…

  59. The Colonel says:

    I’m glad that I put you in this corner, Houston Don, every time you open your mouth to spew your old man loser verbal diarrhea, it proves how clueless, delusional and ignorant you are in regards to everything porn. You have desperately resorted to repeating yourself and making cheesy, half-ass, pathetically lame jokes, as if by repeating something you can make it relevant. Case in point, when you bitched and moaned about my income and status as an independent producer, the quality of my work, the girls I hire and the current rate I pay them, I explained several times that they’re the same girls who perform in every other porn movies produced in Southern California, including the parodies you’re so obsessed with; and yet you’re going on the same rant over and over again, calling them *second and third tier performers* and such and such.

    Porn to you is a fantasy, not a reality and certainly not a business; therefore you fail to realize the simple fact that in a dire economy where the sales are more than %50 down and many people have halted their productions or gone out of business completely, those who are still active (producers, performers, videographers, location owners, etc.) need to compromise: The producer must pay a lower rate, and the performer, videographer, location owner, etc. must accept that lower rate, otherwise nothing will get done. If a girl accepts a lower rate, it means she needs to work, it doesn’t make her a *second and third tier performer*. They have made better money in the past, and I have paid better rates, too. But today, there’s no other option but to compromise and work things out. When you’re too stupid to realize this simple fact and need that to be explained to you, that speaks in volumes about you and the invalidity and irrelevance of your opinion on just about anything; and that of course is only one example of your unfathomable ignorance. I hope more producers who read this web site see you in your true colors, and stop wasting their time and money by sending you free DVDs just so you can watch them in your infinite spare time and write old man pervert notes AKA reviews, as if your worthless notes amount to anything.

    Have at it, fuck yourself some more.

  60. Holy shit it is now official. The Colonel is a dipshit. I couldn’t come up with a better word to describe him but how did his post turn into a slam Houston Don attack? Knock that shit off it is boring and the last thing I want to see is the Colonel become boring. I’ve been on vacation for the past week and I come back to this? I have to admit the Colonel has some pretty funny lines even though some are way off base. I guess that might be funny in itself but really ‘Killer’, stop the personal attack dogs for at least a little bit.

    I just wanted to chime in because it seems that the Colonel has some secret insight into the ‘real’ adult movie business. I think JimmyD said it best in one of his response posts but I will add- where the hell did you come up with those financial figures Colonel? I almost choked on my laughter when I read your report of how little money porn parodies make and how little they actually cost to produce. I loved the wording “10 large” when referring to money in a production budget but at X-Play $10K is certainly not referred to as “ten large”. Not because it isn’t a lot of money but 10K in a budget is nothing large and I truly mean that (unless it is the catering line item then it’s large lol). We shot 2 episodes of Flight Attendants for around 100K total (the rented air conditioning cost about $6500). Now I’m certainly not the smartest guy in the world but I’m also not the dumbest guy in the porn business so it’s pretty easy to figure out that we aren’t losing money on our movies or we’d be driving shitty cars, dating ugly girls and out of business. We didn’t spend that type of money on our Airplane-like caper in hopes of balancing out our ‘losses’ on our sitcums or with the thought that we are going to go into the red because we like the color. Follow me so far?

    It might cost some of the other companies 20K to create a parody (actually watch them and compare) but I think you get what you pay for. I would be thrilled if we could shoot a high quality movie for 25K but we can’t do it. I guess we could if we didn’t give a shit and didn’t care to make a high quality production.

    Yes, sales are slowing and some companies are completely shutting down production and I can only imagine the numbers that X-Play would have been moving had there been zero rush for free porn but we still outsell just about everybody in the business by a wide margin. Digital Playground most likely outsells us with their special titles.

    Colonel wrote: P.P.S: Today, no company ships more than 1000 DVD units of new releases.

    I say: Well Colonel where did you get that figure? Not Bewitched XXX moves that much every single month and that movie came out 18 months ago. Of course the catalog helps quite a bit but I guess you are referring to shitty little 4 or 5 scene gonzo movies with titles such as Hot Sluts or Full Face Fuckers (I just made those titles up I hope I didn’t upset anybody). I am sure with those types of movies you are totally correct with them being lucky to move 1000 units.

    The point is that in many ways you are correct with some of your earlier words but you are also so far off base that it is a bit disturbing to me that a guy who claims he has been in this business for a long time has no clue of what the upper crust is doing. I bet you have zero clue for instance as to how many DVD units the first Not the Bradys XXX has sold? I think you might piss your pants. That is not even taking into account VOD or broadcast of which we do for all of our movies.

    The sad truth is that eventually all of our adult sales will be gone due to free porn and so will every other company’s sales. Porn businesses will be shuttering quickly this year and especially next year and we will all be able to take off our sunglasses because the future will not look bright and Corey Hart will leave the building. But for now, X-Play will continue to do what we do because we are having too much fun to stop. We most likely will over-spend on our 2010 productions (we could slash the budgets but then the movies will suck) as we really want to make the best movie that we can possibly produce. Even if you don’t like them you have to have some type of eye for higher quality?

    Now seriously, cut the personal attacks on Houston Don and let him get back to writing a review of X-Play’s latest Will Ryder directed epic- Not the Colonel XXX. Plus Houston Don is actually a really nice guy with a fantastic eye for quality.

  61. You are flat out wrong about no one doing more than 1000 units…someone who would know much more than you about Vivid shipments, (just trust me on this ok) and he assured me that the 6000 unit number is correct.

  62. Houstondon says:

    Thank you Mariah for stepping in to refute one of Klink’s key points. Vivid is not the only company to ship 1000 units of late (I’m not speaking of every release, only the ones I’ve been given privy too) and while the numbers will certainly dwindle over time if things don’t get better, as Will points out, some of us are not referring to shitty little gonzo titles with four scenes such as Klink keeps referring to; the kind that simply do not compare well to the Vivid’s, the JJV’s, the Evil Angel’s, the Elegant Angel’s, the Wicked’s, the Hustler’s, or the Zero Tolerance titles (to name a few). Perhaps he shoots for Leisure Time or one of the other companies in great need of closing down but there are few QUALITY companies that release titles with only four scenes these days.

    Will, I also thank you for pointing out what bottom feeders like Klink never seem to understand. As small as it is in reality, and growing smaller, there are a wide array of companies in the industry. Some simply cannot compete against others, the weaker ones putting out substandard crap with four scenes while companies such as yours average what, about 6 or 7 scenes per title plus hours of extras?

    I don’t claim to have all the answers but as one of my fellow reviewers used to work at IVD (I also made other connections at smaller distributors) and I have seen some of the figures elsewhere, it is clear that some companies rely on providing quality while others rely on going cheap. Cheap can’t compete with the pirates on any level but quality can always manage to find a way in the long run (as gifts, for those that still collect, for the THOUSANDS of places that still rent, and more) so while I see Will in business longer than most, guys like Klink are screwing over everyone they can to hang on to their measly mid five figure lifestyles.

    Klink, my comments regarding the likely quality of your performers is not solely based on the amount of money they accept for their work with you (doing three scenes for under the price of one) so much as the likely results of said scene. You’ve listed several that you haven’t shot in scenes but frankly, until you confirm who you are, anything regarding your stated productions is suspect. If you were proud of the substandard output you released, you’d skip the alias. It’s not like people are likely to be swayed into buying more (or less) of what you make based on what you write on Cindi’s blog but it would certainly prove many of my points in terms of comparing your work with that of others.

    Your inferiority complex can be worked on though. Most shrinks have a sliding scale for lower middle class folks like yourself so do yourself a favor and see a few. It’s understandable why you jumped in on Will’s work early on, it sells far more than what you produce, but if you think paying people to fuck in front of you somehow makes you morally superior to someone that looks out for consumers as a hobby with reviewing, you probably need to take a vacation. Good luck with that…

  63. The Colonel says:

    A few clarifications:

    Will, I believe you’re a nice guy who tries to make his way in a declining market. I don’t like porn parodies for the reasons I mentioned in this article; you happen to be one of the guys who makes parodies, I don’t like that sub-genre and hence have no interest in your work, but that doesn’t mean I have anything personal against you. I don’t. However, as far as for your budget and your sales, I’ll call out bullshit when I see it, and your numbers are bullshit, my friend. Granted, as I pointed out in the article, porn parodies cost more to produce and sell a couple of extra DVD units more than gonzo movies and do relatively well on VOD web sites, but the sales numbers are not anywhere near what you claim. We both are in this industry, and we both know what’s going on, so you can cut the crap anytime. I understand your position: You’re trying to save face by avoiding to tell the truth about the depth of the crisis that the porn industry is going through. After all, the majority of people still view porn as *the multi billion dollar industry*. Some other of my fellow producers feel like you do, and in the week since I wrote this article, they’ve been constantly complaining to me. But I refuse to lie and provide misinformation in order to save face and maintain the illusion of *multi billion dollar porn industry* ; and that’s the difference between you and I. Other than that, good luck to you and your endeavours.

    Mariah, see my response to Will Ryder. Don’t believe the hype and don’t be a part of the misinformation campaign. If you chose to make porn for a living, keep doing your best, be happy and be proud, and also be honest and self aware.

    Houston Don, I did not have any intention to turn my thread into a Colonel vs. Houston Don showdown, but when people who are not in the porn industry make off base assumptions and comments about this industry and my work, I get angry and react. I am a professional, I have my audiences and I know how to invest money and provide them with what they need and make profit; even though my profit as well as any other porn producer’s profit has been down in recent years since 2006 meltdown. Nevertheless, I have connections, resources, enough savings and a healthy catalogue; all of which enable me to live comfortably and continiue my work throughout this crisis. The reason I write on LIB under an alias is not because I’m ashamed or proud of my work, it’s because writing on LIB is my hubby, not my business; and I tend to keep the two seperated. That’s a decision I made from the biginning, and I’ll stick to it until I have a good reason to decide otherwise.

    Hopefully we’re finally clear on these issues.

  64. Houstondon says:

    You keep saying you write here because of your hubby. Do you mean it is your “hobby” or are you referring to a loved one? Just a clarification to enhance understanding.

    I can understand writing as a hobby since I’ve done it for years. I can understand making money in a declining industry (I sold my business awhile back amid cutthroat competition; difference being I undersold the others so I walked away just fine). The anger part is what I don’t understand so much, especially given how quickly it onset though I admit to replying in kind.

    My assumptions on what you make are based on what others have told me regarding production costs and the results of lowering costs (like a particular large company does), while I’m not a true insider, I certainly have access to numerous sources past and present. I’ve reviewed a moderate amount of movies with four scenes and frankly, they rarely merit the price the stores sell them for. If you are selling them for $5/unit while the companies I’m familiar with are costing three times that but selling for a similar price, that is a factor I wouldn’t generally know (once upon a time, Empire tried buying Upload-a four disc set-for $8 when it came out but selling it for ~$50). I base value on what an item costs the consumer, not what you sell it for.

    And despite our words here, I don’t wish ill on anyone, ask Will…

  65. ok I give up. Some people refuse to believe that just because they be on the downslide that others are not and actually doing well. this seems to be the case. time to face the music sometimes and admit reality. that ain’t gonna happen here so I give up lol

  66. skronkboy says:

    I would expect that someone as full of opinion as the Col. would know the difference between its and it’s but that’s asking way too much (like composing actual sentences in English). I’m surprised someone as well-spoken and intelligent as HoustonDon wastes his time here, but then he entertains idiots like Darrah on Twitter when the rainbow is enuf. Fuck you all.

  67. The Colonel says:

    Alright, fuck you too, Punk Boy. Suck my dick. How’s that for an actual sentence in English? Let me know if you need more.

  68. Colonel, I normally never ever mentioned any numbers other than what Not Bewitched XXX approximately does monthly so I am not sure where you get that I am spewing BS. I usually never talk about numbers for the precise reason that nobody believes them because most inflate them.

    I do know that X-Play is a bit of an oddity in the adult movie business with high and consistent sales. I am however, positive our numbers are down due to free porn and I am one of the guys that knows the end is near for just about all of us. I post that type of sad message in numerous places and get slammed for it by those wishing to paint a rosey picture for an industry ‘ready to recover from the recession’ but for the time being we continue to make the best movies that we can possibly make at X-Play even though we stare at a mountain of free porn. We could easily pack it in and make a pretty box cover and just take the money but I just can’t do that. I know you don’t like our sitcums but that is fine with me as they aren’t for everybody nor do I think they should be. I am curious though. Have you ever watched any of our movies from the past 2 years? Just curious.

    Stop by either one of our AEE parties this next week. We are doing the TV’s Greatest Parody Party Friday night, Jan 8th at Sushi Samba/Sugar Cane in the Pallazo in the Venetian and then after the AVN Awards Show we are co-hosting the big IVD party at Studio 54 in the MGM Grand with just about every big company in the business.

    Glad you toned it down if even for a few posts and I will let you buy me a beer and we can make a toast to Don Houston. Actually I think I will make a toast to him for sure even it you don’t want to- lol.

  69. The Colonel says:

    Today, I read an interesting article on newsweek.com which speculates that in 2010 more companies from music and video streaming web sites to news publications, etc. will start charging their visitors for subscription fees instead of mainly depending on advertising. Since the physical formats from news papers to CDs, DVDs, etc. are becoming obsolete, perhaps replacing DVD distribution with exclusive video on demand web sites is something that porn industry must take into consideration as an actual, potential solution. The following is excerpts from the newsweek.com article:

    2010 Prediction: The Year of the Paid Subscription

    By Barrett Sheridan

    This year the Web turns 21. So it’s somewhat ironic that 2010 will also be the year the place finally sobers up.

    Many of the startups and media sites that define the e-commerce ecosystem are, at long last, making serious plans to make serious money. Hulu, the slick portal that picked up where TiVo left off in killing the idea of “appointment television,” is the free site likeliest to begin charging in 2010. Chase Carey, a top executive of News Corp., which owns 27 percent of Hulu, announced in October that “it’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online” and “Hulu concurs with that.” Comcast’s recent purchase of NBC Universal, Hulu’s other founding network, makes a pay-model future only more likely. Hulu hasn’t made any official announcements yet, and it may continue to offer ad-supported versions of some programming, but expect to start using your credit card when you need your Arrested Development fix.

    Music is headed toward the same fate. Cloud-based, streaming music is poised to replace the mp3, and Spotify, Last.fm, Pandora, and Rhapsody are the big names that currently dominate the format. Most of these sites have a free-to-users, ad-supported model, but the labels are starting to grumble that too much money is being left on the table. Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” was one of the most popular songs on Spotify in Europe, but she reportedly earned just $167 for a million listens through the service. (Spotify disputes the figure.) Naturally, record companies want to improve these terms. Reportedly, in their negotiations with Spotify leading up to the service’s U.S. launch, they have insisted that Spotify scrap its free version altogether and require subscriptions across the board.

    The biggest music retailer in the world, Apple, may be gearing up for a similar switch. The secretive company certainly hasn’t said as much, but a recent acquisition suggests its head is in the cloud. In December, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company purchased Lala, a streaming music service, for something shy of $100 million. Lala has negligible revenues; what Apple really bought were its talented engineers and their cloudy expertise. And a subscription-based iTunes wouldn’t be just for music. Apple is reportedly in talks with major outlets like Disney and CBS to start an online TV subscription service. The “millennial” generation is already shunning the cable box and relying on their computers for television viewing; an Apple venture along these lines could cause a stampede away from Comcast, Time Warner, and other cable providers.

    Finally, there are the print dinosaurs, which are roaring louder than ever, led by prickly velociraptor in chief Rupert Murdoch. The News Corp. boss, who owns a globe-spanning collection of newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal and the London Times, wrote recently that “the old business model based mainly on advertising is dead.” He has openly averred that many, if not all, of his remaining ad-supported news sites could go behind a pay wall this year. That would open the door for competitors to make the same move. The New York Times, for instance, is debating the wisdom of charging for online content too. If Murdoch’s plan proves successful, emboldened newspapers and magazines across the country would begin erecting their own digital pay walls.

    This is dismaying news to many consumers, especially Pirate Bay–surfing teens who think free content is a human right only slightly less essential than oxygen. But as the Web becomes the center of our multimedia world, the only way to ensure that the future will offer us more Arrested Developments, Lady Gagas, and Wall Street Journal investigations is to ante up. As NEWSWEEK’s Dan Gross puts it, paid is the new free, and more expensive is the new cheap. In 2010, the 21-year-old Internet will finally pick up the tab.

  70. sammyglick says:

    As usual, food for thought from The Colonel.

    I believe the founder of Hulu said much the same in a recent Charlie Rose interview (along with Ken Auletta in his new book about Google). So if you missed the Hulu interview Colonel, you should check it out via Rose’s site.

    Anyhow, there obviously needs to be a shift in the idea of what is ‘free’ and what is ‘premium’ content on the web (to keep it all going). The idea in the mind of the Hulu founder is that theoretically only one source makes something like Arrested Development, thusly it is and always be Premium Content (as opposed to a ‘free’ knockoff).

    Personally, I feel things get murky when you extend it beyond mainstream TV, movies and music…as the point is often made, when it comes to print, the only thing newspapers can truly monetize is financial information (as that’s the only thing consumers are willing to actually pay for because it is such specialized information).

    Applied to porn, I can see a similar business model along the lines the Colonel sketched out. Although, I would argue that for porn Premium Content would be a performer who doesn’t do Anal/IR/Facials/DPs/Gangbangs/Girls/Fetish et cetera — but does under an exclusive agreement with a VOD distributor. Consumers would then have a choice: see their favorite girl do ‘vanilla’ type stuff via DVD (aka eventually free via the usual channels of web piracy), or pay a one-time or subscription fee to see the same girl do all of the crazy stuff you never thought they’d do.

    I know that some girls do this already on their individual sites, but it would be exciting for directors/companies to follow suit (as often this is what truly divides porno content — for people who love John Leslie are not always the same who would watch every single release by Devil’s Films).

  71. The Colonel says:

    Sammy Glick says:

    ‘There obviously needs to be a shift in the idea of what is ‘free’ and what is ‘premium’ content on the web (to keep it all going).’

    You made interesting points in your commentary, Sammy. In my opinion, what seperates *free content* from *premium content* should be measured based on whether money is invested in producing the content (movies & TV series, music, porn, etc.) in order to generate profit, or if that content is produced with no investment, not in order to generate profit and for personal amusement purposes only. In that sense, a song by Ramones, an episode of The X-Files or a porn scene featuring Lexi Love could not and should not be available for free; while a song recorded by a teenager on his PC, a comical home made video or a sex scene shot on tripod featuring two couples in their bedroom could and should be available for free.

    The boundaries are clear, but what seems impossible is controlling the flow of data and information.

  72. freepornstarpix says:

    I like the idea of premium content, for instance HotMovies.com has made certain movies ‘Premium Content’ such a many Vivid titles, but the issue is that what is ‘Premium’ on one site is not valued the same on every site and people will always go where they can get it for free or cheapest. The porn studios are going to have to choose a single site to sell their content or make it clear to different sites that they do not want their content sold below a certain price.

  73. The Colonel says:

    It’s not a question of *if* DVD distribution becomes obsolete, it’s a question of *when*; and judging from the increasing decline in DVD market, I believe the answer is within 18 to 24 months.

    Once on line streaming replaces DVD distribution, the most viable solution would be that a number of porn companies come together and launch an exclusive web site that charges monthly subscription fees as well as running ads. Upon the release of a new title, that title will only be available for on line streaming through this web site, not on AEBN, not on HotMovies and other VOD web sites, not for rent and not for purchase for approximately 3 months. After the period of 3 months, the cost of producing that title is most likely covered, and therefore the title can be released on AEBN, HotMovies and other VOD web sites and becomes available for rental and purchase. In this case, even if some consumers who purchase a title or an individual scene attempt to upload it to file sharing and tube web sites, the damage will be minimal, because the title had already broke even on its production cost and generated profit.

    If enough companies come together and execute a plan like this and seek other actual, potential solutions, porn industry may be able to survive and continue.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

TrafficHolder.com - Buy & Sell Adult Traffic