Mike South's website

Southern pornographer Mike South has two beautiful 'wives' - Paulina and Ginger who live in his house in Atlanta, Georgia. The state does not recognize bigamy. One of Mike's friends, a non-practicing but ordained Methodist minister married the three in late 1996. Mike's wives perform occasionally before his camera. South is best known for his Southern Belles pro-am series. Edition #4 won the 1997 AVN Best Amateur tape award. A longtime user, Mike turned out his first tape in 1994 - the inaugural Southern Belles. He bought a VHS camera at a pawn shop.

"Everybody told me that there was no way I could do a series anywhere but Los Angeles. And that made we want to prove them wrong. My work as a computer consultant takes me all over the United States, so I visited dozens of adult stores and talked to anyone who'd talk to me, to find out what people wanted. Then I went and made it.

"People told me that they wanted to know about the girls who performed on camera. It fed their fantasy that they might someday meet these girls. So that's why I added interviews to my series. I mainly deal with amateurs - girls who'll never become porn stars.

"I discovered by accident that lighting was more important than camera quality. Now I own a set of lights and a Hi-8 camera."

For Homegrown Video, Mike South shot a threesome featuring Tim Lake, Melissa Hill and Anna Malle. It was Melissa and Anna's first sex scene, and Malle's only taped performance before her boob job. South was also the first person out with a sex scene of beautiful black girl Midori - the younger sister of singer Jody Whatley. South fought his distributor Xplor Media Group to get their permission to put the black girl on the box cover of Southern Belles 7 - one of his better efforts. Mike used to be engaged to another black beauty - Onyx until her drug problems led her away from him.

With his two 'wives', Mike writes a regular column for his friend Dirty Bob's magazine Video Xcitement.

"Anything risky (public) is a turn on for a lot of people. The lighting is generally better... Females tend to be more into the lush settings. I have always believed that female fans of porn like it just as nasty as males do but they want it nasty in nicer surroundings. Private is popular because it caters more to what coupes really want without sacrificing hard core content..." (RAME)

Mike earns less than 10% of his annual income from his porn work. Among South's many good qualities is his impeccable taste in books. In late April, 1997 he posted to rame: "It appears obvious...that Mr. Ford has spent countless hours researching this business and it's somewhat less than illustrious history. I can only speak of who and what I know, but by and large what Luke has written appears very accurate, particularly...the historical stuff. From Sturman to the Dixie Mafia, his accounts are highly accurate.

"Consider that most of the history of this business comes either by word of mouth or transcripts and newspaper articles about criminal proceedings, and he has done a good job indeed.

"Bear in mind too, that during much of the history that Mr. Ford writes about, most of his current detractors were in diapers. Consider also that he has to weed out facts from fiction when dealing with people like Bill Margold who admits that he will make up a story if he doesn't have one. How about the fact that history is subjective, people believe what they want to believe and repeat it as fact. I wouldn't want to have to sort all of this out.

"...He is... biased towards the industry and certainly a handful of performers have "snowed" him with their self-serving BS (Asia Carrera comes to mind).

"Will I buy the book? No doubt about it. It's the best one written on the subject so far."

12/23/99

Mike South On Mike Ross

Mike South writes: Hey Luke, I contemplated sending this to Gene Ross but decided your site would be better because everyone who reads Ross reads you but not everyone who reads you reads Ross.

The Free Speech Coalition had the opportunity do turn itself around by electing Mike Ross to the board and they did not do so. This SMACKS of political browbeating foolishness. The Fact is that Mike Ross is a born reformer, he is a man of imagination, coviction, energy and vast ambition. Exactly the things that the FSC needs most. The FSC did not elect Ross largely because they do not want a reformer, electing him would be admitting to themselves what a dismal failure they are.

It is high time that this organization was disolved, financial unaccountability and sloth run rampant within the Free Speech Coalition whose only goal, it appears, is to maintain itself. The FSC has lost sight of any noble purposes it may have once had and it has turned its back on the peole it needs the most, namely the performers.

I strongly urge Mike Ross to maintain his focus and go ahead and take measures to destroy and bury this worthless cabal. It is time to construct an organization that is of, by and for those whom it seeks to represent.

I hope that the major manufacturers will reconsider this waste of time and money and withdraw support. It is time to reconstruct, people, we have had eight years of a relatively apathetic government and the Free Speech Coalition has not accomplished a single thing that I am aware of. Why haven't we lobbyed for laws that would help us even in the event of a fundamentalist turn in our nations capital? Why haven't we taken any steps to organize and police ourselves in a meaningful way? Wake up people this is an organization that, as far as I know, isn't even tax exempt! Your money is just being pissed away. let's tell these worthless morons that enough is enough already.

From : AVN Features Editor (and Free Speech board member) Mark Kernes writes: "Gene: Just saw Mike South's screed about Mike Ross' failure of election to the Free Speech board on another site. South claims he wrote there because of more readership, but it's clear he wrote there and not to you because there, his statements wouldn't be recognized for the horses--- they are.

"South claims that Ross is "a born reformer, he is a man of imagination, coviction [sic], energy and vast ambition." Well, at least he got that last part right. Ross would indeed have tried to remake the board in his own image, making vast promises to everyone, keeping some of them, but most of all, I strongly suspect he would have used his position on the board mainly to promote Mike Ross, something which Ross has more-or-less successfully done ever since I've known him."

5/15/00

Mike South is no Southern Gentleman

Farrell Timlake of Homegrownvideo.com, where truth and great amateur sex still prevail, writes:

Well, unfortunately, once again I am obliged to take the pen from the hilt and slay yet another hot air breathing dragon. This time Mike South is claiming that the first company he worked with put out bad copies of his tapes. Now that company just happens to be our little hardworking and gratefully dedicated outfit, Homegrown Video.

Going not too far back, one must remember the fact is that Mike South was discovered by me when he was a submitter to Homegrown. I gave him the chance for a series, my idea was to have titles pertaining to regions like the beach boys sang about in California Girls, and the obvious name for what I looked for Mike to deliver was "Southern Belles". Bear in mind, at this time, Mike had about as much knowledge about production as a chipanzee has of trigonometry. Naturally, the quality of these early tapes was poor in some respects, but solid in delivering amateur action. I have an eye for certain kinds of talents, and I could see that if a guy like Mike could get girls to have sex with him in the first place, yet alone put it on video, then I figured he had what it takes. We granted him something like knighthood in our kingdom by giving him responsibility for the series. Painstakingly, and with a great deal of coaching on our part, Mike slowly but surely improved. So much in his mind that he jumped ship and left us for greener pastures with Ed Powers.

Well that did not work out, so Mike came back to us, happily I might add, especially with the release of numerous titles, another whole series, and some AVN awards. But then of course, that still was not good enough so he left us again for Elegant Angel, got quickly booted, and he again then would have liked to come back. This reminded us of the timeless adage "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me", so we passed at the offer. Now of course Mike is no longer a Knight but more like a rogue mercenary who goes to the door of many companies, while in our kingdom we still have the same ultra low defect rate any dupe house would be proud of, and put out a quality product the legions of our loyal customers continue to enjoy year after year.

So I must apologize for Mike's lack of respect. I am surely to blame for the amount of press our wonderful publicist Stefanie generated on his behalf that has gone to his head, rendering him incapable of gratitude. If he were more gallant and chivalrous as a Southern Gentlemen ought to be, then I would not even have to respond.

Mike South replies: Hey Luke, a couple of corrections for Mr. Timlake.

1. I left Elegant. They didn't boot me.

2. HomeGrown actually did not put out my first movie.

Interestingly enough I never mentioned Homegrown in the post but it seems that Farrell recognizes himself. Now I like the guys at Homegrown and Farrell is dead on correct in that I learned much shooting for them. I am indeed appreciative for the opportunity I was given at Homegrown, but the bottom line was there came a time when it became important to me to actually make money, at that time the gig with Homegrown was up.

As you know Luke I am far from a "rogue" I have been with Center Stage Productions for over a year and I am quite happy there. My website www.mikesouth.com is doing extremely well, and new things are coming very soon.

Now maybe Farrell would like to point out what was incorrect about what I told you.

They did master my tapes to SVHS. They did duplicate in house, not at a professional duplicator. This allowed them to sell my tapes at prices as low as 2.50 per tape, and I still have to fight battles with distributors about this.

Now please note here that am not bashing Homegrown , they have a business model that works for them and I am and always have been appreciative of Farrell, Moffett, Stefanie and the other guys at Homegrown/Xplor, it was fun.

5/25/00

NJG, Luke Interview Mike South

Nice Jewish Girl and I interviewed Atlanta porner Mike South Thursday evening by telephone.

NJG: "What's your connection with Dirty Bob [reviewer]?"

Mike: "I first met Dirty Bob years before I was in the business, at the CES. I was coming out of the Sahara and he was coming out at the same time. We both were staying at the Circus Circus. I gave him a ride... Then I didn't see him again for three years until I got into the business. And we struck up a friendship."

South's primary source of income over the past year has been from his videos and website www.mikesouth.com. Before that, he spent 25 years in computers.

NJG: "Why did you go into porn?"

Mike: "I got tired of the computer business. It's very draining."

NJG: "What are your favorite type of girls?"

Mike: "I really like dark skinned busty asian girls."

Luke: "Is it tought being a non-Jew in a Jew dominated business?"

Mike: "You want to know the truth Luke? It is a pain in the ass getting all these Jew cocksucker motherf---ers to pay me on time. The only person in this business who pays on time is [Atlanter porner] Michael Morrisson."

Chaim Amalek: "I'm contacting the AntiDefamation League about this. Luke, there will be repercussions to this hate on the web. Hate is bad. Hate must not go unchallenged. Lawyers are engaged, faxes are being sent - more later. Until then, make yourself a gut yontif. "Let's make the web a hate-free zone, suitable for our kids" - numerous famous jews."

Mike: "I'm never having kids. Because I would have to have a wife. I don't want someone in my life for that length of time. I'm not afraid of commitment...

"I've had some live-in girlfriends. It is not realistic for me to maintain a longterm relationship while working in this business."

Luke: "Do you think your promiscuity has jaded you?"

Mike: "Yeah. I've gotten used to variety. Even when Ginger and Paulina lived here.. Paulina loved to go out and bring girls home for me and Ginger... She liked to watch and then join in. It would be really hard for me to look some girl in the eye and say, 'You're going to be the only girl I'm going to sleep with for the rest of my life.'

"I can't blame that on the porn industry. I was like that before I ever got into porn. I've always been pretty lucky at hooking up with the opposite sex. They look at me as someone honest who they can trust. That is why I go after the Free Speech Coalition. If they were basically honest, I wouldn't have a gripe with them."

We talk about Farrell Timlake's grandfather Tim Lake who ran with the Stateline Gang of the Dixie Mafia and was the villain in the true-to-life movie "Walking Tall."

Mike: "When the gang burned down Sheriff Buford Puser's house, do you know who replaced it? Elvis replaced it."

Luke: "How would you say your style has developed over the years?"

Mike: "It went from no style whatsoever to chaos."

Luke: "What statements are you trying to make with your movies?"

Mike: "I'm not. I'm not a f---ing artist. I'm not doing anything that is changing the world. I'm having fun and making money. This is porn."

NJG: "How long do you think you will be in porn?"

Mike: "That is a good question because ten years ago, I never thought I would even be in porn. I'll be in it until I tire of it or it tires of me.

"Parts of it are just a job. But I love being on a set. It's fun. Everybody is having a good time. It's like a party with no drugs and alcohol."

NJG: "Do you think porn sex is real sex?"

Mike: "Sometimes. I've had sex in front of the camera that was real sex."

NJG: "How do you deal with working with girls you're not attracted to?"

Mike: "Money makes my dick hard."

Luke: "Have you discovered Mike that some of the women who do porn films are in it for motivations of money?"

Laughter.

Mike: "As a general rule, the girls that I am shooting are not. I try to screen them out."

Luke: "The women you shoot do it because they really want to have sex with you?"

Mike: "Most of them are doing it because they really want to have sex in front of the camera.

"This is my best porn story. The funniest most outrageous thing that ever happened on a set. Samone lived in Memphis. We are in my apartment and setting up the lighting and she asks to call her mom.

"I said, 'Does your mom know exactly what you are doing?' Oh yeah, I tell my mom everything. She's totally cool with it. She gets on the phone and calls up her mother and gives my phone number and address.

"We are just getting ready to shoot the scene and someone on the set makes a comment about not speaking too loud in case the neighbors called the police. I'm like, no, no, no. Be as loud as you want. Have balls to the walls sex. This is private property."

"And Samone says, there's not going to be any problem. My mother is a Shelby County vice cop.

"Samone calls me the next day and asks for a copy of the raw footage. Why don't you take me to dinner tonight and you can just bring it by the house. Ok, no problem.

"I made her the copy and picked her up for dinner. She lives with her parents. I shake their hands. I give Samone the tape. She hands it to her mother. Here, this is the tape we shot last night. You can watch it if you want to.

'Here's the weird part. Her mother absolutely adored me.

Luke: "Do you think AVN's Awards are fixed?"

Mike: "I don't think the awards are fixed per se. I think Paul Fishbein is a stand up guy. I have never had a problem with him. And he runs AVN the same way. But it is unrealistic to expect everyone at AVN to have the same ideals that he does.

"When people review certain titles, they insert their own prejudices... And that can affect the ratings.

"There are some people with AVN that I wouldn't trust any further than I could throw them."

6/23/00

Wack Pack Video

As heard on the Howard Stern show today. Listen here. From wackpackvideo.com: "Two gorgeous girls, a whole bunch of total Howard Stern created freakazoids...all f---ing and sucking..."

Steve Seidman from Adultstarsmagazine.com called me from New York: "We had Alexandra Quinn and Cleopatra doing the wack pack - Highpitched Eric, Hank the Angry Dwarf, Gary the Retard, Joe Cancer... And we put it all on film. It's going to be f---ing hilarious."

Luke: "They were having sex?"

Steve: "Yes."

Luke: "Broadcast over Howard Stern?"

Steve: "The sex wasn't broadcast. We got all the participants on the Howard Stern Show this morning. Then we all had sex right afterwards."

Luke: "Did you have sex too?"

Steve: "No. Mr. Softy don't have sex."

Luke: "How did the footage turnout?"

Steve: "We had seven cameras, the best coverage. We'll have the greatest footage around. We may be on HBO."

Mike South: "Luke, there's one picture that I have to paint for you. Picture Alexandra Quinn and Cleopatra doing a girl-girl with a dildo on a sofa. And behind them is a grand piano. Pictures a drunk midget wearing white socks and underwear playing this grand piano. Obviously, he's not playing anything that makes sense. But he's playing and singing his ass off. Now, is that totally bizarre or what? The theater of the absurd. It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen in porn."

Luke: "How did Highpitched Eric do?"

Mike: "He didn't do well. He got wood but he didn't get a pop. Hank the Angry Dwarf got a little wood here and there but we didn't get a pop out of anybody. I ended up doing a blowjob scene so that we would end up with some core footage.... Alexandra did me..."

From GeneRoss.com: "Alexandra Quinn goes on the Howard Stern Show Friday morning and admits that she faked her I.D. at the age of 15 to do porn but in the same breath bemoaned the fact that she was shunted by the adult industry - escaping the fact, of course, that some people were prosecuted in the similar Traci Lords case which occurred several years earlier. And, of course, it was never brought up during the Stern interview that Quinn sold out the adult business for $5,000 with an interview that she gave Hard Copy titled "Little Girl Lost" in which porno was painted like a bunch of white slavers and she, the naïve innocent. Even more galling are the comments Quinn later makes about having had to give back her AVN Awards. Quinn claims she won one for Best Anal scene which is definitely not the case."

6/26/00

Cecil Censored By Bob Berkowitz

Mike South appeared on the Bob Berkowitz Show on Eyada.com Friday night. You can listen to it archived at Eyada.com.

Chaim Amalek phoned in with the first call of the evening under the moniker "Abe from Manhattan." Chaim/Abe said he loved porn but was appalled by the amount of racism in the industry, which he attributed to the large number of Italian Americans in power positions in the porn industry.

Abe called for the Justice Department to enforce antidiscrimination laws in the porn industry as a good way of getting black votes.

Listen to Abe's call here.

Abe: "I have a confession to make. I freely admit that I like pornography."

Bob: "What about it do you like?"

Abe: "I have as dirty a mind as anyone. But there is one thing about pornography that does trouble me. Pornography exists in the broader world and I cannot help but note an enormous amount of racism in much of pornography. If you turn on MTV or fashion shoots or Hollywood, there is not stigma associated with the pairing of a white woman with a black man. But in pornography this is not the case. In pornography, if a white woman chooses to have sex with black men, she's taking a fateful step. There are many people thereafter who will not employ her or purchase her videos.

"If Cleo did an all black gangbang, for example, it would brand her in the eyes of the industry... And I think this is due to the presence of large numbers of Italian Americans in control of the industry who are anti-black."

Mike: "There are also Jews attached to the industry... There is no ready answer... In one case, you have big companies who shoot for cable TV. That's where they make their primary money. They sell to Ecstasy, Spice, Ten... And these guys have local affiliates, cable companies, who sell to the end user... And these cable companies will readily tell Spice and Ten, hey, you have to go real light on the interracial content or we will use the South."

Bob: "Isn't Lexington Steele, black, a major porn star?"

Mike: "In some respects. And there is a huge market for interracial. I fought a huge battle to get Midori on my boxcover of Southern Belles 7. Now this is Jody Whatley's little sister and the company I shot for was very resistent, simply because Midori was black. And I threatened to leave over it and I essentially got my way and it turned out to be my best selling title ever. I'm a total believer in letting the free market drive the economy of this business.

"But here does make a valid point. There are companies and girls that won't do interracial. I wouldn't try to make a girl to work with anyone she doesn't want to...

"Typically, the most common reason I get is, well, you know, if my parents found out, it would be bad enough that I was doing porn, but if they found out that I did a black guy..."

Abe: "What's worse? A black guy or a 200 man gangbang?"

Mike: "If Suzy Smile from New York comes to Anabolic and shoots an 18-man gangbang, doing anal, 18 pops to the face... How am I going to top that?"

Bob: "I remember when I was a reporter for the Today Show going out to legal brothels in Nevada. And I went into one of the whorehouses there and asked a woman, is there any customer you would turn down? She said, I wouldn't want to have sex with a black man. Out of respect for my husband."

Abe: "We're talking about this as though this is the first time the issue arose in American law. We have federal laws and the Department of Justice stands ready to enforce laws against racism on the job."

Bob: "They're not going to do it in a whorehouse and they're not going to do it in the porn industry."

Abe: "That ain't necessarily so... It is time they intervened."

Mike: "If they really wanted to get into the porn industry, they'd go after us on OSHA."

Bob: "Janet Reno is not going to spend her political capital busting porn stars or porn producers."

Abe: "No. But perhaps her successor under President Bush will. It's a good way to win black votes."

Mike: "The whole Anabolic Rough Sex videos, was not that the sex was rough, it was that they were putting themselves at serious risk of being put in jail for criminal assault and battery... It is against the law to strike somebody, whether you have consent or not..."

Bob: "Mike, isn't that where a segment of the porn industry is heading? Isn't that jeopardizing producers like you?"

Mike: "Yes."

Bob: "You're giving authorities the excuse to shut down the whole damn thing."

Mike: "I've said this so many times in the industry and nobody will listen. If we do not regulate ourselves, Congress will regulate us and we will not f---ing like what they are going to do to us."

Abe: "There are two venues where violence is tolerated - boxing and wrestling. Why couldn't you have a combination of porno actress boxers fighting each other?"

Bob: "We have a real live porno actress here and she's a gorgeous woman."

Abe: "Yeah, but she's not a boxer."

Mike: "If we did porn boxing, if we put boxing gloves on two girls and they fought each other, nobody's going to come after us on that... If I am on a set and I shove her head in the toilet and she gets a bruise or I slap her across the face, that's criminal assault. That is arrestable. She doesn't have to f---ing press charges."

Mike supported the imposition of a Hayes type code for porno.

Abe: "I do have one question for the woman Cleopatra. I have been ignoring her and I apologize. How old are you now?"

Cleopatra: "24."

Abe: "How old do you think you will be before you look back on this with intense embarrassment?"

Cleopatra: "I've been doing this [sex work] for six years now and I don't feel any embarrassment whatsoever for it... If I was ashamed of it, I wouldn't do it." Hopefully, when I look back on it in ten or twenty years, I will think, well, that's the decision I made. That's what led me to being whatever I will be."

Abe: "Do you always use condoms?"

Cleopatra: "Yes."

Abe: "You've never had any venereal diseases?"

Cleopatra: "Not so far."

Cleopatra talks about her first scene.

James DiGiorgio writes: "Lukey, could you have your friend, Chaim, send me that large list of Italian-Americans who are in positions of power in the porn industry? I don't think I know them, but being Italian myself, I thought if I could meet them, maybe it would do good for my career. By the way, Rob and I are shooting The Sopornos #2 this week. It's about some Italian-Americans who want positions of power in the porn industry so they can fight anti-semitism and anti-africanism...and maybe make a coupla bucks while doing it. Anyway, I'll look forward to that list of powerful Italians, and maybe any help you or Chaim can give me to get, ya know, connected... with them."

Chaim: "Dear James. How about James DiGiorgio, Rob Spallone, John Gotti Jr and Senior, Mike Esposito, John Stagliano... I could go on."

Cleopatra: "I have goals in life, which is not typical of my industry. I want everything everybody else wants. I want to live comfortably in a house and not have to worry about anything. I love travelling.

"I date men and women. I look for the extreme. I love manly men who like steak and potatos. If I am dating a man, I want him to be a man. And if I am dating a woman, she has to be ultra feminine with long hair and makeup and dresses and fingernails."

Bob: "There's not an ounce of butchiness in you."

Mike: "She's a total fem."

Cleo: "I suppose if I was only attracted to women, I'd be looking for a butchy woman because I'd be missing out on the men."

Bob: "I've had shrinks on the show who say you can be sexual with either sex, but in who you fall in love with, it is either or."

Mike talks about Goddess.

Cleopatra talks about her limits.

Why do stores sell so many comps? (from Eyada.com)

Stripper Bubbles complains about guys treating her as a sexual product

Cecil submitted these questions (the ones in parentheses weren't read on the air):

Do your parents know what you do? How do they handle the heartbreak?

Which sex acts won't you do on film?

Do you believe in God?

Are you willing to have sex with a very very fat gay man? Bob, you remember me - I am a gay man looking for a porn star with whom to be gay by proxy by having sex with her right after she has had sex with lots of hot guys. Is this woman up for that?

(There are approximately 40 phylum in the animal kingdom. With which of these are you willing to engage in sexual acts? Specifically, are you willing to have sex with a cephalopod or a crustacean? Do you smoke? Mike, please share with us some of your politics. Bill Clinton or George Bush or Lyndon Larouche? Are you willing to include me in a shoot? I have one of the old-style penile implants that never goes soft.)

Luke: Who was the Cleopatra woman?

Cecil: Some 24 year old pornet who has been doing this for six years, insists she has NEVER had a venereal disease (amazing how clean these folks are), and has a mom who proudly shows off her daughter's work in porn. Can't recall her name, she whored herself to some followers of multimillionaire jew Howard Stern on erev shabbos.

Do most porn stars end up as lesbians?

Goddess: I thought they were both sounded very articulate and intelligent--especially when Mike said I had one of the sexiest voices he'd ever heard:) LOL. Seriously they fielded the questions well and they knew what they were talking about.

Luke F-rd Live

12/26/00

Here are some excerpts from Tuesday's Luke F-rd Live.

Read the transcript of Luke F-rd Live's chat room

Mike South said Tuesday night on Luke F-rd Live:

"I like Gene... But the same time that word got out that AVN was fixing to come at him with a horde of lawyers, and all of a sudden, my guess is Rob Black's dad [Dominic Zicari] said [I don't want to pay for a big legal fight]. Tell him to shut the f--- up."

Jim DiGiorgio: "Maybe in the immortal words of Frank Sinatra, Gene's decided to do things his way and wait for a better time."

Mike: "Did Paul Fishbein know that [AVN journalist] Rebecca Gray wrote that movie [Vivid's Seven Deadly Sins which won about 10 awards at the last AVN show]? Yeah, maybe there's some taint on the AVN awards. But this is porn people. Nobody is really surprised by any of it. I don't understand why it is such a big deal."

Jim: "Right. We don't take ethics exams to come into this business."

Mike: "Who cares if people at AVN f-ck porn chicks."

Jim: "I hear they are going to make a movie about Gene Ross moving to Extreme. They're going to call it 'Dances With Retards.' He's getting a pay check to just sit there and write whatever crap he wants to write on his internet site."

Mike: "Same thing with our movies. We get a pay check first and then shoot whatever crap we want."

Jim: "I work hard to make my movies."

Mike: "I work hard too but I am still amazed that people will actually pay me for it.

"AVN should really use this as a reason to clean house. They need to change the format of the magazine. They need to change the editorial policy. They need to change some company policies."

Luke: "I think that Gene Ross's revelations have blown away all pretensions of journalistic integrity and objectivity at AVN. Particularly with relation to Vivid."

Mike: "Vivid always gets good reviews because Vivid pays a lot for advertising. Have you looked at a Vivid movie? They suck."

Luke: "How do you think Paul Fishbein is going to react? Silence implies consent."

Mike: "Silence is also golden. AVN is looking for the right time and the right place. Some place that will be very high profile... Fish was right to not do it on the Tera Patrick Show. Who listens to the Tera Patrick Show on the internet? I would expect him to do something on the show floor at Adult Expo."

Luke: "Do you think that Paul will punch Gene out on the floor of the Adult Expo?"

Mike: "Come on Luke. Paul's a Jew... Paul's going to hit him where it hurts. Paul's going to hit him in the pocketbook. That's what's going to happen to Gene and Rob and them. They're going to rack up tremendous legal bills. What did they buy themselves really? You might say they bought themselves PR... Look at the price they paid for it. Are they going to sell more pieces because of it? No.

"Have you seen the new Extreme releases? They suck. The lighting sucks. Hot spots all over it. The editing sucks. His compression ratio is too high."

Mike South: "Extreme videos are crap. They've got this guy from Danzig doing the music. Well, now we know why Danzig sucks."

Luke: "Is Extreme paying their bills?"

Mike: "I hear that they are a big reason that Lou Peraino had to sell out [to Ray Pistol who also bought their video production company Arrow]."

Luke: "Mike, did Paul Fishbein ask you to replace Gene Ross [in October]?"

Mike: "Yes he did. We had a discussion about that. I was considering an offer. We were in negotiations... But Tod Hunter decided he wanted the site after all so it became a moot point. Which was good because I was not so sure that I wanted to move to LA and do that full thing anyway."

Jim: "How many girls are you bringing to Las Vegas?"

Mike: "I'm bringing Felicia Fox and I'm flying two other girls out there."

Jim: "You look like the ultimate pimp. You're always walking around with girls on your arm."

Mike: "I learned a long time ago in this business that you show up to the shows with chicks. That's how you get your foot in the door. That's how you get the photographers to take pictures of you and people to ask you what you're doing... If I don't show up with chicks on my arm, I'm just another schmuck out there."

Luke: "I'm only in porn to do outreach to these lost girls. They've never had anyone show them true caring and concern."

Jim: "That would be you? Look at the caring and affection I showed Lynne L-patin and look what I got for it."

Luke: "Mike, how come you can't relate to women your own age?"

Mike: "When I go out with a woman my age, what does she want to talk about? Her ex husband, her kids, where they went on vacation. I take out a girl who's 19... I take her to Long Horn Steakhouse... Put it on the charge card. She thinks she's gone someplace great to eat. She's had a good time. She and I have a lot more in common.

"And if I do take her to bed and take the panties off, there's not a forest down there that hasn't seen a razor in years. I have more in common with young people."

Luke: "It says in the book of Proverbs that beauty is fleeting and charm is deceptive. But a woman who fears the Lord, she should be praised.

"Mike, how come you can't sustain a relationship with a single video company but you always have to be promiscious?"

Mike: "I maintained a relationship with XPlor for three years. After that I was with Elegant Angel as long as Greg Alves.

"Jim, you're a way better filmmaker than Bud Lee."

Jim: "Thank you."

Mike: "You've earned it."

Luke: "How? By making pornography?"

Mike: "You can learn how to shoot by shooting porn. Videography, photography, it is all about controlling light..."

Jim: "Something that the people at Extreme have failed to learn how to do."

Luke: "Mike, which mainstream filmmaker has most influenced your directing style?"

Mike: "Allen Funt."

Luke: "Which pornographer most influenced you?"

Mike: "Ugly George."

Luke: "See his website www.UglyGeorge.com."

Mike: "Our quality is more important that mainstream filmmakers when they drop it to videotape. We come under much more scrutiny even though most of the companies in this business put out s---."

Jim: "Mike's making me feel way better about myself."

Mike: "We take more pride in our duplication... It's got to be grade A tape... It's got to be duped at slow speed. I want the stuff color corrected. I want the duplicating machines calibrated so the colors don't shift. Because when that s--- happens, they blame you and me."

Jim: "If I get a bad copy of Goodfellas, I'm not blaming Martin Scorsese. I'm blaming the guy who sold me the copy of Goodfellas, who also had nothing to do with it. But when it comes to porno, they blame the director."

Mike: "In mainstream, the story is more central than the visuals. You don't really care. But if I drop a frame in the middle of that pop shot or the tape f---s up, our fans will go nuts."

Shane writes: Dear Luke, I heard some of your online show tonight and just wanted to respond to a comment made by one of your guests, Mike South. Not being in the "industry" I don't know for sure but I assume he is a producer? director? of adult videos? Luke, you seem like a pretty smart guy, how could you let South get away with his hoary ideas about the nature of male and female sexual stimuli? South claims that men are visually based beings in terms of fantasy and therefore need to look at naked women in various poses and what have you to get off and women are, I believe he called it "situationally" fantasy based, and that we get turned on by Jackie Collins novels. You let this pass without question!

I don't know Luke, these adult film makers ought to do a little reading, say start with some of Nancy Friday's collections of female sexual fantasies. Women want to see things and do things as much as men do! Personally I find the "fantasy-based" porn ridiculous and I fast forward through the weak story lines, bad dialogue and crappy sets to the good bits! I'd much rather see an amateur style porn video where the people having sex are not playing roles and acting. Let's be honest, they certainly can't act and I didn't pay money to see them try, I paid to see them HAVE SEX! I think the sad fact is this: both boys and girls are taught from the beginning to eroticize women, not men. As a young girl my mother never took me aside with an issue of Playgirl and showed me the wonders of the naked male body! I do, however, remember spying my dad's hidden stash of Playboy's and looking at them. I think my earliest sexual feelings were probably connected to imagery of women, not men. Maybe this has something to do with the recent popularity among young girls to want to sleep with other girls. It's acceptable, even promoted. You want to sell a car, a dishwasher, a cold remedy, get a beautiful woman draped over it or holding it.

I think ideas like the one South expressed are fairly typical and pretty much a cop-out, an excuse. "Sorry honey, I am hardwired to be visually based therefore I needed to stop by the peeler joint with the guys after work to watch naked women hump brass poles. Can't help it, it's in my genes." Let's face it, both men and women like to look at sexually explicit material, men have no particular corner on that market. But it serves them well both financially and in terms of image and power to have everyone believing they do, which I suppose is why they still do it.

Luke, I hope in the future you will challenge some of this Old Boys Club malarky, in the true nature of investigative journalism. Otherwise you are just a mouthpiece for the status quo. Now where was I? Oh yes, my Jackie Collins novel awaits!

Luke says: I'm afraid that I have to agree with Mike South. Female purchases of hardcores pornography are insignificant. So while some women may watch the stuff, particularly if encouraged to by their man, women won't spend many dollars on hardcore. Therefore, their demand for the product is insignificant. Dollars spent are probably the best way to represent how much we value something.

Shane replies: I still think you are wrong about the Mike South thing. I read something on your site the other day, what I learned from porn. Pretty funny. The pool guy, the pizza delivery guy all getting the hot rich daddy's girl who is just waiting for them. So if porn is a man's world then what's up with these silly situational fantasies? Take away the hardcore visuals and you have daytime soaps. I dare say most pornography just feeds one of men's most simple desires: the ego. So its actually men who want these situational story lines.

And yes, it's true, when it comes to the pocketbook women aren't huge consumers of porn. We have better things to do with our pay checks. Feed our children, pay our rent, buy shoes!

Mike South writes: Shane hasn't read much of my past writing on "couples porn" and that whole myth. If she had she would know that she and I actually agree...I have always said that the chicks who DO watch porn like it just as nasty as the guys do, they just like it nasty in nicer surroundings. But bottom line is they ARE an insignificant statistic. Then she proves my whole hypothesis by talking not about a video she SAW but a book she READ. Game, Match, Set....

Goddess writes: great show last night, luke. my favorite part was when you left to use the bathroom right in the middle of the conversation. just one more reason you'll never get the hosting gig on the tonight show... btw, south has you totally snookered. he IS 47. he just doesn't want all those high school girls he dates to know he's old enough to be their grandpap.

Shane writes: To Mike South: I've never read anything by you, period. And I don't care if porn is shot in a luxury hotel or back alley, if I want to see sets, I'll go see a feature flick! Rather see dirty bare feet than those ridiculous f---ME shoes! And the book I mentioned? Was it the Jackie Collins or Nancy Friday you were referring to? You go read Friday and tell me it's not GRAPHIC. Collins? Well, never read her, wasn't reading her last night. Book of choice? Puppy Preschool- how to train your puppy before it trains you.

Goddess writes: i'm wondering how closely you listened to that interview with mike south? [or maybe you were in the bathroom at the time...] did you hear him talking about taking a "bodyguard" with him to vegas? a 6' porn actor with a female bodyguard?! if that's not the dumbest thing i've ever heard of. what's he worried about? that some chick is gonna throw him to the ground and force him to submit to a blowjob? he should be *so* lucky...

7/9/01

My Son, The Stud

By Goddess for MikeSouth.com

You know how when you first start dating someone, you're happy to know any little tidbit about them, like boxers or briefs, Coke or Pepsi, Beatles or the Rolling Stones? But there comes a time when you yearn to know more than surface garbage. You want to know what makes them tick. Now that I've been dating.I mean "working" for Mike South (once again the line between fantasy and reality blurs), I wanted to know more about him. I wanted to know the important stuff. So what if he starts every day by looking into the mirror and saying, "Mike, you're a lean, mean, oral sex machine"? So what if I know he spends most of his day autographing pictures of himself to himself? Everybody knows that about Mike.

There had to be something deeper. I was almost sure of it. But where could I get the answers I needed? Lord knows my lazy assed efforts at stalking him had fallen short, especially since I'm loathe to leave the house lest I miss an episode of The Young and the Restless. Drive all that way to Mike's house to drool over him? Are you nuts?! All those hours on the freeway? It ain't happenin'. Call him on the phone? I'm not lining AT&T's pockets. No, I knew I would have to get close to the people closest to Mike to uncover his deep, dark secrets. But who? His many, many, many ex-wives? Nope. They had only two words for me: alimony checks. As long as he continued to sign 'em, their lips were sealed. His girlfriends? Nada. Zip. Zilch. It took me days to go through the Rolodex with all the names of his female "acquaintances," but no luck. Seems he really IS the best at cunnilingus, and they weren't talkin'. His guy friends? Doesn't seem to have any. Mike refers to it as "eliminating the competition." His favorite schoolteachers? All dead or rapping heavily on death's door. Hey, it's not like this guy's in his twenties any more! The most likely candidates to blab? His ex-girlfriends. Sorry, but Mike is the only guy I know who does NOT have a single EX-girlfriend. Every girl he has ever dated rotates around him like a little satellite in the solar system of lust. Just when you think she's totally disappeared, around she comes. Oh, it may take a year or two, but trust me, like Arnold, she'll be back. "Mike," giggle, giggle, "I want you to do me again." Giggle, giggle. Yeah, I know. Nauseates the hell out of me, too.

Then it hit me like a scotch on the rocks on an empty stomach: nobody on the planet would know Mike South better than his family. And how cool would that be? Ratted out by your own MOM! So I schemed and I plotted (aka "procrastinated") and schemed some more, because well, this gave me an excuse to lay around in my underwear all day doing nothing. "Dishes?! I can't do dishes, damn it! Can't you see I'm scheming?! Geez, can't a woman get a little peace and quiet when she's plotting?" (Note to self: the next time you decide to spend all that time scheming and plotting, stock up on Ding Dongs first.)

Finally when it was close to my deadline, three days past to be specific--I emailed Katherine and said, "Would you be willing to do an interview about your son Mike?" and she said, "Mike who?" Kidding. Just kidding. She was very cooperative. And it is not my fault if she spilled her guts because she somehow got the impression that I was writing this piece for a national magazine. (Psst! A piece of advice for would-be interviewers: if you want to get someone to really open up, mention the words TIME and magazine in the same sentence. It's amazing what people will tell you.)

This is my fourth interview and I'm very proud of it. Well, technically, it's my fifth if you count my conversation with Jarod, the five-year-old neighbor boy, who I interviewed for practice. When Jarod grows up, he wants to be either Pepe LaPew or the letter "C". Oddly enough, those were the exact same aspirations Luke F-rd cited during his interview.

I know that you will find Katherine every bit as intelligent, insightful and engaging as I did. She is very candid and honest about her views on sexuality and Mike's career choice. Currently, the self-proclaimed romantic is single, but involved. She loves dancing, reading crime dramas and it's very clear that she loves her children. She's also graciously agreed to adopt me since my mommy has no time for me, making me --I think--the first stalker in history to be adopted by her stalkee's mom. Ain't she sweet?

Katherine, what did you think when Mike first told you that he was acting in/directing adult videos?

"I was not happy. I was disappointed that he couldn't find a more wholesome way for his special talents."

Do you remember that day? Because I would think a day like that would be seared in your memory, not unlike the day a son comes home and says, "Mom, I got some girl pregnant, but not to worry. She's gonna support us on her checks from that high class call girl gig she's got goin' on."

"He never told me that he wanted to be a porno actor. I just kinda came to that realization a little at a time. I was just sick inside about it actually and still am. I have talked to him many, many times about the many awful diseases that are out there, but he just assure me that he is very careful about his partners having blood tests before he films. I really don't believe for a minute that that is 100% safe, but there is absolutely nothing that I can do except pray."

Have you ever seen one of Mike's videos?

"Absolutely not, and I never will."

Have you ever been on one of his sets while he was "working"?

"No, and again I never will unless he is working on something a little more pleasing to my eye."

Every time I chat with Mike, he's eating raw cookie dough. Don't you worry about him getting salmonella poisoning?

"I worry about Mike getting a lot of diseases. He also loves raw seafood and that can be dangerous, not to mention all the other lovely things out there nowadays."

Have you ever met any of Mike's female co-stars? If so, what did you think of them?

"No, not that I know of. Of course, it is possible. I have liked all the girls that Mike has introduced me to with one exception. I am not very judgmental."

At what age did Mike stop wetting the bed? Of course, I'm assuming here that he has stopped wetting the bed.

"Mike was a late potty trainer. He was a little lazy. He was around three."

I have a slight problem that I can't talk to my own mom about, so since you've gracious agreed to "adopt" me, I'll pose my problem to you. I write a column for this guy whose name I can't reveal but I will say this much, he is a porn director/actor and he lives in the "SOUTH." While I have a very happy marriage, this guy is always trying to lure me away from my happy home with promises of wild monkey sex with him. What should I do?!

"Don't even go there! I wouldn't recommend him to anybody's daughter, much less mine. NO, NO, NO!"

DAMN, DAMN, DAMN! I never get to have any fun. If you had a daughter (other than me, of course), do you think you would have the same reaction to her doing porn as you did with Mike?

"Yes, only more so. I think sex is a beautiful statement of life, but it is very private and personal to me. It is not something I want to watch or have others watch, and I would hope that my daughter felt the same way, too."

Do your friends know what Mike does for a living? If so, have any of them ever reacted negatively towards you because of his porn career?

"Some of my friends do. The men think it is great, and would like to offer their services in any way needed. The women are silently saying prayers of thanks that he is not theirs."

Do you have any influence with Mike? I need a raise..

"No, I don't think so. If I did, I would teach him to save money, not spend it. So I guess I'm not much help there."

Sigh. That new Kia is just gonna have to wait. What was Mike like growing up?

"Mike was outgoing, funny, very intelligent, obedient, respectful and a bit of a daredevil. He was never any trouble at home or at school. He was really a great kid."

What did you think of the whole "two wives at one time" thing?

"I thought it was kind of funny. It seemed to get him a lot of attention and he dearly loves attention, so I liked it."

How many bottles of Miss Clairol does it take to cover all the gray Mike has given you? You don't need to give me the exact number, a rough estimate will do.

"I have used about 12 a year since Mike was a teenager. Thank the Lord for those little bottles."

It's a well-known fact that daughters never cause gray hair. (It's called "ingratiating yourself with Mom.") Have you ever known Mike to date anyone his own age?

"He has dated quite a few women his age. Some I have liked very much, and would have liked to have seen him settle down with. I have also liked some of the younger ones just as much."

Has he ever dated a chubby girl?

"Not since high school."

Mike said I look like one of those uglee troll dolls like we had when we were kids. (Sniff, sniff. He's SUCH a meanie!) At the next family gathering, will you give him a good hard kick in the ass for me?

"Absolutely. But you have to understand that Men are from Mars and we all know that planet is filled with assholes."

Mike is always calling me "Blondie," and he thinks I'm too stupid to figure out that he's insulting me. At the next family gathering, will you.well, I think you know what I'm going to ask.

"Refer to my previous answer, Sweetheart."

Thanks, Mom, I knew I could count on you. They say the best predictor of how a man will treat his wife is how he treats his mom. How does Mike treat you?

"With a lot of love and respect. He has always been thoughtful and kind hearted with me."

Luke F-rd a Jewish wannabe adult gossip columnist on the Internet said I write in a "whiney, pre-menstrual kind of way." Will you please ask Mike to beat the living crap out of him for me?

"Well, yes, I always fight for my little ones. Just ask Mikey."

Take that, Luke F-rd! Do you remember what Mike wanted to be when he was little? Were the words "porn actor/director" EVER mentioned?

"No, never, but he has always wanted to be in the limelight, so I guess he has found his niche. He is very good with computers and always has been. He just fell right into that when he got out of school. He has even taught at a college level. I bet that might surprise you. That is what I wish he wold take more seriously."

Is Mike a sloppy housekeeper? Inquiring minds want to know.

"Yes, Mike has always and will always be sloppy. Or maybe "messy" is a better word."

I'm going to list a few of Mike's habits/traits, and I'd like you to tell me which side of the family they came from?

Intelligence: "My side"
Stubbornness: "Father's side"
Brooding good looks: "My side"
Cradle robbing: "Father's side"
So called "acting abilities: ""Who knows? God, I just don't know where that came from."

No woman knows Mike better than his mom. What do you think is the key to winning Mike's heart---for longer than two months, I mean.

"She must have a good sense of humor, be flexible, must certainly know how to make tea properly*, be a good money manager . It would help if she liked his mother and brother, absolutely did not do drugs or drink too much. I guess she would have to understand his movie making talents and not get too upset about it. I really don't see how any woman could understand that, but maybe I'm old fashioned."

What kind of temperament does Mike have?

"Changeable. Sometimes Mike is a ray of sunshine and happy and wants to talk. Other times he is like a thundercloud just waiting to send hail on everything in sight. One thing though, he never does is talk badly about anybody. He has a talent for seeing only the good. Sometimes he will trust when he shouldn't."

When Mike was little, did you have any indication that he would someday be taking if off in front of the camera?

"I think Mike was about 2, and we lived out in the country at the time. He went out in the yard to play and a friend of my husband's came to the door and there was Mike standing beside him with not a stitch of clothes on but his heavy coat, unzipped of course. My husband's friend just thought that was the funniest thing he had seen in a long time. Of course, I was mortified. It was pretty cute, though."

I don't mean to alarm you, Mom, but I think Mike still goes outside dressed that way. If you had a daughter, how would you feel about her doing porn?

"I would absolutely hate it, but I would love her anyway."

Did you talk to Mike about sex when he was younger?

"No, I didn't. I was a little inhibited about sex at that time, and I just didn't know how to approach it."

Do you think you and Mike have a close relationship?

"Yes, I think that Mike and I are very close. I can talk to Mike about anything and he never judges. His advice is very sound and well thought out. I talk to Mike's brother about a lot more things than I used to and we have become very close in the last year, but there are a few things that I go to Mike about still."

Jim Gunn, another adult video director has refused to let me interview him. Why do you think that is, Mom? I'm a nice person, damn it!

"Well, there we go again, which helps to prove my point. You need to learn to use 'em and lose 'em."

What do you want most for Mike?

"I wish that Mike would expend as much energy on his computer expertise as he does this porn."

Do you think Gene Ross is every bit as dreamy as I do?

"I do love to look at a good looking, nice bodied man. That's my biggest problem in finding the right man, unfortunately."

Whoa! You can look, but you can't touch, Mom, Gene is mine! Now, if you could change one thing about that son of yours, what would it be?

"I guess I would want him to be a little more responsible with money. Mike is a "now" person. He doesn't think much about the future. I worry about the future too much and don't enjoy the "now" as much as I should."

Katherine, Mike once told me that he ate paste when he was in kindergarten. To the best of your knowledge, does he still eat it? And do you think the paste rotting his brain cells has anything to do with him wanting to take his clothes off and have sex in front of a camera?

"I'm not sure, but maybe that is why he needs to lose a pound or two. I have no earthly idea why he would want to do those videos, but it seems to be a Mars type thingas in "Men Are From."

Somewhere on the planet there is a guy sitting his mom down right not to give her the infamous "Mom, I want to be a porno actor" speech. What kind of advice can you give this Mom for keeping it together?

"The advice I would give a mother is just keep loving him and get a new prayer stool because she is surely going to need it."