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South chain smokes, but courteously exhales to the side to avoid antagonizing non-smokers. An excellent indoor ventilation system whisks most of the smoke away. Filled with Dallas Cowboy regalia and Dallas Cowboy publications, World Modeling is usually a frantic office with phones ringing off the hook and hysterical performers and producers prowling the halls. Jim however is usually calm, and smooth spoken, a rock in a raging current. His main assistant is the husky Steve Austin who performs and produces at times. Four days a week Jim gets help from his oldest of two sons - Jim South Jr, 22 years of age. Jim Jr still lives at home. He does not come into the office on Fridays. Jim Sr wants his son to return to college and avoid the porn business. Jim's other boy is 16. Jim South Sr, a lanky intelligent Texan who prefers blue jeans, cowboy boots and western shirts, has been married to a hispanic woman for over 30 years. On his wall, Jim keeps his various awards from AVN and XRCO (X-rated Critics Organization) and a copy of his state of California agency license, which is the same form in the office of Rob Spallone of Star World Modeling and in Reb Sawitz's Pretty Girl office. Jim South tells me: "I would really appreciate it if you made an effort to check your facts before you publish. As far as me not condoning dating talent: I did not say that in the 22 years I've been here [at World Modeling procuring talent largely for porn] that nobody who worked in this office has had a date with somebody. What I don't allow is assistants taking advantage of talent. Talent coordinators are not allowed to use their clout, their ability to get talent jobs, in to pressuring talent to sleep with them. "I would really appreciate it if you checked out facts rather than slamming it into the internet. I'm sure you've heard this before. [Phones ring in the background. Steve Austin answers them, "World Modeling."] "What's your response to that?" LUKE: Umm… Luke squirms in his seat. Five seconds of silence. "Ummm uhhh… My response would be… [Luke speaks slowly, awkwardly and quietly, with an intonation and manner increasingly approximating Jim's.] People say that they have had various forms of sexual relations with you or…" JIM: "What? " LUKE: "Talent and people in this industry say that you have had sex with the talent and that people who've worked for you have had sex with the talent. [Phones ringing in the background. Various pornographers on couches scan through Jim's books of talent photos. These huge bulky books are organized in alphabetical order. There are about six volumes. On the wall, Jim has placed about 50 photos of his most photogenic females.] "And so when LA Magazine says that you have a no dating policy, there appears to be a conflict." JIM: "Ok, what else would you like to know?" LUKE: "Umm, the Marc Wallice thing. I got reports from people in the industry who were concerned about Marc Wallice's HIV health, and him possibly being HIV positive." JIM: "I believe that you put on the internet that he was positive, before his test came back?" LUKE: "Right." JIM: "Because he had a negative Elisa test, but you saw fit to put it on the internet that he was positive, before even he knew that he was positive. So I was wondering where you get your sources?" [Phones ringing.] LUKE: "From people in the industry. "What about Spallone?" Jim is reading from a copy of my interview with Jim Spallone. He interrupts his interview with me to answer one of the ringing phones. "I have to help sorry. "World Modeling," Jim answer the phone. "I appreciate your call. But I don't need men right now. I don't have enough work for the men I have, who are proven performers. You are welcome to mail us pictures if you want and we're willing to show those pictures, but it's much more difficult to get a guy started than a girl. Thank you." Steve Austin answers a call: "Tommy [Byron], hold on." Steve to Jim: "I'm doing a pitch with someone in Florida on line three and Tom Byron is on line four." Jim chats with Tom for a minute then returns to talk to me. JIM: "World Modeling spends about seven thousand dollars a month recruiting people into this industry. I pay a $100 finders fee to people who bring me new talent. Out of 400 calls me a month (and we make our lengthy explanations), 150 will make appointments for an interview. Only 90-100 will show up. We then copy their IDs and take polaroids. We interview them. We give them a printout of our policies. Only 30% of these people will be usable. We fax copies of our Polaroids to the different companies. We get on the phone to promote them. "I don't have a problem with Spallone. I did business with Gourmet Video before Rob Spallone was there. I worked with their in-house director Roy Karch. I kept hearing rumors that they were going to start a modeling agency. "If someone wants to go through what I go through, to make the amount of money that I make per year, they are welcome. But I do not like it when they simply skim the cream… When talent works at Rob Spallone's studio, he hits them up with a pitch: If Jim gets you work, pay Jim. If I get you work, pay me. "But I'm the one who went to the expense and hassle of bringing these people into the business. If he wants to place ads, etc, fine. Do the work." Jim answers the phone. "World Modeling… Who is this?" Jim yells to Steve Austin. "John somebody is on line two." Jim to Luke F-rd: "This is slow. Fridays are slow. You should see it during the week." Steve to Jim: "Randy Paul used to work out here… He's in NY…" Jim to Steve: "Will you tell him I am in an interview?" Jim to Luke: "As Roy Karch would use my people for Gourmet… As the bill mounted [Gourmet's bill for the use of Jim's talent]… I stopped getting paid. I sent bills, faxed bills. Did everything I could do. So of course I stopped sending them people. "I have no problem with Rob starting an agency. What I do have a problem with is this: I run ads in about 20 newspapers per month, spending about $5K per month on ads. I pay finders fees… I spend about $7K a month to get talent. "We have huge talent calls. At the last one, we had 127 talent, and 70 something producers, distributors and photographers. The numbers are massive. Especially when you boil down to the talent who actually get work [and earn money for World Modeling]. "Let Rob run his own ads and pay his own finders fees. Talent that shoots at Star World usually gets solicited with his famous pitch: I know that you're with Jim or Reb. If they get you work, they get paid. If I get you work, I get paid. Rob is telling half the story. Three of us in this office [Jim South Sr, Jim Jr, and Steve Austin] putting in 40-50 hours a week taking hundreds of phone calls…working our butts off to get people in here. Getting them AIDS tests. Faxing everything everywhere. "I have never told anybody that I will not accept a test from the North Hollywood clinic [affiliated with Rob Spallone of Star World Modeling, Jim's competitor]. I do know that there have been problems with its accuracy. One girl had an Elisa at the Norton Clinic which read inconclusive. They have a policy that if a test is inconclusive, they don't tell you on the first test. They ask to do a Western Blot test. "Anyway, this girl went to North Hollywood and had an Elisa test which said negative. So the [accuracy of the] North Hollywood clinic scares me a little bit." Phone rings. Jim speaks: "World Modeling. "Ok, which paper did you see the ad in please? Allrighty, may I please ask you your age? "Ok, do you have ID on your age? "Ok, let me run it down for you. We are a licensed and bonded agency by the City of Los Angeles and the State of California. We've been in business for 22 years. We have a lot of photographers who shoot people through us. Now, most of the work that we get is photographic art and figure modeling which is nude modeling. The pay for a full day runs from a minimum of $200 a day to as much as $2500 a day, depending on who is shooting you and who it is for. You are paid immediately after you shoot. "Now, there is not cost, no fees and no obligations on your part. You can make an appointment for an interview and you can make a decision from that. Would you like to make an appointment? [Pause as Jim listens] "Well, has it been nude? Here's the difference. When you go to a fashion agency that is not nude, most of the time you need composites, and pictures and often training. Because most of what we do is nude, we do not require pictures, or training or a deposit. When you work, you are paid directly. We make a fee from the person who shoots you. We don't make a cent unless we get you work. And when you do work, we are paid by the person who shoots you. "But it's your call whether you think you would be interested in doing the nude modeling. [Pause] "You wanna maybe think about it a while and give us a call back? "You can bring anyone you want with you if you are nervous, but they do need to know it is nude for there are pictures on the wall. "Ok, how about Monday? 11AM, that way you miss traffic? Your name? Thanks. Is there a number where I can reach you? "Do you need directions? Simi Valley… Ok, get on the Simi Valley freeway… "Ok, honey, I'll see you Monday. Please don't forget your two IDs." Sharon Mitchell enters. She's talking to me, Steve Austin, another pornographer, Alec Metro and Jim South. We all discuss Frank Towers, who was recently caught by VCA faking one of his HIV tests. Frank is not the most intelligent person, several people say, and probably faked his HIV test more out of stupidity and laziness rather than out of maliciousness. Sharon: "The Adult Entertainers Guild wants him to be made a public example…" JIM: "His [Luke's] recorder is still on." Sharon: "He [Luke] knows this." JIM: "All right." Sharon: "They want to make a public announcement and I refuse to do that… I don't think that is right…" Place is bedlam. It is hard to understand my tape recording because so many people are speaking. Sharon explains to Alec Metro, a buffed stud, that she has been doing a genealogy [of performers. Who has worked with HIV positive performers?] The word "net" keeps coming up and "Marc Wallice…" Another built stud is giving Jim South pictures of himself. "This is going in the book, right Jim?" he says. Jim nods. The stud asks that Jim puts his picture up on the wall. All the pictures already there are of women. JIM: "I did that once for Marc Wallice. I looked up and fifteen guys walked in with their 11 by 15s [photos] already blown up [wanting to be placed on the wall]." Stud: So you just make a restriction [no pictures of men posted]? Jim: "That's right. Now let me go get a Pepsi and I will be right back." Jim gets up and walks outside. JIM: "You come up here during the week, from 1:30-3:30. You can't even hear yourself think. Friday is slower. That is when I do paperwork. It's a nightmare. "I am usually here very late at night. I put the answer machines on, and get a lot of stuff done. "I have heard from people, and I am not going to give names, that did not like the testing coming from the North Hollywood clinic. "But I will take a test from anybody. Rick Masters brought me a test two weeks ago from North Hollywood. That is not my choice… Because of the [HIV] problems that we are having. "We are trying to plug up as many holes as possible, no matter how little. When they test through PAW, if they sign off that I can know, the lab or clinic automatically faxes me a copy of the test from the clinic. Thus, if you're shooting, and you call me and say, "Did you get Rick Masters' test from PAW? Did I get a copy direct from the lab? Then no one can forge that test. That plugs up that hole. "Second. A lot of people in our business, whether they use the Norton or the 10-Minute Clinic, they will forget to bring it to us. I cannot tell you how often a girl or guy will go to a shoot and forget their original test. If we have it on file, if we got it directly from the lab or clinic, they are covered. There is no possibility of forgery. That is why I prefer people test at PAW. "I do not make a cent on those tests. It was Jim Jr's idea to get a doctor's assistant from a clinic into PAW. Five days a week, from 11AM to 1:30PM. Take the PCR/DNA HIV test. The talent can go anyplace they want. But even some people with Pretty Girl International bring me their tests…." The room shakes and sways. It's 2PM [5/1/98] as a minor earthquake rolls through. JIM: "That was a little quiver. "I've heard all kinds of rumors about who makes money off the North Hollywood clinic and who doesn't. I don't want to get into that. "PAW makes me not a cent. It's just more convenient. "I started this industry's AIDS testing about ten years ago. We had to come up with something. "It was not me who asked for a seal. PAW asked that a seal be given to us so that we can authenticate tests. When the test is faxed to us…We can now put a seal on it. "If a guy or girl loses a test, it does us no good to have a copy without a seal on it. That's not an original. We put a seal on the one faxed to us after we make a copy. We're the ones who started the testing and we're not going to cheat on it. "So that is why I push the PAW clinic. "I do tell producers that they are not welcome here if they shoot at Star World. I can't afford to have every girl booked through me, to go to Star World and get solicited by them, when we're the ones who went to the blood and sweat to get them into the industry. And we did not get a dime… And just let them scoop the cream. I don't think it is logical, ethical or right. And in reverse, I would not do it to him. I would run my own ads." LUKE: "Ok, the seal. Let's say Sarah f---me goes to a clinic…" Jim is aghast at my use of the f-word. "What?" Luke tones down his language. "Let's say that a talent named Sarah goes to a clinic and she gets a test. They will fax you?" JIM: "If they signed off before, they will automatically send us a copy. Jr puts a seal over the date so that it can't be forged. If one of these girls calls us up in a panic: "Jim, I am due to work for VCA and I have lost my test. I don't have time to go out to the lab…" Then, if it is through PAW, and sent directly to us, the talent do not lose work… "The seal stops the possibility of forgery." LUKE: "Are you scared that this industry might get shut down?" JIM: "I think there's a possibility. I noticed that Rob threatens to close us down, to call the Health Department. "It's an amazing business. I could get into a lot more that you don't know, but I am not going to… because I know that you are going to print this up, put it on the internet and send other people copies. And I understand that." STEVE AUSTIN: "Who would want to be an agent? They would have to be crazy?" LUKE to JIM: "What are your thoughts on this HIV outbreak?" JIM: "Well, thank God we started AIDS testing. Or they [the talent who've tested HIV positive] would still be working with everybody. "It's very tedious. If someone comes up HIV positive, after counseling them and trying to calm them down, then the work begins. We have to get them to retest. One test can tell you approximately when people were infected. Then we would overstep the infection by at least a month, and notify all those persons possibly infected that they are quarantined…And that they have to get retested. It's tough. "I am not one to dictate, but I believe that this industry should all use condoms." LUKE: "What's the scoop on you and relations with the talent?" JIM: "I am not going to speak for 22 years here. I can only tell you that I do not date talent. Jim Jr. started here at age 19 and is now 22. I think in those years he has only dated two girls [Krysti Myst was one…] I don't like it. I spoke to him that I don't like it. I spoke to Steve Austin. Steve Austin has been a producer and performer. "If someone wants to book him with a girl, he is not allowed to approach the girl. I do. And if she does not want to work with him, then Steve gets replaced." LUKE: "Is it true that you got your arms broken?" JIM: "Yes. I was attacked when I got out of my car [about 1988] with an iron bar. Thanks to the garage door being open, and the back of the two-by-four being down, it only broke my arms. I spoke to someone assuming that I knew who sent them [the attackers]. Evidently it did not do any good. The next time [next attack], both of my arms were in casts up to my elbow and I was attacked across the street with a baseball bat." LUKE: "Do you ever regret getting into this business?" JIM: "If I could rechoose it, I would not say that I would choose again to be in this business. But I would say this to the skeptics: We see them come and go who try to put Pretty Girl International and World Modeling out of business. It aint going to happen. "I've been through much. I've been through the period of time when it was illegal to book an X-rated movie. And that was a nightmare. I am not going to just walk away. I've spent too much time." LUKE: "How is your health?" JIM: "I'm ok. I'm fine. This is a strain, this HIV…" LUKE: "How do you feel about having your son in the industry?" JIM: "I don't like it. I want him to go to college. I want my second son [16 years of age] to go to college. But the bottom line is, if you were a boy of 19 and your father ran a nude modeling agency, and you were doing fair… I don't make the big bucks like Spallone says he makes… What would you do if you were a 19-year old kid? "I would like to see him in a big company where there was a pension plan, stock participation, not something where you work until you die or make enough to retire. He may go back to college. He's seen how the business is. He's seen how fair some people can be and how extremely unfair other people can be. He's seen how everyone has tried to take us over. It really is a constant fight." Sin City's James DiGiorgio writes on RAME: > Out of 400 calls me a month (and we make our lengthy explanations), 150 will> make appointments for an interview. Only 90-100 will show up. We then copy > their IDs and take polaroids. We interview them. We give them a printout of our > policies. Only 30% of these people will be usable. We fax copies of our> Polaroids to the different companies. I've paid world modeling quite a few thousands of dollars in commissions. I have never once received a single fax of a single girl in the entire time I've done business with world. sin city is responsible for many tens of thousands of dollars paid to world. in the 4 to 5 years i've been associated with Sin City, two of them in-house, I've never once seen a single fax of a single girl faxed there. > We get on the phone to promote them. I've never once received a phone call promoting any talent whatsoever. Nor has talent been expressly sent to my office for me to meet. they usually end up getting there, but it's not becuase World sent them there. > When talent works at Rob Spallone's studio, he hits them up > with a pitch: If Jim gets you work, pay Jim. If I get you work, pay me. What's unreasonable about that? he's only saying why should someone pay someone who's done nothing to get you a specific job. > "But I'm the one who went to the expense and hassle of bringing these people> into the business. What expense? What hassle? > "I have no problem with Rob starting an agency. What I do have a problem with > is this: I run ads in about 20 newspapers per month, spending about $5K per > month on ads. I pay finders fees… I spend about $7K a month to get talent. > We have huge talent calls. At the last one, we had 127 talent, and 70 something > producers, distributors and photographers. The numbers are massive. I have never once met a new girl in this biz who came into it from a newspaper ad. I'm a curious guy. I usually ask new talent how they found their way into the biz. I've yet to hear one tell me "well...I saw this ad in the paper..." I'm not saying it hasn't happened...I'm only saying I've not met anyone yet who got here that way.
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