With the decline in production in Porn Valley it comes as no surprise that more and more performers are escorting, for many it is the only way they can pay the bills but I am hearing more and more stories of girls being sent by their agents to “shoots” that they don’t think are legit.
One performer told me that it was just a guy with a camera and he never even turned it on. She never saw the scene anywhere and she is convinced he was nothing but a “john” pretending to be shooting for “the internet”
Now to some girls this doesn’t really matter, others see it as a huge breach of the agent performer relationship, particularly when if she complains the agent will simply tell potential employers that she is “unavailable” for future shoots.
I believe that agents DO have a responsibility to weed out this kind of situation. Does the guy have a business license? a shooting permit? does he even have a website?
If you remember the whole Richard Nanula thing, it is the same thing, girls were told it was a legit shoot but in reality it was just Nanula having unprotected sex with pornchicks for a lot less than they would cost him to hire them as an escort, and in some cases the girls really didnt understand what was happening.
Admitted there is a fine line between escorting and performing but there IS a line and no girl in this biz should have to cross it unless she wants to.
It isn’t hard to weed these guys out really and if you are a performer remember that if it doesnt look or feel right you can always walk away, and you should. If your agent gives you shit for that I want to hear about it.
As a performer you have a right to ask where the scene will appear and then you go to that site and check it out. If you get to the shoot and it is clearly not consistent with the site you were told it would be on then walk away.
The one thing that has to be fixed is any agent second guessing or causing repercussions because you chose to be safe and legal over a sketchy situation. If that happens bring it to me. If any of you have any questions feel free to contact me confidentially, there is strength in numbers and if I see a pattern I will out any agent pulling this shit.
Yes times are slow in the biz and if you chose to escort I support your choice its not my business but if you are bullied into escorting or tricked into escorting I want to know about it.
34 Responses
Is It Prostitution or is It A Shoot http://t.co/Q3ldLh29cD
Thank You Mike.
Let me start by saying, I think a lot of these girls need counseling. Perfect example is Jenna Ivory. Literally for the past month she has done nothing but bash Ideal Image Models. She has asked for your help MIKE to defend her against Tee Reel. She leaves Ideal Image for LA Direct, and now apparently she is back at Ideal Image again. How can you go from hating something so bad to literally coming right back into that companies lap? Makes zero sense to me unless you are mentally nuts.
Furthermore, I think the proper solution is legalizing prostitution period. If you look at other countries where it is legalized, there are far less STDs and a lot more stringent testing. I think girls are doing these escorting gigs because when someone needs $$$ they will do anything to get it. Tricking a girl into escorting though is pretty dumb. Though honestly I do not see much of a difference between paying for a hooker and paying for a pornstar. Maybe I’m wrong, but to me one is the same and both should be considered legal without any sort of punishment, unless of course force was used.
Some how these girls forget that the “Agent” works for them and not the other way around. They sign these ridiculous two year contracts, and feel that they are stuck in some sort legally binding contract. Bottom line is that if the agent is not getting you work you have a legal right to fire him/her period. A sex slavery contract is illegal. Some agent don’t get the girls work to purposely push them into Prostitution also illegal, I think it’s called pandering. The Jim South’s of the biz have long gone, now agents are nothing more than Pimps with contracts. BTW Mike if you can get one of these contracts you would be the man!
I am with you 100% there. Believe me when I tell ya its very hard to determine if its the agent or the performer ( and often both) who are being bad….
Billy…good idea getting a contract Im on it.
Those contracts themselves are literally worth the paper they are written on. Even if a lawyer is in the presence of the signing, something involving taking 10% of a womens income for adult entertainment purposes is pretty much on the same level as a pimp? Am I incorrect in this statement?
While I think agents are necessary because many of these girls can’t even get an apartment on their own yet, let alone be able to organize their lives in a new city. Instead of Agents preying on this (LA Direct, Ideal Image, Type 9 was a huge offender), I think it would be better if agents guided their young careers a la Mark Spiegler and Bud Adams.
Of course I think Jessa Rhodes said it best on her twitter. Something along the lines of, “If you get into porn you should know exactly what your getting into.” It’s true. All you have to do is say NO and that’s it. Then again I guess if companies like LA Direct blackmail and starve their talent out until they bow to their demands. Then well, that there might be something the authorities may want to take a look at.
Mike: Do you have an opinion on whether this is a shoot or prostitution. I don’t believe the mere presence of a camera makes it a porn shoot. After all, a john may hire a prostitute and then ask if he can film it to watch later and she may say sure for an extra hundred bucks. That doesn’t all of a sudden make him an auteur. I have to think there’s some business intent or it doesn’t pass the smell test. Maybe I’m wrong.
Let’s face it, even contract girls have been known to book privates (with a camera present) knowing full well their own contract doesn’t allow footage to be released of them having sex for anyone else. There’s no “I was tricked into escorting” at that point… if you’re contracted to a specific company then there is absolutely no reason to be “shooting” with anyone other than the contract company.
For non-contracted performers or even agency girls, it’s so unbelievably easy to pull off… book a performer, hire a friend to film it or film it yourself and you’re good to go… why should the performer really care what happens to the footage? They already got paid for their services.
There is only a small segment of the population who would even consider the fact that porn isn’t the same as prostitution. That’s not to say there isn’t a slight difference, but the public doesn’t consider things like “no lists” or who is friends with who and whether those performers are really “into” each other… I can assure you most could care less.. they don’t even give a shit about names.. it’s more of a “do you want big tits, an orgy, creampie, threesomes?” kind of decision….. It’s people they don’t know (and probably don’t really care to know) fucking each other for some cash.
Porn performers “perform” and “entertain” for an audience.
Prostitutes/escorts/strippers “perform” and “entertain” for an individual or small group of individuals.
There’s really not THAT big of a difference. They were all strangers at some point getting paid for the use of their body and/or genitals whether on-set, on the corner, in a strip club, in a brothel or in a hotel room.
The fact is they’re ALL sex workers… the porn industry always seems to be overly concerned with somehow separating themselves from other sex workers, but it’s kind of like major league and minor league baseball… they’re all still baseball players at the end of the day.
I’d like to read that entire contract as well… 🙂
I’m sure jilted will be all over this, but if an agent sends a performer to a set where condoms aren’t used then just that can actually void the contract. Agents can’t send performers on job assignments that break the law, disobey OSHA regulations or put them in physical danger.
My gut says that a its a combo of things that would add up to make it legit. obviously if theres a real website with real content that would be a minimum. Just the presence of a camera is certainly not enough. whereas if the location studio is immoral productions then its pretty obvious thats prolly legit
I definitely get the gut thing, but I guess it’s pretty much anyone with a web presence at this point?
I would think it’s all just separated by budgets, marketing and artistic quality at this point. But, then you have content trades, with no budgets, and I don’t know where you would even fit that in?
I’m not a lawyer, nor do I play one on the Interwebs, but porn shoot vs prostitution from a legal standpoint is pretty simple in most cases. Is the person paying the girl the one getting his dick wet?
Yeah, I know, there are self-shot POV scenes… A gung-ho prosecutor in jurisdiction with favorably written prostitution statutes could probably make a pretty solid case against a POV shooter.
RT @MikeSouth1226: Is It Prostitution or is It A Shoot: With the decline in production in Porn Valley it comes as no surprise that m… htt…
RT @cindygallop: Why the porn industry needs to redesign its biz model: @MikeSouth1226 http://t.co/oQqAiMaoQg & why we want to help: http:/…
Well, that sounds simple. But, what happens when the one performing in the scene is also the owner of the production company?
In today’s world, at least half of scenes are filmed in random houses/hotel rooms/warehouses by those who own the “production company” and “perform” in the same scene.
So, technically, the “guy getting his dick wet” is the same exact guy paying the hired performer to “get his dick wet” and just using a business checking account…. See what I’m saying?
Shit, setting up a new company and a new business checking account takes all of 2 days….
But, yes, I do completely understand your point and it’s an extremely fine line.
RT @cindygallop: Why the porn industry needs to redesign its biz model: @MikeSouth1226 http://t.co/oQqAiMaoQg & why we want to help: http:/…
I’m with Toby on the legal separation. A “shoot” is something u get paid by one individual by and u bang a different person. Sure there’s “POV” shoots but if you’re getting paid by the same person you’re banging, by my understanding its illegal (which, hell, we do multiple things daily which are not exactly legal, like unprotected sex) and is IMO, escorting.
And as far as Lacy’s comments, great example, we’re all baseball players. Some of us are playing in the World Series while some are playing in our back yard. If u get paid to have sex with someone, for money, on a set in Chatsworth how are u going to stick up your nose to someone having sex, for money, with someone in a hotel in Burbank?
One of these days a District Attorney trying to get noticed will charge one of these POV producer/performers and prosecute. Just a matter of all the pieces being in the right place at the right/wrong time. Ask the guys from Cash Titans (cumonherface.com) about a gung-ho DA and wrong place and time. They all ended up doing about 3 years.
Let’s be honest 99% of the shoots are Prostitution because only a handful of companies are going to pay for a permit. I have a site with over 100 scenes but about 20% of time when I shoot I will not put scenes in my site and sell the scene somewhere else..when a lady who the shoot will not be in my site asks me ‘What site will I be on?” I usually reply “Disney” lol..And to be honest even though I have 100+ scenes in my site there are about 30 that I have shot over a year ago that I have not even put up yet..Reason being better talent has come up and when the time is right than I will release my old scenes
Mj Taylor liked this on Facebook.
The real problem here is that it isn’t the actions that define if this is or is not prostitution, it’s intent.
If the guy isn’t intending to commercially use the video in any manner, it’s prostitution. His interntions are key here.
I suspect that the real reason this is going on is two fold: It’s like getting a pornstar escort date, except that you (a) get to dictate the action, and (b) likely get to do it bareback, and (c) you likely pay less for it.
Agents who do this sort of thing need to realize that they are way over the line and it’s very likely that one or more than one of them will end up in a shitload of legal trouble when the police start “booking” stars for performances.
Desperate times breed desperate acts. It seems the agents are more desperate than the girls right now.
@CharityBangs
How much do you charge now
for privates?
I have a hard time believing intent has a factor. Its impossible to prove in a court and even harder to write a law around. I’ve seen legal code for Toby’s statement but have yet to see anything referring to intent anywhere
RT @cindygallop: Why the porn industry needs to redesign its biz model: @MikeSouth1226 http://t.co/oQqAiMaoQg & why we want to help: http:/…
Im actually with ya Charity intent is a tough thing to prove as it should be, I personally think (through confabs with my attorney) that its a combo of things….take me…I have had a business here for 20+ years, its files tax returns, has a taxid number, has insurance yada yada. I have a web and a dvd presence i have won awards, I have model releases. i think all of that adds up to the requisite reasonable doubt.
On the other hand If I had no company, no website, no recognition in my industry, its going to be a tough sell to a jury that it isnt prostitution.
BUT…I had to start someplace…I started with a Taxpayer ID, a business license, a business checking account and last but NOT LEAST…an attorney, to whom I paid a great deal of money….And I did what he told me to do.
In the end i think it really comes down to that
Intent, or motive, is ALWAYS a key factor in prosecutions. And many laws, for example, hate laws. are built soley around intent.
As Jilted said, intent is a key in many criminal cases. In these cases, it likely wouldn’t be too hard to figure it out:
Is this an adult business hiring, or is it the guy directly? Is he paying cash, or a check? Does he operate an adult business, have connections to an adult content business, or have sold other content videos in the past? Is he alone in the room with a single camera on a tripod, no lights, no sound, or is there a production here?
There are a lot of things you can look at. Moreover, for an agency, the police could very easily make it clear that they aren’t really filming, whatever, and see if the agency still sends the girl. If they do, well…
Intent.
I love one thing about his Industry, that I get to know the girls and have unprotected sex with all of them and tell them I am shooting a porn video and get to fuck them for practically nothing.
I have never took a AIM and or other Industry adult test and they trust me. They are all whores and skanks anyway. I am like a billy goat in a briar patch smiling when I get to have unprotected sex with these stupid ass bitches. My wife Gabriella pussy stinks like cottage cheese that is spoil anyway. I love my Bi sexual partner, Sean. Money is nothing to these bitches.
You know, if you REALLY think about it you could leave it in the hands of the IRS/Accounting aspects of whether it’s a true business or not…
Like Mike said, if you’re willing to file tax returns and pay taxes on the income received from the shooting then it should be considered a “legal” business.
If you pay someone $500 to have sex with you and you generate no income off that $500 “investment” then it would be considered “prostitution.”
Actually, I could probably determine it just by looking at their accounting methods…..
Well, I guess then you would also have to look at whether the person receiving the money for “services rendered” was claiming that as income as well…. but, that wouldn’t really reflect on the business who was hiring said performer.
Anyways, I buy porn pussy and yes that’s true I don’t test.
I just pay the girls and fuck them. They are all tramps anyways.
I agree with Jilted and Rawalex that intent is key, if the cops decided they care about this. More or less they don’t. There are grey areas. A friend of mine is a successful television writer in Hollywood. He has a joke that you can get into any random cab at LAX or ask any waiter, how’s it going? and they’ll respond, “Well, I’m having a little trouble with character motivation in the third act.” His point is that everyone calls themselves a writer in LA (or actor or musician), even if they’ve never sold a thing. From a First Amendment standpoint, the courts have struggled with the same issue around who is a reporter in the age of the Internet? Pretty much every blogger with a keyboard and a notebook can call themselves a journalist since there’s no licensing board or regulatory agency, like there is for, say, accountants, and we believe in a free press and a vigorous debate. In theory, any schmuck with video capability on his iPhone is a potential film maker. Heck, Steven Spielberg got his start in his backyard in Columbus, Ohio, with his Dad’s 8mm video camera. Who am I to say the guy in the hotel room isn’t the next Alex Braun.
But …. did the guy ask for a model release. Has he formed a business. Does he even have a business card or a letter head. Did he post the video in a commercial way. Has he done this before and posted the video. Has he ever told any of his neighbors, family or friends that he wants to be a pornographer. With a Richard Nanula, who was in the entertainment, it may be a grey area. But, if I’m some guy on a business trip in LA, away from the prying eyes of family, neighbors, and friends, who wants to video tape my encounter with some strange, and I don’t want anyone to know about it, that’s prostitution. Calling it art doesn’t change the nature of the transaction. At least I don’t think it does.
Dream on, Ricco. Admitting that doing porn is essentially the same morally to hooking on the street (which I personally don’t see anything wrong with) doesn’t mean she actually takes clients as a prostitute other than a scene on a porn set. Maybe you can make a porn movie and get to fuck her that way, I understand you can make one for about $10K. You just have to fuck five other chicks as well to complete the movie. After that you actually have to release the movie and sell it in adult video sellers and on adult video seller websites or it is considered prostitution. Maybe you can get Maitresse Madeline to let you fuck her on video as well but be prepared for one hell of a wild ride!