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According to DVDWatch and my own extrapolation, these are the biggest porn DVD replicators in the U.S. for 2006 (I have not figured out the international porn DVD replication business yet):

* ADM (Advanced Digital Media): 21329 Nordhoff Street Chatsworth, CA (California) 91311-5819 Phone: (818) 882-3095. Quick turnaround but about 15c per disc more expensive than L&M West.
* Advanced Digital Services: 948 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90038 | 323-468-2200 (Capacity: $4 million a month according to the DVDNews Replication Directory, 4th Edition)
* Damaged Pictures
* Davenport
* DimensionDVD - Putatively owned by Rob Brickman, the son of Cinderella owner Charlie Brickman, Dimension replicates for Pure Play Media
* DVDConcepts - Based in Chatsworth, owned by Israeli Alon Nottea. (Hit by at least two lawsuits for piracy. Evil Angel. JKP.)
* IDM (International Disc Manufacturers in Westminster)
* KM Digital Media (out of business for not paying royalties to Philips?): $6.5 million 21010 Superior Street Chatsworth, CA. 91311
* L&M: $25.0 million - L & M Optical Disc West LLC 24836 Avenue Rockefeller, Valencia, California, 91355 Phone: (661) 295-5126 Owned by Danni Skura (his VHS duplication business is known as Skura LLC). L&M is known for the lowest prices, generous credit and lousy customer service.
* Leisure Time aka Bazoon Entertainment: $3.5 million
* Media Factory 48873 Kato Road, Fremont, CA 94539-8070, (510) 438-0373
* Newport Technologies: $5.0 million 18207 E McDurmott suite# I Irvine CA 92614 949-838-0038
* Poso Media $57.6 million 13451 Brooks Drive. Baldwin Park, CA 91706 (626) 851-0309
* Quest (based in Valencia)
* RPD (Ray Pistol Duplications)
* SPS (Paul Forneseck)

Philips database for licensed replicators.

Replication brokers:

* KBH-Blaine (owned by DamagedPictures.com)
* Joey Abinanti (Video Images in Van Nuys)

I've heard speculation that some replicators charge a premium for porn but most sources tell me that is not true.

What Percentage Of Porn DVDs Are Replicated Overseas?

My impression is that most porn replication is done in Southern California, but according to a DVD Watch report from April 2006: "...[T]here is increased incidence of discs being sourced overseas although this is predominately less "time sensitive" repertoire e.g. budget priced product and adult material."

Duplication in porn was Mob-dominated. This is no longer true.

So which major porners replicate overseas? What's the price differential between replicating and packaging DVD overseas compared to in California?

I believe most porn DVD replication done in China and Taiwan is of pirated material at low-cost and high-volume.

I've heard of quotes as low as 18c per disc (on a spindle, not packaged) from China and Taiwan for 10,000 unit minimums.

In the wider replication market, there's significant consolidation. This must be happening in porn as well.

The big five pressers (Technicolor, Cinram, Sony, Optical Disc Services and Sonopress) account for 56% of the market. None of these five replicate porn. The other 44% of the market is divided among 302 pressers, of which 93 are in Asia, 87 are in Western Europe, and 61 in North America. (DVD Watch, April 2006)

The price of DVD replication has been dropping about 5% per year for the past seven years.

According to DVD Watch (April 2006), the price differential between DVD5 and DVD9 (dual-layered) is about 25%. The typical price to replicate DVD5s is now 42c per disc and DVD9s is 56c (with 5,000 unit minimums).

North America replicates about 45% of the world's DVDs (projected 2006 totals -- 7872.5 billion).

To get a movie ready for DVD replication, it usually costs about $600 for authoring a DVD5 (taking the edited movie and burning it into a DVD master) and about $700 for a DVD9 (dual-layed DVD through RDSL -- Reverse Disk Spiral Layering). Editing a hardcore movie costs about $1100. Editing for hard and soft versions can be done for about $1500. Boxcover design costs about $500. For 5,000 copies of a DVD boxcover, it'll usually cost less than $600. Replicated, packaged and wrapped DVDs for a minimum order of 3,000 will cost about 70-80c each DVD. A typical new porn DVD (not a compilation) will sell to domestic distributors for about $10 each (Evil Angel will get about $15 each) and to foreign distributors for about $8 each.

A source tells me 5/9/06: "The barrier of entry to be a player in DVD replication is high. The cost of equipment is extremely expensive. Two million dollars expensive. You can go low-end duplicators like your guy Joey Abinanti. He has commercial grade machines that can do about 40 discs at a time as opposed to L&M (where LFP, Pulse replicates) which have industrial strength machines that can do tens of thousands of discs a day.

"Evil Angel uses four companies to replicate. If you drive around Chatsworth, there are a bunch of companies that say 'Media Replication' or things like that.

"I'd guess that L&M's business is primarily Adult. The people there are extremely rude. Israelis. You go up there and you see Adult people.

"You can go cheap in the South-East U.S. for 60c shrink-wrapped, packaged. High-end will run you 75c each disc.

"Sunshine has their own replication facility but many people don't trust them.

"The prices depend on your minimum order. It's usually 1500 or 2500 units. Most people print 5,000 inserts because of the price break. So they tend to have a lot of sleeves in their warehouses. The average porn producer is lucky to sell 1,000 units of his movie."

I wonder what percentage of the market of the top ten replicators hold? I'm guessing about two-thirds. I'm guessing that most Los Angeles pornographers get their DVDs replicated in Southern California.

As far as DVD authoring: Sin City owns its own authoring company. There's CopperDigital.com in Hollywood which does RLD, PXP and others. Evil Angel and Jules Jordan use DVD Demon.

There are two guys that do most of the printing of DVD covers -- FB (Frank Barbarino), and Great Western (owned by Michael Warner). Other printers include Breen Graphics, SL Digital in Hollywood and PrintTech out of Chatsworth.

Friend: "Duplication with VHS was a simpler process. All you have are a whole bunch of VCRs and you're popping in blank tapes. It took a bunch of man power. A lot of these companies such as Vivid and Evil Angel did their own duplication. But now studios are not going to spend a million dollars on a replication machine. It's not worth it.

"DVD replicators have to pay a royalty fee on every disc they press. When they buy blank media, there are identifiers on each disc. Numbers imprinted on a disc enable you to figure out who purchased your disc and pirated your disc."

Jill Kelly Productions Mired in Piracy Battle

What was the outcome of this? Did these companies (L&M Optical West, DVDConcepts, IVI) have the right to duplicate JKP product?

Nov 16, 2005 court order. Nov 28, 2005 court order.

I was told by a source at one of the replication companies above that they had permission to replicate JKP product if they were not paid by JKP. They were not paid by JKP. So they replicated.

11/21/05

Three Pirating Raids Monday Night

One Israeli named Chaim (DVD Concepts) was a major target. Chaim is close (partners in things?) with Bill Linton aka Lynton Appleson (British Jew) of VIP, who also owns Robert Hill Entertainment.

A source at DVDConcepts emphatically denies any wrongdoing on the part of his company and says he has the contracts to prove that everything the company does is legitimate.

Federal marshals met at the Lamplighter in Chatsworth at 4pm Monday. The raids went down around 7:50pm.

Zev at IVI and Danni at Skura (L&M Optical West) were also raided.

Evil Angel filed a piracy suit against Alon Nottea and his DVD Concepts May 2, 2005.

I believe these raids had something to do with Jill Kelly Productions (JKP). JKP and Bob Friedland signed deals, I've been told, so that if certain DVD companies such as DVDConcepts, are not paid in full, then the DVD companies have the right to resell their merchandise.

JKP filed for bankruptcy a few months ago and owed many people money (including replicators -- perhaps DVDConcepts -- hundreds of thousands of dollars).

"I used to do cash deals with Lynton," says a source. "He used to sell me DVDs from all these companies for a buck or two bucks each. Of course he stole from all these companies. I didn't care. I sold them for $19:99.

"Do you know who introduced me to Lynton? Mike Esposito."

Lynton, who has a long ponytail and looks like he has hair transplants, is just the front man for Chaim for VIP.

Lynton is fond of wearing cowboy boots and often looks greasy.

He is partners with a guy in New York.

An email to DVDConcepts through its website bounced back Monday night.

Nov 16, 2005 court order. Nov 28, 2005 court order.

Gene Ross reports 11/23/05:

Porn Valley- Acting on a tip, US Marshals raided the offices of DVD Concepts and IVI Monday afternoon. They found approximately 20,000 pieces of pirated Jill Kelly Productions product at DVD Concepts.

According to sources, the raid began around noon and finished up around 10 at night. The confiscated pieces were then turned over to JKP.

Officials also seized masters for 77 titles which were on a silver disc.

"That means the discs were stamped in machine. They weren't burned, so they weren't blue discs," a source told Adultfyi. "Those silver discs had no disc art on them which was one of the dead ringers. Aside from that, the sleeves were obviously scanned on a color scanner.

"Basically IVI [the replicator] had no right to mass produce any unauthorized product from Jill Kelly," the source went on to say. "But they did and they sold them to Chaim at DVD Concepts and Chaim then commenced to move them the last two weeks all over the country."

Tuesday is the first hearing in the case involving Zev from IVI and business associate Chaim from DVD Concepts. There were no arrests made Monday.

"The stuff was all over the streets," the source continued. "The move that they made was a dumb one. Jill Kelly has been relatively dormant, so this company [Chaim] decides to ship out hundreds of thousands of pieces. They've been selling these titles for as little 95 cents and as much as a $1.25. They moved mass amounts of pieces. And most of the customers who bought them, bought them knowing there was a problem because JKP would never have sold them at those prices."

11/28/05

David Woodman writes for AVN:

LOS ANGELES - For over a week, Jill Kelly Productions and companies DVD Concepts, International Video Innovation, Inc and L&M Optical have been embroiled in a messy legal battle over thousands of videos from Jill Kelly Productions.

A spokesman for Jill Kelly Productions alleges that the product is “pirated.” Meanwhile, DVD Concepts and IVI, Inc. maintain it has the “legal right” to sell the videos.

Last week, a team of U.S. Marshals seized, based on a court order, videotapes from the offices of DVD Concepts, IVI and the other companies/individuals named in the temporary restraining order.

“Since joining Jell Kelly Productions last September, I have run into many, many cases of our current customers buying videos from Jill Kelly Productions at a huge discount,” said Jeff Krull, the former director of sales for JKP, who as of Monday was no longer with the company. "My customers told me that they bought new and old titles at a cheap price. “I let my bosses know that non-authentic product was out on the streets. My bosses immediately sought legal actions."

Alon Notea, president of Chatworth-based DVD Concepts, said, “All of our Jill Kelly product is legitimate. “The person who I bought the videos from had the legal right to sell it to me. He showed me an agreement signed by former Jill Kelly Productions CEO Bob Friedland. The document gives us that legal right."

AVN.com also spoke with Zeev Lavy of International Video Innovation. He confirmed the existence of a letter from Friedland giving the right to sell the videos.

Danni Skura, consultant to L&M Optical, said, “We had nothing to do with this. ... We will find out more in court tomorrow and see just what happens.” Skura said an attorney representing L&M Optical will be in court Tuesday.

2/10/06

From Xbiz.com:

Shortly after its filing, JKP asked the court to serve injunctions against a number of distribution companies from selling several of its masters.

Court documents named International Video Innovation Inc., L&M Optical Disc West LLC, DVD Concepts, Direct Video, Dara Distributors, Easy Bay Inc., Mallcom Inc., Triple A Video, Zeev Lavy, Danni Skura and Alon Notea as defendants. Additionally, a court order required International Video Innovation to turn over 6,000 copies of JKP videos to the U.S. Marshal.

Hollywood To Fight E-Piracy In Court?

From AVN.com 5/17/04:

“With large-scale involvement of organized crime in the international replication and export of pirated DVDs and the large and rapidly growing threat of Internet piracy, the very future of the filmed entertainment industry and other copyright industries is at stake,” [Jack Valenti] told the subcommittee.

“We are receiving a consistent message that promising leads in intellectual property cases are not being pursued because of a lack of trained tech-savvy investigators who are familiar with how to conduct intellectual property investigations,” he added.

What's The Difference Between DVD Replicator And Duplicator?

I thought VHS tapes were duplicated and DVDs were all replicated.

No, I'm told. With a replicated DVD, a big machine spits one out every three seconds. If you need 3,000 pieces of a title, you can go to L&M Optical West and get them replicated for 37c. Or you can go to Ray Pistol Duplication and get 50 duplicated at 80c each. Big batches are replicated and smaller numbers are often duplicated.

Gay companies, which sell smaller numbers, typically duplicate.

The quality is the same. The consumer will notice no difference.

Most producers are thrilled to sell 1,000 pieces of a title. The consumer typically pays between $12 and $75 per title. If you are the only store within 100 miles selling porn DVDs, you can sell new titles for $60 each.

James DiGiorgio writes:

Other terms for DVDs, besides "replicated" and "duplicated," are "pressed" and "burned." DVDs that are "burned" or "duplicated" are typically created this way when the producer needs a short run.

The equipment needed to "burn" or "duplicate" DVDs is way less expensive than the equipment used to "replicate" or "press" DVDs.

There is a problem with "burned" DVDs, however, and that is the slight purple cast you can see on the DVD itself. This is an indicator that the DVD was "burned" or "duplicated," rather than "replicated" or "pressed," and some retailers will not stock "burned" DVDs as they fear this is a greater indicator that the DVD might have been pirated.

How Does One Decide On A DVD Replicator?

All the replicators extend credit to a known pornographer. L&M Optical West, the biggest, can be particularly generous with their credit offerings (depending on your reputation) and offer the cheapest deals. But just because they are number one does not mean that they are licensed by Philips.

The biggest DVD replicators in porn can be pirates (can go to China with your masters, replicate them illegally in huge quantities and sell them to distributors around the world who don't mind dealing in stolen product) and not pay their royalty fee to Philips.

Many of the replicators will pirate product (illegally replicate DVDs) and sell them overseas. Many of the replicators won't pay their DVD royalty fees to Philips and when the multinational cracks down on them, the replicator goes out of business and starts up as a new company.

Producers, replicators and distributors can get legal letters from Philips saying that the DVDs you are selling are in violation of copyright law and here's a bill.

Media Factory lost their license for a couple of weeks and then they got their license back again.

My guess is that about a third of replicators in porn are licensed by Philips (who does not care if a company is replicating porn so long as they pay a royalty fee).

Last November, Jill Kelly Productions prompted raids by U.S. marshals against replicators DVD Concepts, International Video Innovation, Inc and L&M Optical. JKP said those companies were illegally replicating their movies.

One source tells me the piracy case died because the three replicators had contracts with JKP to duplicate and sell JKP product if JKP did not pay them. The police never prosecuted after finding out the truth. I heard the companies never got the masters and copies back though because by the time the cops found out the truth, the whole JKP thing was tied up in bankruptcy.

ADM (Advanced Digital Media) replicates for mainstream as well as porn. They typically charge 60-70s per disc.

(Another source tells me that Disney demands that all their replicators sign an agreement with substantial penalty for violation that they do not replicate porn.)

ADM doesn't mess around. All your masters are kept in locked vaults. You can go online and look through cams to make sure your stuff is not being messed with.

It's not uncommon for a replicator (or any other business) to claim you owe them money when you've already paid that bill. So then you have to prove you paid the bill before they will leave you alone.

It's not uncommon for a replicator to charge you for work they have not done. When you go to get the product you've paid for, they will say, "Oh, we can't find it. We must've lost it. We'll give you a refund."

Some replicators will try to hold on to your masters. Or they'll claim they've lost the masters. They'll use the masters as leverage to try to get you to do more replication with them. They'll try to hold the producer hostage.

You might order a set number of pieces from a replicator and he'll replicate far more than what you asked for and he'll try to charge you.

Some replicators want to earn your future business. Others want to bite a piece out of you right away.

Packaging typically costs 15c per disc.

Why Are DVDs Cheaper In Europe And Asia?

Why are there different formats for DVDs so you can't play a European-formatted DVD on an American DVD player?

There's a huge market for cracking these codes and numerous bulletin boards on the internet on how to allow your DVD player to play any DVD.

Why do many American porn producers sell their DVD rights overseas for a song? Is it because their foreign sales connections are so bad and untrustworthy?

Do distributors have any legal liability if they distribute pirated material? How does a distributor know if a DVD was legally replicated?

A distributor replies: "You might want to ask an attorney about this one, since I wouldn't touch this type of material. If a distributor actually did something like this, they could certainly be involved in civil litigation which would open them up to civil subpoenas, depositions and high legal costs."

Mike M writes:

There are different formats (region codes) because when the DVD format was developed all of the big Hollywood studios wanted some sort of control over which region of the world could get a certain movie on DVD. Only after it was coded for those regions players. That was the only way they could get the studios to agree to put their product on DVD to begin with. It’s all mute now because region coding is so easily cracked and DVD’s so easily replicated. Most of the places I have visited people will only buy region free multi-standard DVD players. So they can play US Region DVD’s now anyway. As far as I can tell the Americans alone, are the only ones, buying the region-coded players.

People in other countries don't make as much money as Americans or at least do not have as much discretionary spending cash. We may spend $30 for a new DVD but ask the same of someone who makes only $30 a week and they will go for the $2 pirated copy every time. I know of producers (of mainstream entertainment) who sell / lease their rights overseas cheaply just to give the local pirate some competition. I wonder if porn producers don't do the same. I recommend you go here if you want to avoid all of this nonsense.

David Clark writes:

DVDs are region-coded -- & American players fitted with chips programmed only to recognize Region 1 -- because with varying exchange rates around the world, as well as differences in local retail rates according to what that economy will bear, it's financially viable for middlemen to import huge quantities of legitimate foreign releases into the states & sell them at a discount -- thereby reducing sales in the primary market.

The studios tend to get overzealous, however, & are not unknown to harass internet retailers of foreign-release DVDs that will ship to the states, when those retailers are only serving a small percentage of cinephile collectors seeking alternate versions &/or material as yet unreleased in the U.S. This was an issue with the DVD of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, which was released in China before it had even made it out of American theaters.

I get emailed: "Slysoft.com has a great app called anydvd that fixes all your problems. It's not free, but you download a demo. Its definitely worth the $25, as it lets you make backups of your dvds rather easily. I actually purchased AnyDVD and CloneDVD."

REGION 1 -- USA, Canada
REGION 2 -- Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East, Greenland
REGION 3 -- S.Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Parts of South East Asia
REGION 4 -- Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (including Mexico)
REGION 5 -- Eastern Europe, Russia, India, Africa
REGION 6 -- China
REGION 7 -- Reserved for Unspecified Special Use
REGION 8 -- Resevered for Cruise Ships, Airlines, etc...
REGION 0 or REGION ALL -- Discs are uncoded and can be played Worldwide, however, PAL discs must be played in a PAL-compatible (European) unit and NTSC (North American) discs must be played in an NTSC-compatible unit though almost all PAL-compatible DVD players in Europe will play NTSC DVDs just fine.

Porn DVD Sales For 2005

The top six companies amount to no more than $100 million for the U.S. market according to industry sources.

* Evil Angel: $25 million
* Vivid: $22 million
* Red Light District: $20 million
* Anabolic/Diabolic: $13 million
* Adam & Eve: $10 million
* Wicked: $8 million
* Zero Tolerance: $8 million
* Sin City: $4 million

If there were 13,600 releases in 2005, the highest possible average (median) number of units sold per title would be 1,000 and the highest possible average (median) price would be $20 each, which would make for total DVD sales for 2005 at $272 million. According to experienced distributors, sales for new titles are double those for catalogue (titles from last year or older). So the combined sales of new titles ($272 million) and catalogue ($136) would equal $408 million for 2005.

The biggest porn replicator, L&M Optical, has not been licensed by Philips (runs about 3c per DVD) at various times and pornographers who've replicated through L&M have had their DVDs seized in the Netherlands (home country of Philips). L&M indemnifies many if not all of their customers against such seizures. All the biggest porn companies replicate through L&M, including LFP, Vivid, Evil Angel, Red Light District.

Evil Angel and VCA replicated in Taiwan a few years ago.

Where does one buy the raw DVDs that replicators replicate?

David from MyPornoReview.com responds:

There are no raw DVDs to buy to replicate. When you replicate a DVD or CD essentially the manufacture makes a stamp or glass master which is then used to "replicate" or "press" the DVDs.

From the Glass Master a set of "stampers" are made. The stampers or molds are the blueprint for the CD / DVD replication process. Stampers are mounted into a High Tech injection mold machine. In the molding process, a replica of the mold is created in the form of a 4.75 (120 mm) plastic disc. The formed disc is then coated with a micro-thin reflective layer of aluminum.

The final stage of the CD / DVD replication process involves the application of a protective lacquer that is spun onto the disc and then hardened by ultraviolet (UV) light. The replication process is now complete. All processes are performed in-line to ensure quality, accuracy and speed from start to finish.

Many American porn companies will replicate their DVDs in America for sale in Europe and elsewhere. Almost all European PAL-format DVDs will still play American NTSC-format DVDs though most American DVD players will not play European PAL-format DVDs.

I believe that Vivid and Wicked will put our four titles of compilations for every original movie they release.

According to AVN, there were about 13,600 new titles released last year. I believe that the number of original titles and compilations are about even. Comps sell retail for about $5 each and original hetero titles sell for about $20. Gay original titles will sell for up to $70 each.

Macrovision (used by Wicked and Sineplex) helps prevent casual piracy but not sophisticated piracy. Other companies don't use it because there was a problem with regular DVD players not reading the Macrovision technology and rejecting the DVD.

The quality pirates are able to break the Macrovision code.

British porners replicate overseas, particularly in Holland and Prague.

6/13/06

I've blathered on my site about replicator KBH-Blaine (owned by the people behind Damagedpictures.com). I was confused. KBH-Blaine is not a replicator. Companies such as KBH have dealt with L&M for years. KBH and company are middlemen. KBH and company will take the titles from ten studios and walk into L&M with an order for hundreds of thousands of pieces.

KBH's owner (not Kevin Beechum, but Blaine Hensler sp?) started as a middleman.

What does "KBH" stand for? Blaine Hensler (the co-owner of Damaged Pictures)?

While L&M Optical West is the king of cheap replication, the turnaround times can stretch to a month or more unless you have an in, such as KBH or you're Kenny Guarino. Does Guarino own part of L&M West? He intimates that he does. He likes to portray that he can get anything he wants from L&M or from Michael Warner's printing company Great Western Litho.

"It's a huge gamble to replicate with L&M West because they are not licensed by Philips," says a porn company owner, "but their price is so good. If you look through their plant, you won't believe the size of the operation. There's mainstream stuff there including Disney. Mostly mainstream."

Danni Skura is the Israeli behind L&M Optical West. He seems heavily medicated. You'd think he ingested more lithium than Larry Flynt. Danny seems totally out of it. He seems to walk around in a daze. You sit there and you say to yourself, "What the hell is this? Who the hell am I dealing with?" Danny Skura seems half-comatose. It's hard to believe he runs a huge business such as L&M.

Danny walks around in gym shorts and a t-shirt. His hair is a frazzled mess. Is it a front? Danny just does not look competent.

Plant manager Effie seems to know every single part of the operation.

If you can afford, them, Advanced Digital Media offers superb customer service (it's run by a woman, most of their work is mainstream) and turnaround times. Yet they are not licensed by Philips.

6/14/06

Porn's Biggest Replicator - L&M Optical West - Licensed By Philips, Which Holds The Patent For DVD Replication?

Philips database for licensed replicators.

A search of the Philips database says only the Brooklyn site of L&M Optical is licensed.

Any replication done by an unlicensed replicator can be seized and large judgments made in civil court (and federal marshals can impound your product if it is illegally replicated).

I understand that L&M writes indemnities for many, if not all, companies who replicate with them (most of L&M's replication may be non-porn). Sometimes product has been seized and L&M has resolved the problem.

I've blathered on my site about replicator KBH-Blaine (owned by the people behind Damagedpictures.com). I was confused. KBH-Blaine is not a replicator. Companies such as KBH have dealt with L&M for years. KBH and company are middlemen. KBH and company will take the titles from ten studios and walk into L&M with an order for hundreds of thousands of pieces.

KBH's owner (not Kevin Beechum, but Blaine Hensler sp?) started as a middleman.

What does "KBH" stand for? Blaine Hensler (the co-owner of Damaged Pictures)?

While L&M Optical West is the king of cheap replication, the turnaround times can stretch to a month or more unless you have an in, such as KBH or you're Kenny Guarino. Does Guarino own part of L&M West? He intimates that he does. He likes to portray that he can get anything he wants from L&M or from Michael Warner's printing company Great Western Litho.

"It's a huge gamble to replicate with L&M West because they are not licensed by Philips," says a porn company owner, "but their price is so good. If you look through their plant, you won't believe the size of the operation. There's mainstream stuff there including Disney. Mostly mainstream."

Danni Skura is the Israeli behind L&M Optical West. He seems heavily medicated. You'd think he ingested more lithium than Larry Flynt. Danny seems totally out of it. He seems to walk around in a daze. You sit there and you say to yourself, "What the hell is this? Who the hell am I dealing with?" Danny Skura seems half-comatose. It's hard to believe he runs a huge business such as L&M.

Danny walks around in gym shorts and a t-shirt. His hair is a frazzled mess. Is it a front? Danny just does not look competent.

Plant manager Effie seems to know every single part of the operation.

L&M Optical West

"They refuse to deliver anything on time," grouses a pornographer about porn's cheapest replicator. "Nor do they provide anything resembling customer service. They make us miss release dates. They don't care. They give everybody the same bad treatment. Perhaps they've priced themselves so low that they are not able to afford competent customer service.

"There's an attitude among the people who work for L&M -- they're passive aggressive. You'll tell them a title you particularly need replicated and you'll get the titles you weren't in a hurry for and the title you begged them for, it just doesn't come. There's something weird and dysfunctional there.

"There's an attitude among the staff that customers are a nuisance while the putative owner Danni Skura (has an Asian business partner named David) is out hustling for business even though they can't handle what they have now.

"Danni has a slovenly appearance. He wears shorts and a dirty t-shirt. He's enigmatic.

"Maybe L&M has more demand than output ability?

"Effie, the plant manager, is an Israeli. He's a jerk.

"How is L&M 30% cheaper than anyone else? Because they don't pay the licensing fee that other replicators do? I'd guess they skimp on customer service."

They are the quintessence of a low-overhead operation. Sometimes they have machines replicating in the parking lot. Sometimes they have not had their customer records on the computer. It's on cards.

Futureworks (owner Jonathan Resnick) is purported to be as cheap as L&M. It is based in New York but has a West Coast branch and is reputed to have a DVD replication facility in China.

Email jeff_rosen@adelphia.net for more information.

6/16/06

David at MyPornoReview.com writes:

Luke, it's only due time that the Feds seize L&M product or facility. Today they seized 20,000 DVD players from Cyberhome for neglecting to pay royalties to Phillips:

It's all fun and games until the FBI comes a knocking. CyberHome USA of Fremont, CA just had more than 20,000 of their CyberHome-branded DVD players seized from a warehouse by a task force which included local, state and federal agencies. Turns out they've neglected royalty payments to Philips, to the tune of millions of dollars. Their DVD players and other consumer tech is sold through outlets such as Amazon, Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's, Target and Wal-Mart, and they happen to be "one of the world's largest manufacturers and importers of DVD devices." California has laws on the books that provide for up to three years in prison and fines up to $500,000 for dealing with more than 1,000 items bearing a counterfeit mark, which CyberHome seems to have been doing in spades ever since Philips revoked their license. The players were loaded onto eight tractor-trailers, and are worth an estimated $2 million at retail. We're not exactly sure what the police plan to do with all that tech, but we're sure it'll involve a lot of "Starsky & Hutch - The Complete Second Season."

Ty Kirstein emails:

Hi Luke.

I work for L&M. We are a fully licensed replicator, probably the only one that is. You mentioned that "L&M is porn's largest replicator." Well being the larges replicator for the industry, wouldn't you think they would be watching us like hawks? We could NEVER be this large for this long. Obviously the brain activity is a little absent for you.

We have many loyal customers. Yes we have great prices. And of course there will be jealous types like yourself. I'm not sure where your getting your information from. It sounds like you might own part of a company or something to try and steal the business from L&M. Good luck! You and anyone else are going to need it.

As far as the customer service, I feel safe to say that I offer our customers excellent customer service. I run the credit and approvals dept. Most of us here have good rapport with several of our customers.

I also don't see the importance of race with the owners and any of our staff here. You seem scary to do business with since your so quick to racially judge and make comments that are absolutely untrue. Who cares what Danny wears to work? Are you all of a sudden the porn industries fashion police? I would love to see what you wear on a daily basis. Lithium huh? That was a good one. Danny being Israeli too! Even better. You better check your resources before you open your mouth and write your un-educated, un-knowledgeable, pathetic, useless column.

Get a real job! I wouldn't be surprised if you or whoever said this still does business with us. Have a great day!