Phasion

He calls me back Monday morning, May 23, 2005. He speaks slowly.

Phasion: "We've been playing phone tag."

Duke: Tell me about your role with the Pimfomation XXX movie.

Phasion: "I've been shooting for Gabor Esterhazy [at Onyxxx Films and Heatwave]. I shoot for Hustler. Ghetto Booty and Black 'n' Wild. I've been shooting for about four years now.

"Gabor wanted to do a pimp movie. He wanted Bishop Don Juan. I knew him through a girl. But he was asking for too much money. I told Gabor, I know this dude around the way, Mr. Johnson. He won't charge too much to do it.

"I asked Mr. Johnson. I said, it's not going to pay a lot. It's just something that we're trying to throw together.

"Gabor was unsure. I said I'd do the movie real cheap. So we do it.

"I took Mr. Johnson to meet Gabor. I was the middle man. I was directing the movie.

"Gabor kept asking me if Mr. Johnson was a real pimp. I was like, yes.

"Mr. Johnson has his album coming out -- Pimpfomation.

"I told Mr. Johnson, keep Pimpfomation [album] for yourself. I told Gabor, do Pimpfomation XXX as a video.

"I put all the scenes together. Mr. Johnson took me to where pimps work. Everything he had to do, he had to do when I wanted to do it. I shot seven scenes for that movie. He was there for three-to-four scenes. The other five he wasn't there.

"The movie came out. AVN gave it a good rating. Then Mr. Johnson found out. He called Gabor every day bugging him.

"I would go to Gabor's office and Mr. Johnson would be there. Gabor would be looking at me like, 'You brought this man to me and he's bugging the f--- out of me.'

"He had the Pimpfomation manual. He was already selling the manual. He got one of the guys in Gabor's office to redo the manual.

Mr. Johnson would call people about the movie. He'd say he made the movie. He directed everything. He spent money on everything.

"We're at the [AVN] awards. They called the name of the [movie]. Mr. Johnson runs up to the stage and grabs the award and he's talking.

"Gabor's trying to say something. Mr. Johnson won't let nobody else talk. He won't let nobody see the award.

"Mr. Johnson says 20 people were on stage. There was only me, Gabor, a pimp named Maroy, and Mr. Johnson. Mr. Johnson was just talking and hogging the award. He wouldn't let none of us talk. We were just being professional about it.

"We get to the back and the people want to take pictures with the award. Mr. Johnson says, nah, nah. This is going home with me and momma tonight. Ain't nobody getting this award.

"We were cool. I brought him to meet Gabor. Then he dissed Gabor like that. He dissed me like that. I'm feeling bad. That was bad business. Stupid. Why would he burn a bridge like that? He started a whole bunch of commotion.

"I'm a humble person. I've done all types of stuff and I have all types of things to fall back on. I used to work at The Beat, the radio station, for five years. I worked for Priority Records for five years. Artist development. Marketing. I know all that type of stuff.

"Mr. Johnson thought he was going to get a deal with Smash and they were going to give him the budget money. That didn't happen. Somebody else paid for the movie. Somebody else directed the movie. And they just asked for Mr. Johnson when they needed him. He doesn't realize that none of this would've happened if all of us didn't put a part into the movie. He couldn't have done it without me because he wouldn't have known anybody to do it with.

"This shouldn't have happened to Gabor. He's a cool person. This shouldn't have happened to me."

Duke: "When did you last speak to Mr. Johnson?"

Phasion: "At the Pimp Ball in March. I'm doing a new movie (Pimpin' Nation: Daddy's Side of the Closet) with this other pimp, Pimpin' Young. Daddy's Side of the Closet is the name of Pimpin' Young's new album. But we're doing everything 50/50. We started on the movie before we went to Gabor. He was shaky about doing it because of what happened with Mr. Johnson.

"Gabor gave me another chance. Pimpin' Young is a great artist. He wrote songs for Snoop Doggy Dog, Kokane, The Eastsiders. He's in the movie Who's Making The Moves?

"Pimpin' Young and I put our heads together and I got to see everything I didn't see with Pimpfomation. He brought me into his world. I got to tape The Players Ball. Sugar Booger, which is a pimp and a rapper in the group The Relatives. I got to tape Sugar's birthday party, and I wouldn't have got to tape none of that stuff if it weren't for Pimpin' Young."

According to the Urban Dictionary, "Sugar Booger" means boyfriend.

Phasion: "It's like a reality porn movie. A lot of parts in it look like [the reality TV show] Cops but it is all real. I was on track with the pimps all night. I was following a group of prostitutes. We have platinum artists on the soundtrack. We have a producer named Chocolate, DJ Silk, Shock G, Baby S (who does a lot of stuff for T.T. Boy). All the girls in our movie are either hos or escorts.

"This time around, Gabor spent a lot of money on this movie. We want to outdo Pimpfomation and anything Mr. Johnson thought he was going to do. I spent a lot of my extra money to make this movie successful.

"AVN just gave it Editor's Choice and four-and-a-half As.

"Mr. Johnson didn't go to the Pimps Ball. I went to the ball. After the ball, Mr. Johnson was outside passing out fliers for his movie [Under Pimp Arrest]. He saw me. I had him on camera. He said, 'You know you're going to have to have me sign a model release.' But he didn't say too much. He just said that he had the game sewn up.

"I don't have to go on the street and talk about movies and what's going to be good and what's not. I just do things. If you do good, it's all good. If you don't, it's not, and I'll start on something else."

Duke: "How long have you been in the porn industry?"

Phasion: "About five years. I started out managing girls and taking girls to different companies. I'm cool with everybody. I'm just blessed. I'm blessed to be where I am now. I never went to school for directing or filming. I've just always picked things up. I never even knew I would even be a little successful. I know I've always been a creative person. I've always had a job in the entertainment field.

"I went to school. I graduated. I have my Associates in Arts degree [from Pasadena City College]. I have my Associates in Science in cosmetology. I have my license. I always wanted to do something to be around girls because I love women."

Duke: "I thought most guys who were into cosmetology were gay?"

Phasion: "There was a lot of guys who ain't who were in class with me. We were just flirting with the girls.

"I used to go up to the Cosmetology school and flirt with all the girls. But the teacher would always throw me out. So one semester I just took the class. I sat in there. The teacher came in there and said, you gotta get out of my class. And I was like, I'm enrolled in your class. I shocked her.

"I just flew in there because I liked playing with the girls. I ended up cutting a lot of guys' hair but I met a lot of girls. And all the guys who were in the class with me, my home boys, we all took it, and most of them they barbers. Even though they took cosmetology, they decided just to do guys' hair.

"After that, I took four classes and got my AA. And because I took Cosmetology, they gave me an AS (Associates of Science degree) too.

"I transferred to Cal State LA and that's how I got my job at The Beat. I was an intern at first. They ended up hiring me. Every time they'd ask me to come in to work, I'd come. I was doing everything a hired person was doing.

"I got Street Team Member of the Month three times."

Duke: "What's dirtier? The porn industry or the music industry?"

Phasion: "In a way, they are both the same. My pet peeve is fake people. There are a bunch in both industries. There are a lot of people who lie.

"Mr. Johnson went on stage and said that was his award. But on the thing, it says Best Ethnic-Themed Movie. It's not saying it is no director or to him. It is to that company. Gabor owns that movie. If anything, that award should be Gabor's.

"I told Pimpin' Young what Mr. Johnson did and he said that's no pimping. Pimps don't do things like that. He apologized for how ignorant Mr. Johnson was.

"We're about to start on another project together. We have a good chemistry with each other. He's a businessman.

"I want to thank Nicky Stark and Craig Daze at Darkside. They are the reason I started shooting. I used to take girls to Nicky Stark. He asked me if I wanted to do anything. He would teach me a little bit while he was shooting. One day Nicky got sick. He wanted a scene done. He asked me to shoot it. He left all the equipment at his back door. The money and everything. He told me to come and get it and shoot the scene.

"I shot a lot of stuff. It wasn't that good but it was good enough for him to edit it. If it wasn't for them at Darkside giving me that chance... All my success is from them and Kim Hicks and D. Sparky from Inner City at Hustler. I shot a movie for Jerry at Exquisite.

"Gabor says I take a long time finishing a project. That's because I'm trying to get everything. I can't do it in one day."