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I was introduced today (8/20/98) to David Woodrow, the "nice Jim South," meaning he's a talent agent on the soft end of the sex business - Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler and strip clubs.

Like his peers in hardcore and Hollywood, he prefers unbuttoned shirts, strong tans and gold chains.

Born in 1964, Woodrow began as a Chippendales dancer in his native country of Canada. "One guy would entertain 400 women while in the US, Chippendales would employ five guys to entertain that number of women.

"Being in the female talent business, you end up working with night clubs, dance clubs, strip clubs… A good friend of mine is Michael J. Peters, who was the biggest club owner (35-40 clubs) in the world. He got his big money from the owner of the Miami Dolphins. I've had some good mentors over the years including Charlie Minor, a record executive who was killed by his girlfriend last year in Malibu."

David helped start the boom in strip clubs which have been renamed "Gentlemens Clubs." He launched Canada's Stripper magazine in 1986 with Rob Abner of Cheri. "I became more interested in playing agent in LA while he was more interested in developing the magazine, so we split.

"About twelve years ago, we were bringing these great looking girls (strippers) from other countries to LA. And when the photographer or agent asked 'what do you do?', that's when this whole thing [respectability given to sex businesses] took off. The clubs became more upscale. More and more movies used clubs as locations. Then movies about clubs…

"At one time Playboy would not take a dancer. That's changed.

"Girls would come to LA. She comes here for two weeks, and spends the day time chasing modeling and acting gigs. At night, these girls are at the bars and parties meeting more directors and producers. That gets these guys thinking, 'what a great idea for a movie…'

"Years ago, in countries like Canada [with no large media market]… You're a good looking girl just out of high school… Where do you go? What do you do? You either go get married, waitress or move to the States. Or you become a stripper. And a celebrity. The big thing to be in Canada a few years ago was to be a stripper. You're getting a better quality of girl. Classier. More brains. More beauty. While years ago, only a few girls were great and most of them were average… Now, half the women in clubs are knockouts."

Strippers fall into two categories - house girls who pay clubs to dance there and live off tips, and features who are paid by clubs from $3,000 - $15,000 a week.

"We'd get girls to come to LA to work with us because we could get them into Playboy and Baywatch and build up their credits so they could become features. We had a straight agency [David Woodrow Agency] but half the girls were strippers."

Woodrow is helping start a magazine called Vice, published by Brion D. Ware of Media Net Studios. "Playboy meets Details magazine, some nudity but more meat and potato articles and interviews… The emphasis is vices like smoking, alcohol and cigars…

"All the top-end magazines touch up their pictures. Because it's expensive, only the big companies do it. The models do not look as great in person. We add great make-up, great photography and great locations. The girls are beautiful, but we're selling a whole look." (Winnipeg Free Press 8/25/96)

Woodrow says Playboy has become more professional over the years. "We're getting more of a female look…like Cosmopolitan…

"Playboy does not like to be lumped in with the rest of the group [sex mags] because they are trashy. Playboy is classy. We get celebrities, great news stories…

"Lots of people would like to trade places with me. I run around the country looking for talent. It's fun. You meet lots of great people. You talk to the press. You get the key tot he city. That Bunny hear - I heard it's the second most popular logo in the world - opens a lot of doors." (Ibid.)

David's latest project is the Venus Swimwear Model Search (9/17-26), using beautiful girls from around the world.

"We supply great looking people for different clients. We've never had one girl hit it really big. We fly in girls from around the world. We drive them around to the clients (Playboy, Penthouse, etc). It gets to the point where they are fighting over the girls. 'We'll give you a $5,000 finders fee if you give us an exclusive deal.' Perhaps we made a mistake choosing quantity over quality…We got so wrapped up with volume, that we never took the time to make that special girl a star."

David has worked for years with Dianne Bennett, Kenny Copeland (strip club owner) and Sheila Thompsen (casting agent).

In 1996, Woodrow shut down his talent agency to get married and live in Seattle with Bobbi Brown, a stripper and nude model. Now (8/98) he's getting a divorce and thinking of restarting his agency.

David says the key factor in his ability to attract girls to his business "is to be really nice. Treat them professionally. Because there are so many do-do brain guys out there who just want to sleep with them… I never hit on them. If a girl wants you to hit on her, you'll know. For me, it's business first and pleasure second.

"Over the years I've had some interesting and crazy offers… Heidi Fleiss and her partner approached us six years ago. That's a line I won't cross. I don't do hardcore. There are lots of great ways to make money legally…

"We've done lots of casting for Playboy over the past ten years. We've produced videos for them. I've given them photographers and make-up people. It's a huge company with many different divisions…"

David says he has self-destructed three times in his career. "I've made a ton of cash and partied it away. LA is a great town to make money.

"Ten years ago, most of the girls, and most people, thought of gentleman's clubs as a shallow sleazy business. But…we've been using the girls for so many different projects that it became acceptable for these girls to say, 'I'm a dancer.' Ten to fifteen years ago, it would've come back, 'we can't hire you for the job.'

"The girls are getting more into the public eye. The clubs are getting fixed up. It's a classy business. Though you still have the seedy dives where there are five guys sitting around the stage…

"You have criminals elements no matter what. So long as you can disassociate yourself from that… It's everywhere, movie studios, record studios… You can go to any night club in LA, and at one table will be the biggest celebrities around. At the next table, the biggest cocaine dealer around. At the table next to them, a bunch of models.

"The women find us. Ten years ago, I had ten offices around the country scouting for talent. People are constantly sending us women.

"I've had three different businesses - David Woodrow Productions, Extreme which became Sirens… Sheila Thompsen Casting…

"That was a smart thing I did - put everything under my name. Everything was David Woodrow…

"We did magazines, calendars… We were the T&A agency. Body doubles… I developed more contacts and got more into the straight world.

"I've never crossed over into hardcore because I've had too many clients that are straight. It's too taboo. Same reason that I ran away from Heidi Fleiss…

"Sexual entertainment is becoming more acceptable, especially with AIDS. Guys are willing to watch now instead of actually participating.

"Last night I caught a concert in San Diego. Now I'm going to CBS to see my friend Bill Maher's show Politically Incorrect. Later on dinner at the House of Blues. Alice Cooper plays tonight. The one good thing about being in the girl business is that you get a lot of doors opened to you… Every day I get several calls inviting me…

"The best commodity in the world is not oil or gold or diamonds. It's beautiful girls. Every man will do anything for a woman. And when you surround yourself with the best, it's amazing.

"In the old days [late '80s], I'd get five or six models dressed up, and I would take them to the best places in town like Chasens, the Polo Lounge… That's how I got people' attention. Here's this young kid walking through the door with five or six gorgeous babes. Every guy was handing out his card, wanting to pick up the girls. It's now to the point where they just want me to show up… I know everybody. Back then I wanted to build up a name and that was the quickest way to do it, because you meet the directors and producers… So why go to offices and bang on doors and do it the hard way when you can just get that first boom… You get their attention and then they're calling me.

"That's how I became friends with Stallone. My friend Joey DePinto was best friends with Stallone in the late '80s. We had dinner with Sylvester. Then we all went back to Stallone's house in the hills for a drink. We had similar girlfriends. We'd dated the same girl at one time. That's how I met guys like Charlie Mathau [son of Walter Mathau], Gary Busey… I've met hundreds of stars. I had a casting business with Lloyd Raglin who used to play for the Miami Dolphins. Through him I met OJ Simpson, Magic Johnson, Marcus Allen… Then Charlie Minor was in the music business, and he introduced me to many people. And Allen Miller who owned New York Seltzer and a part of the Mondrian Hotel. That was the place where rockers stayed for a week and never got out of their pajamas.

"I was the new kid on the block with all the girls and so I became instant friends with these guys.

"I was the biggest agent in Canada. I had 500 females that nobody had ever seen before. When I came to town, I was an instant hit. Immigration laws were not as tough then as now… It was easier to get people down here to work.

"Once I saw how everybody wanted new blood, I started setting up offices in New York, Florida, St. Louis, Seattle, Dallas…

"A lot of girls only make $400-$500 a day doing adult movies. About ten years ago, we helped these girls get feature dancing gigs where they were paid thousands of dollars a week.

"The only time I'm not moving is when I'm sleeping. I'm always on the go. My mind is always on. I have so many deals going down…

"When I got married, we got a house in Seattle. To be fair to my marriage… Like this Venus Swimwear gig with 85 girls from all over the world. Most of them are dying to come to LA. Once they find out who I am, and my connections… I am very classy and professional, and that's why the girls feel comfortable with me… There's no casting couch.

"I've slept with over a thousand women in my life. At one time, I was dating 50 girls. It was crazy. I had a different date for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"I want to become more selective about the projects I do. I want to work on a big feature film and have several businesses that send me royalty checks in the mail."

Charley Frey says Woodrow and his wife Bobbie owe him several hundred dolars in commission. And that Bobbi bounced a check for $1000 to a costume maker in the midwest.

Michael Peters is now (8/98) out of jail, and out of house arrest, after getting busted for income tax evasion. As part of his deal with the government, he had to relinquish ownership in the clubs. He now serves as a "consultant" to strip clubs.

Woodrow played a prominent role in the essay "Work on the Wild Side," by Jamie Kastner.

Then I noticed that Playboy's Special Editions and Playboy TV were here were doing a "Model Talent Search" at a waterfront nightclub. Why not find out how the professionals do it?

Inside the club's glass-walled VIP lounge are three goateed men with receding hair, hunks of neck gold, open shirts, sunk in mushroom chairs, their backs to the lake. They talk loud on cell phones, softly to each other, whisper in the ear of the odd woman who passes through.

A stream of double vodka sodas is flowing.

The goatees are from Playboy. The big one is David Woodrow, Canadian co-ordinator. Once from Calgary, he's now leather-tanned with spiked blond hair -- pure L.A.

The medium goatee is Kevin Kuster, photo production manager with Playboy Special Issues. He's pallid, with a southern accent toned down by a decade in Chicago.

The small goatee (even with the aid of patent-leather brothel creepers) is Eric Mittleman, a producer with Playboy Entertainment Group, L.A.

"We think there may be some production opportunities in Canada," says Mittleman with a slight lisp. "We've come to scout for talent, locations, production resources. I like the look, the feel of the city." He glances over his shoulder. "There's a very Florida feeling here. Very southern U.S."

Woodrow and Kuster swish across the club to a dark stage at the far end. At the edge of the stage is the evening's talent: women of varying heights but the same shape, with sculpted hair, cartoon chests, champagne-flute legs, vertigo-inducing heels.

6/16/00

David Woodrow Talks Back

Earlier this week, I ran this: I talked by telephone with new contract girl Ashley and her husband John. I met them with Loretta at Erotica LA on Sunday.

John: "You caught us in the middle of this one. [Talent agent David Woodrow] had a shooting with The Londoners (they shoot nude pictorials for Penthouse, etc). We supposedly owed him money for agency fees. The Londoners were to give us a $500 check for that day. David says, you guys owe me $300 for jobs I've gotten you. Fine.

"We were going to do a shoot for Hustler the next day and we wanted to make sure that he had made arrangements for us to get paid that same day. So we allowed him to take the $300.

"We did the shoot over a week ago for Clive McClean and Hustler and we still haven't gotten paid [LF: they were paid Monday]. And David knew we wouldn't get paid. That's how Hustler's bookkeeping works. David lied to us by saying that he'd made arrangements with Hustler to get paid [that day] so he could get his money. We gave him the money and it's left us broke.

"We've heard from other girls who've had some bad experiences with him that we've come in contact with..."

Luke to Ashley: "It sounds like you had a bad experience."

Ashley: "Yeah... I just find it weird that everybody [talent agents] get their fee for getting their girl work, but it is illegal to take money from somebody for having sex. I know that. I've been through the courts for that, in California and Nevada... And for him to come to my job (The Londoners), I think that's totally unprofessional. I hate him. It messed up my makeup and everything. My expressions for my face. It ruined my day. I haven't talked to him since, but when I do, I'm going to let him have it."

Mad Jack: "Ashley and John are under my wing now. And we're coming out to LA this week and looking to shoot. And I'm bringing Senneca and Fawna. Folks who want to shoot them should email me, madjack@lvcm.com."

Ashley: "Loretta is a great woman. She's not screwing anybody. She is part of Woodrow's operation."

I talked Monday evening to Loretta, who works with David Woodrow. Woodrow concentrates on placing talent in mainstream entertainment and Loretta, a tall blonde with a husky voice, concentrates on what she knows best - adult.

"That's a bunch of crap," said Loretta when I relayed Ashley and John's comments.

"If Mad Jack's got them under his wing... He has no claim to them," says Loretta. "We have a signed agreement with them. If anyone wants to book these girls, including Fawnna, people have to go through me. Haloxx@aol.com.

"Who is this Mad Jack idiot? He's a f---ing liar. I'm still Ashley's manager."

Loretta's worked in porn since 1991. She ran Hustler's photo studio through 1995. Over the past few years, she's been putting people together.

At the webmaster convention IA2000 in Las Vegas in January, Loretta ran into her friend of eight years, talent agent David Woodrow. They decided to work together.

Luke: Friday afternoon I talked with David Woodrow to get his side of things.

David: "I am a manager, not an agent..."

Luke: "Ashley was saying that you came on to her Londoner shoot and upset her and caused her to smudge her makeup and take bad photos, because you were so eager to get your $300 fees. And you told her that Hustler would pay her that day, and instead she had to wait days to get paid."

David: "I have all these kids under a contract that basically allows me and them to do anything to each other within reason. So, for example, I can cash her checks and I have 30 days to pay her. It is a typical management contract from the real world. We're starting to use them now for the nudity stuff to cover our butts because these girls are f---ing around with our commission.

"Ashley owes me over $500 still and she's owed me money for months. So I went down to the set to get some of the money. I was tired of f---ing waiting for her. Because she kept promising me that she was going to bring it in. She never did. She missed three jobs when she didn't show up. One of them was for Hustler. And they were so pissed off it was hard for me to talk them into reshooting her. She actually booked the job, confirmed that she was going to come, and then never showed up. And she did that twice to the Londoners."

Luke: "Did you tell her that she'd get paid the same day by Hustler?"

David: "In my 14 years of doing business with Hustler, I've had models paid the same day they were shot. And if the paperwork gets done properly, it will happen. The problem with Ashley was that she had already not shown up once. And they weren't even sure she was going to show up the second time they booked her. So until she actually got there and started filling out the paperwork, it was too late for her to get paid that day. I think she got paid four days later.

"But the real problem was her and her no-show. They had a bitter taste in their mouths and I had to talk them into giving her another chance.

"And the other problem with her is that she needs to quit doing drugs and get her head screwed on properly. Because she's pissing off a lot of people and as cute as she is, it's only going to last so long."

Luke: "You have offices where?"

David: "Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, Hawaii. I'm expanding all over the United States. 323-960-4336.

"We're in the middle of a Hustler Hometown Girls Models search. We're going all over the United States. We're going on location and shooting. We're next going to Chicago. We run ads to find girls. Go there and shoot the girls on location, which is unusual. Normally we bring the girls to LA."