Every single day I get email notifications from agencies advertising some new girl they just added to the roster.
A good number of these girls are at best average and at worse, well unshootable. Im not saying that they have no business in porn, there’s an ass for every seat and I am sure some guy would think that she is the cats meow but right now a quick look through the Industry modeling sites and it becomes very apparent that there is no way you can keep this many girls working regularly enough to make a living.
So why add average girls to the roster?
Maybe we should return to the days when there was actually a “star” system in the biz, particularly for mass market DVD shoots, I mean shouldn’t Porn Valley be the cream of the crop in terms of talent? leave average for the Internet?
It has long been suggested that we should drug test talent….that would certainly go a long way towards weeding out performers who probably shouldn’t be doing this anyway…
But the problem with that whole raising the bar thing means a LOT of people make a lot less money. Many of the business surrounding Porn Valley depend on a glut of performers…..I mean where would CET be if there were only 100 active performers? TTS would be fine they are nationwide but CET would fold.
And what about all the “talent agencies” not just LATATA but all of them….that would leave an awful lot of them in trouble. As it is they are turning to escorting to make ends meet, even agencies that once would fire girls for being escorts are now doing it.
I am not sure that there is an answer but I am sure that there is a problem and that problem is looming to bite us in the ass in ways that we dont yet even know about. That means we better start searching for an answer.
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Maybe We Should Raise the Bar On Talent http://t.co/9LC5DUQM6N
@MikeSouth1226 i agree and disagree @ the same time is that odd ?
Well I think the perceived quality of the talent also comes down to opinion/trend. 10-15 years ago the trend leaned towards more of a “pornstar” glamour type of look. Big fake boobs, blonde hair, lots of makeup, a very “pornstar” type of look. These days natural girls, and the “girl next door” types are in. Just look at the popular girls right now. Mia Malkova, Riley Reid, Lexi Belle, Alexis Texas, etc. None of them are mainstream model hot. They all look like any girl from your home town.
Secondly, I think agencies need to constantly add new girls to the roster because most girls that come into the business are not “star” quality. Maybe years ago that was ok, because there were so many producers producing so much content, that even if a girl wasn’t an absolute knockout star, she could still shoot 10 times a month. These days there are only a handful of producers, and only so many shoots to hand out. If they shoot a girl one time, and she isn’t remarkable, they probably won’t want to shoot her again because why would they have to? They have 1000 other girls to choose from. So you find that new girls will get a decent number of shoots to start out with, and within a month or two will fall flat. So there is a constant need to sign new girls in order to feed what producers are left, and try to find a star.
There is also a problem as far as model’s perception of the business. Perception of what this business is, is lagging behind reality. Girls still think that entering this business means they’re guaranteed to make a lot of money very fast. Many of them are sorely disappointed. I think agents catch more flack than they deserve in this area. When I hear a girl saying “my agent wasn’t booking me! I almost starved!” in an accusatory manner, I just shake me head. Your agent wasn’t booking you, in some cases, because there are very few shoots to go around, and no one wanted to book you. An agent can’t force a director to book anyone. But the reality of that doesn’t match whats in the girl’s head because she thinks “I’m cuter than these other girls! I should be shooting 20 times a month! It must be my agent’s fault!” They don’t realize that competition is REALLY tough out there. Nothing is guaranteed. You’re not entitled to a six figure income because you’re a pretty girl. Thats why you see girls bouncing around between agencies, and then sometimes just leaving the business all together. She starts with one agent, does OK, the shoots dry up, she thinks “It can’t be my fault! I’m a pretty girl! It must be my agent!”, switches agencies, maybe gets a little bump in shooting at first, and then sooner or later it dies again on her, and then the cycle repeats. Thats why you see some of these girls literally with every agency at some point. They don’t want to accept the fact that…maybe they’re not that hot…maybe they’re not that good of a performer….maybe people just aren’t that interested in giving her shoots…maybe making a lot of money for being a pretty girl in this business just isn’t a sure thing as it may have been before.
Thats not to say that some agents don’t do bad things some of the time, but theres always 2 sides to every story, and sometimes people just need someone to blame.
I will say though, that if you look at the major agency websites, they’ve definitely downsized. Many of the big agencies used to represent 100+ girls each. No most of them are down around 60-80.
There is definitely not enough shooting in this business to support every model. They must learn to do other things. For many girls, being a model in this business is going to mean shooting just a few times per month, and then doing other things on the side (camming, dancing, custom videos, and other ancillary revenue streams). The average girl has to be more of an entrepreneur these days to survive. If all they want to do is look pretty on camera and make a lot of money, they’re going to get chewed up and spit out fairly quickly. To be successful a girl really has to WANT to be in adult entertainment. They cant JUST want to shoot and make a lot of money. They’ve got to be driven and treat it as nearly a full time job.
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My take on this situation is pretty simple: it’s economics from two different directions crashing together to cause a problem.
First and foremost, there is the economic downturn that continues to linger in the US and much of the rest of the world. High unemployment leads to people needing work and at a certain point, being willing to do almost anything. Times like these are the times that strip clubs see a boost in girls looking to work, and these days boosts in the Craiglist type listings for escorts, massages and so on.
That dovetails nicely with a huge demand in the porn world, which is to cut costs and find talent that works for less to make the bottom line work out. It’s one of the reasons so many porn companies are turning towards “girlfriend’, “casting couch” and “hacked facebook account” sites, because they can use less than perfect girls to fill the sites with viable content that fit what people are looking for.
I also think that for whatever reason, there seems to be way more acceptance of out of shape girls, girls with way too much ink, girls who clearly just popped a kid out a few weeks ago… and that’s just in the “barely legal teen” areas. Go more towards straight 20 something girls, and it gets downright nasty at times.
I would be reluctant to start tightening the screws on what talent gets into the biz, look at Bonnie Rotten — frankly she is not attractive with her body covered almost from head to toe with jailhouse tattoos and she won multiple awards at the AVNs this year and a contract with Adam and Eve. If I were an agent and I were to have encountered Ms. Rotten I would have took one look at her and suggested she find a different vocation, I would have never guessed someone looking like her would have made it in porn at all, certainly not becoming a contract performer with a large porn producer. Makes me wonder what Cameron Bay would have done if she would not have contracted HIV (she is also the owner of a body with jailhouse tattoos from head to toe). In theory I like the idea of a cream of the crop strategy for companies like VIvid and Wicked but that would again have left Ms. Rotten out of the industry where she evidently does well. I have to say let them come and the market will decide what performers make it to the big time and what performers go home in debt up to their eyeballs.
As for drug testing I could support for cause testing if talent is obviously high/drunk on set but frankly I don’t agree with regulating what employees do off work and that is what random drug testing attempts to do. I get the reasoning for suggesting drug testing but I just cannot agree with telling performers they have to live a life that they themselves don’t agree with. Not all drug users become raging addicts like Sharon Mitchell and Tanner Mayes were. As long as they are sober and not in drug withdrawal on set I don’t give a fuck what drugs they smoke/snort/swallow/inject off set.
Mharris; I agree with you too. As long as they show up sober and smoke a little weed and do a good shoot that is cool. They need to get rid of these tatted out looking whores though. They look like shit.
What happen to those Huslter and Penthouse beauties that used to grace the Industry at one time? Nothing but yesterdays Basuda(TRASH). Even some of the Mexican chicks looks like typical trash in the adult biz. Clean it up producers are your sales are really going to go to shit. And fuck those agents.
I agree in regards to Bonnie Rotten. Those tattoos do nothing for me, but she is a true performer and I think viewers realize that…
But, I really like the current top performers at the moment who have hips, butts and actual real boobs. I always wonder if girls are playing a role in this emerging trend? There are certain performers who may be toned or overly toned with either no boobs or big fake boobs that quite literally just scare me… like I can’t even watch them. I either feel like I’m watching a young boy or an inflatable doll that just moans..
I think there’s a big difference between “out of shape” and a girl with a “feminine figure.”
It’s just personal preference I guess… but, there’s a reason Dani Daniels is currently on top and she’s not stick thin with the look of a 12yr. Old boy.
I also say drug testing isn’t always a bad thing… almost every job on earth these days could do random drug tests…
If someone snorts cocaine at home and shows up to work with white powder all over their face then the company is going to send their ass home.
Actually, many in the corporate business world drink during business meetings, but if they showed up back to the office falling all over the place then they would get sent home or fired.
What people do off the clock CAN affect what happens on the clock.
I will say, though, that I’ve seen actors in mainstream who’ve refused to walk onto a set until someone from production gets them weed/cocaine. *cough* rappers *cough*
In my opinion: The days with girls like: Dee, Dru Berrymore, Ava Vincent, Keri Windsor, Syren, Gina Ryder, Jezabelle Bond, ….. etc are long gone.
There are way too many skievy looking girls in porn nowadays (Bonnie Rotten, Christy Mac, and that rabble come to mind). Gorgeous stunning women like Lucie WIlde, Shae Summers, or Sensual Jane are far and few between.
@Karmafan
I would also say that there are too many skeezy girls and the ones you listed also come to mind.
However, I wouldn’t drop a dime on Lucie Wilde, Shae Summers, or Sensual Jane. It just comes down to opinion. There are those that loved Annette Haven and hate everything out now. People loved Jenna Jameson. I never saw it. I never saw Alexis Ford, Belladonna, or Brooklyn Lee as performers that stood out among the rest. Amen to them for their success though. Hopefully they properly banked that income. “Raising the bar” comes down to opinion.
I would say change the content. There is this power-fucking going on now. It is hard to find a normal blowjob. It seems that every film contains sloppy gagging oral scenes and the sex is like jack hammering. As a result every scene looks the same.
One cannot simply shoot sex and expect it to sell. Manuel Ferrara power-porking a hole while moaning “ohyeahohyeahohyeah ooooooh, ohyeahohoyeahohyeah…” is not appealing. If him and Sasha Grey knew how to shut up then they would have a better filmography.
Some people like that though.
Once again, it all comes down to opinion.
As for the original post by Mike South:
You don’t take a non-paying porn consumer and make them one. The same goes for music and mainstream films. Even if you provide the hottest girls you won’t get the freeloaders to pay unless you put out special items. Sadly, the physical content such as DVD’s and Blu-ray that are being released aren’t something I would buy. Not for that price at least. I’m a paying consumer too. I’ve never joined a site. I’m not going to pay to see content I don’t own for that price and unless I can watch a Netflix-type system with a ton of quality productions like the ones I can see on Netflix for 8 bucks a month then I won’t pay. Porn will charge me like 30 a month and give me shit. That won’t fly.
It isn’t as simple as picking out “stars” and if it was then porn would have had much more stars every era. One does not simply get prettier girls and make more money. It is a start though.
@MikeSouth1226 Start with weeding out flakey and skeezy (many x’s both) actresses. Starting to shoot lots = “Flake Alerts” to directors here
Shit I agree
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It’s a pretty simple explanation for the lack of talent: Follow the money. There’s far less money in porn than 10 years ago, hence the quality of porn starlets is way, way down. Fat asses, tats, moderately attractive, etc.
Porn had it good for a long time. For 30 years, from the early 70’s to the mid 2000’s it was one of the very few recession proof industries.
Now it’s just shit. Some new medium/technology is the only way the quality will rise.
There is an old saying, “You get what you pay for.” Its true in any business, porn is no exception.
The porn industry was NEVER worth as much as was claimed. The 13billion, 15billion dollar figures were simply made up out of thin air. Repeat it over and over and over again and people eventually begin to believe it.
The vast majority of the millions of people watching free porn were never porn customers. They werent buying it before the internet revolution bought us all the free porn,,,and after watching it for free for years now they are never going to pay for it, especially the crap that is being produced today.
Agree with sclermy, theres far less money than ten years ago, and ten years ago there was far less money than the industry would like you to believe.
People will pay for porn..when it’s high quality on a new medium. DVD’s are dead, Blu-Ray really never caught on. Of course, this is all because you’re right, there’s free porn all over the internet.
Here’s a new, upcoming medium: The Avegant Glyph Mobile Theater. Similar to the Oculus Rift but for mobile video only, not video games. An innovative/enterprising person or company could produce porn for this device and it could be fantastic. Of course, the #1 Priority is to LOCK IT DOWN to prevent any possibility of piracy.
Could be a game changer.
@schlermy
It is something to keep an eye on, but the odds of the Avegant Glyph Mobile Theater becoming a porn-viewing forum are miniscule.
Most have trouble masturbating and chewing gum at the same time. Wearing a headset to do so wouldn’t help. Also, people already bought Blu-Ray players and new televisions. Selling to the minority that purchases that for 500 bucks wouldn’t be economically viable. That’s a loooong way off.
Mainstream films are doing great on Blu-Ray, but porn isn’t. A lot of porn DVD’s look like garbage on an HD TV of around 50 inches or more. I can watch a mainstream flick from 10 years earlier and it looks better. Most people are buying televisions that large too. DVD’s should be phased-out and Blu-Rays should take over for porn. Or offer a combo-pack. A double-layer Blu-Ray disc holds 50GB compared to the 9 or so that a DVD holds. That would save studios from making double discs. There were like 2 studios offering a combo-pack, but others have no problem releasing double-disc sets for a DVD. I don’t get that.
You’re probably right about the Glyph. The problem with Blu-Ray is several fold, it’s just not as ubiquitous as DVD and never will be. Home video’s heyday is long, long gone.
I just don’t know what can be done. The good talent scattered like rats from a sinking ship once the money train stopped. Porn thrived for 30 years by charging a premium for it’s content(cable, hotel PPV, DVD’s used to be $35, etc.), and now it’s free.
I’m just repeating the obvious. Until porn stops being free there’s nothing that can be done.