I went down to the local porn store on Friday and talked to the owner, he admitted readily that his business was half what it was this time last year.
I asked him if studios had slowed production, he said absolutely, that he was getting half the product he was getting this time last year.
I asked if the two were related in terms of if he got twice the product would his revenues increase, he said no he noted that it had to happen, that there was no way this business could continue to support 1000 releases a month.
Said his business was down across the board, gay, straight everything.
I asked why and I he said the internet probably, he said but its not just that, every day I have people telling me to call them if we get any good porn in.
Of course I ask, what is good porn.
he said that porn has verticalized into too many micro niches for one, but mostly its the shitty camera work, the gay guys and the mechanical feel of it. He said it’s all the same from digital playground to doghouse digital it all looks alike. He said the single biggest complaint he gets is that its all the same gay looking guys (thats because they came from gay porn).
I asked if blu ray was doing any good? He said he was considering discontinuing stocking it, he said I have a few guys who rent everything that comes out on BD but it doesnt even begin to pay for itself. He is in an affluent area too so there should be no shortage of people with BRD players or PS3s.
I asked him what he thought about the upcoming Pirates release. He said it will be a loss leader. particularly on bluray, but that it would bring people into the store who will then spend money on other things. he did say that it’s probably a very good idea because the real road to profitability on something that ambitious is to get it in Blockbuster with an R rated version.
Then he said, did you see the poster and the trailer? He said as far as I can tell theres no sex in it and in the teaser I couldn’t tell which of the DP girls was driving the boat.
One Response
You know, you posted this awhile ago, so it’s probably water under the bridge. I agree with everything your guy said. And, I’ll add one more: No one in porn seems to be having any fun anymore. I got to think this watching the trailer for Burn. Yeah, I know there is a market for bondage and stuff, but do you really think most of the guys who want to stroke to Jenna want to do so while watching her getting spanked with a paddle or ball-gagged, no matter how stylish it looks on film?
Yeah, the guys all look either gay or like parolees. Or gay parolees – the same guys you’d see in Oz. The girls are not only plastic, they’re angry. No one looks like they want to rollover after sex with a satisfied grin and light up a cigarette, unless it’s to use the smoke to burn their partner.
Maybe all my neighbors are dressing up in latex on the weekends and keeping dungeons in their basements, but I’m thinking not.
BT