Adult Movie FAQ v6.00 Part 1 of 12 Welcome to rec.arts.movies.erotica =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Sections marked with [updated] were updated since the last revision Sections marked with [new] were added since the last revision. This FAQ is Copyright 1994-7 by rame.net, and is made available as a service to the Internet community. It may not be sold in any medium, including electronic, CD-ROM, or database, packaged with any commercial product, or published in print, without the explicit, written permission of rame.net. Send comments to faq@rame.net =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction [updated] 2 Copyright and other necessary stuff 3 How to get this FAQ 4 Welcome to rec.arts.movies.erotica! 5 The rec.arts.movies.erotica charter [new] 6 If I can't post binaries in r.a.m.e., where can I post them? [new] 7 Where can I post ads? [new] 8 Where can I trade or sell my tapes? [new] 9 Who we are... 10 Are there sex movie related IRC channels? [updated] 11 Glossary [updated] 12 Welcome to the Machine [updated] 13 Welcome to Usenet! 13.1 What is Usenet? [updated] 13.2 What is a moderated newsgroup? [new] 13.3 What is netiquette? [updated] 13.4 How to join a Usenet group 13.5 Fear and Loathing @ AOL.COM 13.6 What's a newbie? Is that bad? 14 What else is there to know? [updated] 14.1 What do I call my post? 14.2 What should my posts look like? 14.3 Who do I respond to? 14.4 Where do I put my John Hancock? 14.5 Mind my manners? Eat me! 15 Inappropriate Postings 15.1 Spam 16 Troubleshooting 16.1 Welcome to alt.test 16.2 Meet your Systems Administrator 16.2.1 But I'm not at a college or large business! 17 I don't have Web Access, what can I do to access some of the Web based services on the net? [updated] 18 How to Make a Porn Flick 18.1 How can I become a porn star? 18.1.1 That's not very encouraging... I really want to do it. Tell me how. 18.2 What's all this talk about licensed agents? 18.2.1 So, who are the hetero agents? 18.2.2 Who are the gay agents? [new] 18.3 Do you think I need an agent? 18.4 OK... How about getting into gay porn? [updated] 18.4.1 Are there any secrets to gay porn success? 18.5 Do porn stars get recruited? [new] 18.6 How much do porn stars make? [updated] 18.7 How much do porn directors make? [updated] 18.8 What I really want to do is direct! 18.9 So, maybe mainstream is not where I want to be... would you tell me about amateur? [updated] 18.9.1 What kind of budgets to amateur productions have? 18.9.2 What kind of equipment do I need? 18.9.3 What about editing? 18.9.4 What about legal issues? 18.10 Okay, so maybe directing is not the thing to do... who writes the songs that those people fuck to? [updated] 18.11 Well, how about some other tech job? How do I become a videographer? An editor? [new] 18.12 How much can I make if I write adult movie scripts? [updated] 18.13 Are there any books I can read about the subject of porn production? 19 Backstage... 19.1 If it is so hard to be in adult movies, why do actors and actresses enter the business at all? 19.2 So porn stars tend to like their work? 19.2.1 Stacey Donovan hates porn? 19.3 Why do we always see men orgasm, but hardly ever see the women orgasm? 19.4 How long do actors stay in the business of making videos? 19.5 Do porn actors need to be members of the Screen Actor's Guild? [new] 19.6 Why do men last for years in the business, when women seem to last only a few months? 19.7 How do you know when a performer has retired? 19.8 Are there actors turned directors? [updated] 19.9 How long does it take to make a adult video? 19.10 How long are porn scripts? 19.11 Sales and other related figures... 19.11.1 What is considered a big success? 19.11.2 What's the all time best-sellers? 19.11.3 After completing a project how much would a producer receive from a distributor? I assume they sell all rights and raw footage. [updated] 19.11.4 How much does a distributor wholesale the video to a retailer for? 19.11.5 Perhaps you could differentiate between amateurs and features - shot on video or shot on film. Bottom line - where's the profit made! 19.12 What frustrates an editor most? 19.13 I have a dickens of a time knowing who's who in a porn film. Why can't everyone put a picture to a face like Rinse Dream did in Party Doll a-Go-Go? [updated] 19.14 Why is the sound so bad? 19.15 How do you shoot and/or edit softcore footage? 20 Definition of Terms: Porno v. Just Plain Naked 21 Backstage Issues 21.1 Have any New York Times best-sellers ever been made into adult films? 21.2 Does the porn industry have an awards show? 21.3 Where can I meet pornstars? [new] 21.3.1 The Winter Consumer Electronics Show [new] 21.3.2 Adult Video News Awards [updated] 21.3.3 Gay Video Guide [updated] 21.3.4 F.O.X.E. (Fans of X-Rated Entertainment) [updated] 21.3.5 East Coast Video Show [new] 21.4 Award Winners... [updated] 21.4.1 Adult Video News Awards [updated] 21.4.2 Gay Video Guide Awards [updated] 21.5 Who owns the porn studios? 21.6 Why do porn babes wear shoes all the damned time? 21.7 Is my dick smaller than a porn star's? 21.8 Where can I buy a pair of tits that big? 21.8.1 So do people like fake tits? 21.9 Who do so many porn starlets shave their nether regions? 21.10 How do porn stars handle birth control on sets? 21.11 How do porn stars prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases? [updated] 21.12 Did Annabelle Chong really fuck 251 guys during the "Worlds Biggest Gangban 21.13 Did Jamine St. Clair fuck 300 guys in the sequel? 21.14 At the "World's Largest Gangbang," there were a bunch of fluffers. Are fluffers normal on porn sets? 22 Celebrities don't do porno... usually. [updated] 23 The ones who did... 23.1 The Star Trek Connection... [updated] 23.1.1 The Original Series 23.1.2 The Next Generation 23.2 Tonya Harding 23.3 What about Sticks the Drummer from "Happy Days"? 23.4 Jayne Kennedy? [updated] 23.5 Simon Rex? 23.6 Aldo Ray? [new] 23.7 Cameron Mitchell? [new] 23.8 NFL running back Dave Nelson? [new] 24 The one's who didn't... 24.1 Marina Sirtis 24.2 Do the Brady Girls Swallow? [updated] 24.3 Ron Howard? 24.4 Barbra Streisand [updated] 24.5 Sylvester Stallone? 24.6 Xuxa? [updated] 24.7 The Go-Gos? 24.8 Pamela Anderson Lee? [updated] 24.9 Dana Plato? [updated] 24.10 Teri Hatcher? 24.11 Alyssa Milano? 24.12 Wednesday Addams from TV? [new] 24.13 The Pink Power Ranger (Amy Jo Johnson)? [new] 24.14 Linda Blair? [new] 24.15 Marilyn Monroe? [new] 24.16 Jeremy Jordan? [new] 25 Some other information... 25.1 But what about all those pictures I see of on the Net which show Tom Cruise/Marina Sirtis/Brad Pitt/Mother Theresa having sex? [new] 25.2 Is there anywhere I can buy this celebrity "porn?" [new] 26 Porn Stars and their Stories... 26.1 Are there any famous porn people on-line? [updated] 26.2 Are we taken seriously by the industry professionals? [updated] 26.3 Who is Paul Thomas and why don't we like him? 26.3.1 Was PT in Jesus Christ Superstar? 26.4 Have any porn stars died? [updated] 26.5 Is Nikki Dial or Joey Silvera or Lana Woods or Talia James or Patti Petite or Taija Rae dead? 26.6 How did Savannah die? [updated] 26.7 How did Joey Stefano die? [updated] 26.8 How did Michel Richaud die? 26.9 Who is Traci Lords and why is she famous? 26.9.1 Where can I get Traci Lords' movies? 26.9.2 How come Traci's movies are available in Quebec? 26.10 Was that Ashlyn Gere on The X-Files? 26.10.1 Wasn't she on "Space: Above and Beyond" as well? [updated] 26.11 Are there other crossovers from porn to movies? [updated] 26.12 Is there a crossover from porn to politics? 26.12.1 Isn't there more than politics to Cicciolina? 26.13 Is Teri Weigel famous for something other than humping? 26.14 Are there other crossovers from Playboy or Penthouse to porn? [updated] 26.15 How about Playgirl to gay porn? [new] 26.16 Did Tiffany Million ever wrestle? 26.17 Alexandria Quinn -- legal or not? 26.18 Are there other underage porn performers? 26.19 Did the same thing happen to gay star Jeff Browning? [new] 26.20 Has Victoria Paris or Traci Lords or Candi Evans or Nikki Dial ever taken it in the ass? [updated] 26.21 Does Linda Lovelace hate porn? 26.22 Did any other porn stars denounce the business? 26.23 What's the deal with Peter North? 26.24 Have any het male performers done gay porn? [new] 26.25 Does Janine Lindemulder just do girls? 26.25.1 So Janine has a boyfriend? 26.26 What movie has that ice dildo scene? 26.27 Who are Rex Borsky and Jackson St. Louis? [updated] 26.27.1 Is DeRenzy coming back ever? [new] 26.28 What does Greg Dark do on his days off? [new] 26.29 Are there any other porn directors who do mainstream work? [new] 26.30 Speaking of the Dark Brothers, why did they break up? [new] 26.31 Are Ginger Lynn and Amber Lynn sisters? [new] 26.32 Are there any other siblings in porn? [new] 26.33 Have any siblings performed sex together on-screen? [new] 26.34 Is Candi Evans married to one of the American Gladiators? [new] 26.35 Who is in Anabolic's Gang Bang Girls series? 26.36 Speaking of gangbangs, are there any gay gangbang movies? [new] 27 Internet Resources 27.1 Web sites related to Adult Movies... [updated] 27.2 Heretic's Adult Movie Database [updated] 27.3 The Internet Movie Database [updated] 27.4 Are there any gay resources on the 'Net? [updated] 27.5 How can I find out where my favorite porn starlets are dancing? [new] 27.6 Are there other sources for film reviews? [updated] 27.7 Where'd Videosan go? 28 Books 28.1 Where can I get "The Bare Facts?" 28.2 Is the Bare Facts the only book of its type? [new] 28.3 Can I get a book of porn star headshots? [new] 28.4 Is the gay porn directory "Superstars" any good? [new] 28.5 Are there any comprehensive books of reviews? [new] 28.6 Have any of the stars written books? [updated] 28.7 Are there books on the history of gay porn? 28.8 Where can I buy books mentioned in this FAQ? 29 Magazines 29.1 Adult Video News 29.2 Adam Film World (AFW) and its gay counterpart, XXX Gay Video Showcase and its niche counterpart, Adam Black Video Illustrated 29.3 Hustler Erotic Video Guide 29.4 Video Xcitement [updated] 29.5 Gay Video Guide (GVG) [updated] 29.6 Manshots [updated] 30 Got any good FTP sites? 30.1 Some guy posts a list of FTP sites every now and then... 30.2 I got 127.0.0.1 ... Is that a good one? 31 Boy, those oddities sure are odd... 31.1 Are Dixie Dynamite's tits real? 31.2 Are those 18" dicks real? 31.3 Do those guys really have two dicks? [updated] 31.4 Are hermaphrodites real? 32 X, XXX... What happened to XX? 32.1 So XXX is hotter than X? Not really. 33 Mail Order 33.1 Are there reputable mail order houses? 33.2 Excalibur [updated] 33.3 Video Gold Club 33.4 Video Age 33.5 What US mail order options are available from Europe? [new] 33.6 How can I watch US porn if I am in Europe? [new] 33.7 Where can I get "classic" porn? [new] 34 Magazines 34.1 Can I really get 100 movies for 5 bucks? Where would I put all the videotapes? 34.2 What are those annoying black dots for? 35 The Web 35.1 Is there a Web based House of Smut? [updated] 36 Your Hometown 36.1 Hi, do you carry "Fuck me Hard?" 36.2 Blockbuster 36.2.1 Why are some of the movies I rent at Blockbuster different from the same movie I rent at "Joe's House of Video"? Is Mommy Blockbuster editing them? 36.2.2 Two versions? 36.2.3 Why multiple versions? 36.2.4 Once again, does Blockbuster pay the studios to cut out all the bad stuff? 36.2.5 Okay, okay, we've left porn to discuss mainstream films. I've seen a director's cut of "The Color of Night" at Blockbuster. Explain that one..... 36.2.6 You mean that Blockbuster doesn't get special versions of videos? 36.3 So I guess I have to rely upon my local Big Bob's House of Smut(tm)? 36.4 What if I live in Atlanta, Georgia? 36.4.1 Fantastic Video [updated] 36.4.2 Video 2010 36.4.3 9 1/2 Weeks 36.4.4 XXX Adult Video Showcase 36.5 Why was hardcore gone so long from Atlanta? I know I saw a bunch of peep shows and theatres there several years ago, and Atlanta is full of titty bars. 37 Formats or How to Watch Porn 37.1 Can I get porn on laserdisc? 37.2 Can I get porn on CD-ROM? 37.3 What is this DVD I keep hearing about? [new] 38 Satellites 38.1 I can get smut on my TV?!? [updated] 38.2 Are there any American satellite channels? 38.3 Can I get porn on my 18" dish? [new] 38.4 Can I get porn on my 29" AlphaStar Satellite Dish? [new] 38.5 Where can I find porn in Australia? [updated] 39 Snuff Flicks are real, right? 40 How should I know what movies to rent? [updated] 41 What kind of movies should I watch with my partner? 42 Are there "couples" directors to watch out for? 42.1 Andrew Blake 42.2 John Leslie 42.3 Candida Royalle 42.4 Svetlana 42.5 Paul Thomas 43 Myths of Couples Porn 44 What is all this I keep hearing about "The Golden Age?" 45 How Not To get Screwed [new] 46 Legal Issues 46.1 Here in America, can I get this porno stuff legally? 46.2 Can I get my smut in Europe? 46.3 So am I out of luck if I am in England? [updated] 46.4 What's the situation in Australia? 46.5 I am in America and I have some European tapes (with some "taboo" parts) and I am not sure how I can swap or sell them... I mean are they illegal? 46.6 What does that "made before July 3, 1995" sticker mean? 46.7 Why doesn't the creation of an adult video run afoul of laws against pimping and prostitution? [updated] 46.8 Who are the "Erotic Eleven" and what does it have to do with Nina Hartley's ban from Canada? 46.8.1 Is there a movie based on this event? 46.9 Are Ben Dover's "Banned in Britain" tapes really banned? [new] 46.10 Why is fisting illegal in the United States? 46.11 So what can't I watch in America, the home of the free? 46.12 Where'd the Cherry Poppers tapes go?!? [new] 46.13 What's the deal with porn in Canada? Can I see some things or all things or what? [updated] 46.14 How about the Australian porn laws? What are they like? 46.15 You said something about "nuisance prosecutions." Could you clarify the illegality issue again? 47 Censorship 47.1 Introduction 47.2 What is censorship? 47.3 What does the First Amendment have to do with it? 47.4 So what has it got to do with alt.sex.movies? 47.5 So what is actually illegal to watch/own/produce/sell? 47.6 Who are these censorious bastards? Lets go get 'em! 47.6.1 Jesse Helms 47.6.2 Edwin Meese 47.6.3 Andrea Dworkin/Catherine MacKinnon 47.6.4 James Exon 47.6.5 Orrin Hatch [new] 47.7 Am I on my own with sword and shield, or is anyone else in this with me? 47.7.1 F.O.X.E (Fans of X-rated entertainment) 47.7.2 CAL-ACT (Californians Against Censorship Together) 47.7.3 Free Speech Coalition [new] 47.8 So how about the Dworkin/MacKinnon stuff already? 48 Revision History [updated] 49 Special Thanks Department [updated] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1 Introduction [updated] Adult movies (aka, porn flicks, stag films, etc.) were born shortly after movies themselves. According to its entry in the newsgroups file, rec.arts.movies.erotica exists to discuss "the ins and outs" of this genre of motion picture entertainment. The people who read this newsgroup are, on average, well adjusted people who think that the viewing of pornographic materials is, in the worst case harmless, and in the best case enlightening and enjoyable. X-rated movies are a fantasy, and as long as people keep that in mind, it will not warp or destroy anyone's moral character. Even if you forget it, it probably won't warp you. Usenet has been around for a long time, and in the course of that time, people come and people go and still others remain. This FAQ has been put together with the aid and assistance of a great many people, mostly to inform, entertain, educate and enlighten... but also to spare them the pain of hearing another "Did Marina Sirtis do porn?" question. ;-) The first part of the FAQ deals with netiquette -- how to behave when not only in this newsgroup, but poking around the 'net in general. The remaining parts deal with specific topics within the newsgroup. I hope you enjoy this FAQ. It has been a labor of love for me to keep it up, since I receive no compensation for the maintenance, other than the joys of knowing people like it. So, if you like it, please send me a paycheck of kind words. Should you have any questions you think should appear in here, comments about this FAQ or anything else, drop me a line at faq@rame.net. Thanks for your indulgence. ================================================================= 2 Copyright and other necessary stuff *********** Notice to Spaghetti Publishers ******** A spaghetti publisher is one whose philosophy of publishing is to "throw it at the wall and see if it sticks." Over the last few years, they have been very busy putting out badly written Internet books, and are looking for yet more material they can rush into print in their ever greedier search for easy $. Lately, spaghetti publishers have taken to exploiting FAQs and lists, often publishing them without obtaining written permission. This is an abuse of the copyright laws, and threatens the continued viability of the FAQ system which benefits us all. These are the same publishers who would sue at the drop of a hat if anyone so much as used a figure from their books without permission. This FAQ is Copyright 1994-7 by rame.net, and is made available as a service to the Internet community. It may not be sold in any medium, including electronic, CD-ROM, or database, packaged with any commercial product, or published in print, without the explicit, written permission of rame.net. I urge other FAQ authors to include this notice as part of their FAQs. This language comes from the comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc faq, maintained Bernard Aboba. ************** Legalese ************** This FAQ is presented with no warranties or guarantees of ANY KIND including correctness or fitness for any particular purpose. The author(s) of this document have attempted to verify correctness of the data contained herein; however, slip-ups can and do happen. If you use this data, you do so at your own risk. ================================================================= 3 How to get this FAQ The current version of this document will always be available for viewing on the World Wide Web at http://www.rame.net/faq The ASCII version is no longer supported since I maintain the FAQ in HTML these days. Comments, corrections, additions, and suggestions are always encouraged. Please either post them to rec.arts.movies.erotica, alt.sex.movies, or, preferably, email them directly to me, and I will incorporate them into future versions of this FAQ. ================================================================= 4 Welcome to rec.arts.movies.erotica! This section of the FAQ is meant just to get you acquainted with the group, its terms and its history. There is quite a social stigma surrounding adult entertainment, and it is a shame that after so many years of enlightened civilization, people still think we're a bunch of old men running around in raincoats, jerking off in movie theatres. Nowadays, we dress in clothes from the Gap and make love with our viewing partners in the privacy of our own homes. Times have changed, though the perceptions have not. Porn is a billion-dollar industry. With numbers like that, it is hard to ignore. ================================================================= 5 The rec.arts.movies.erotica charter [new] Our charter states: rec.arts.movies.erotica is a moderated USENET newsgroup dedicated to the intelligent and mature discussion of erotic films and videos -- hardcore, softcore or mainstream, gay or heterosexual. Discussion should be limited to reviews of current and not-so-current releases, gossip, behind the scenes stories, social, economic and legal issues surrounding erotic films, and discussion of actors and actresses (and directors and producers and...). Unacceptable submissions include spams, commercials and binaries. This group is intended for text messages only. Binaries should be uuencoded and posted to the appropriate groups within the alt.binaries hierarchy, or, preferably, made available through the World Wide Web or anonymous FTP. ================================================================= 6 If I can't post binaries in r.a.m.e., where can I post them? [new] There's a whole slew of USENET groups dedicated to movies or pictures you can see on your PC. Search your news spool for the words "erotica" and "binaries" (If you don't know how to do this, ask your news admin. it's their job to know...) For starters, you can check out the following groups: alt.binaries.multimedia.erotica alt.binaries.pictures.erotica alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.pornstar This list is obviously not canonical, and I don't intend it to be. Please don't mail me asking how to access USENET groups. I can't help you... that's what your tech support people get paid for. :-) ================================================================= 7 Where can I post ads? [new] The groups for advertising are alt.sex.erotica.marketplace and its sibling alt.sex.erotica.market.place. If you want to trade video tapes, try alt.sex.video-swap or alt.sex.wanted. (The latter group has turned into a haven for "wannafucks" but was intended as a group for people wanting things sexually related, not for wanting sex.) ================================================================= 8 Where can I trade or sell my tapes? [new] For trading, alt.sex.video-swap is the best place to look. To sell your collection, alt.sex.erotica.marketplace is the appropriate group. Postings made to r.a.m.e. on these subjects will be rejected with a pointer to the appropriate group. ================================================================= 9 Who we are... The people in rec.arts.movies.erotica are pretty helpful, and have a good sense of humor. However, some things to remember when posting... a) Don't ask for replies via e-mail (if the QUESTION is worth posting, the ANSWER will be valuable to everyone in the group). Also, it implies YOUR time is more valuable than THEIRS, since you're expecting _them_ to read all the posts to see yours, yet _you're_ not willing to scan the subjects to see their reply. b) when following up on a posting, please delete any non-relevant lines from the original post (including header and sig). Posting more than 10 lines from the original post is TOO MUCH. Posting no lines from the original is TOO LITTLE. ALSO, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT EACH TIME YOU POST, YOU'RE ASKING A COMPLETE STRANGER TO SPEND TIME HELPING YOU: - if the answers you receive are not what you wanted, DON'T FLAME!, just post a follow-up note thanking the respondents for their suggestions so far, and provide a clarified problem statement. - if you receive no responses, DON'T PANIC!, give it a couple of days: it takes a while for postings to propagate around the world; sometimes your posting is similar to one posted in the previous couple of weeks and people are sick of the topic (check your news server's archive); sometimes your question is a 'toughie' which requires some thinking/research time; and sometimes everyone's just too busy. If you get no reply after a week, try again with additional clarification, and consider using the following format: i) FLATTERY SECTION: "I've learned a lot from the faqs and watching the postings for the last month, but now I have a really tough problem for you gurus" ii) BEGGING FOR HELP: "I've checked the FAQs, library, etc... any advice would be appreciated (please post responses to this newsgroup as I don't read my e-mail very often)" - if the answers are useful, a quick _e-mail_ thanking the respondent(s) is always appreciated This language is taken from the excellent comp.lang.basic.visual.* "Welcome message." Used with permission for which I am eternally grateful. ================================================================= 10 Are there sex movie related IRC channels? [updated] Yes. There are two that I know of. One is moderated by Brandy Alexandre. The details of her chats are beyond the scope of this document because the location information changes more frequently than I can update the FAQ. Historically, the chats are held on Wednesday nights at 8 PM Eastern (GMT -0500) in channel #a.s.m. Brandy posts reminders of chat in alt.sex.movies, so look for them there. Another group is #!!!!!!pornstar-trading (yes, all six ! must be present.) These chats are overseen by the Pornateers. They meet on EFNet and usually get rolling around 5:00 PM Eastern (GMT -0500). Porn star pictures are traded often and the discussion surrounds the industry and its stars. ================================================================= 11 Glossary [updated] 69 (sixty-nine): How DOES one explain this to the uninitiated? Easiest way: each person performs oral sex on the other. The most comfortable way to achieve this is for one partner to lay down belly-to-belly on the other. (Kinda like the 6 and the 9 look... hence the name!) a2m This refers to the removal of something (dick, finger, dildo, or any other object) from a rectal cavity and the placing of said object into a mouth without any editing or other production chicanery. The object should remain visible at all times. It is usually preferred that the ass and mouth belong to the same person, but it is not mandatory. AFAIK As Far As I Know AFOAF A Friend of a Friend -- Often used when relating urban myths. alt.binaries.pictures.erotica alt.binaries.pictures.erotica is a newsgroup which has gigabytes and gigabytes of copyright violations posted to it every month. You will often find nude pics of your favorite stars there. Check out their FAQ for more details! alt.flame alt.flame is a newsgroup dedicated to flaming of all shapes and styles. If you feel a prolonged flame war coming on, it is best to carry on over there, because most people don't want to watch your arguments. asm alt.sex.movies Autofellatio A term used to refer to the extraordinary ability to suck one's own cock. Often, the male involved has to either have incredible flexibility or have a fairly large penis. Al Eingang, Grant Fagan, and Scott O'Hara are known for their amazing autofellatio talents. Ron Jeremy can also "keep himself amused." AVI Audio Video Interleave: This is Microsoft's standard for capturing video to play back to your computer. Like its single-frame counterpart .BMP, AVI files are huge and take forever to download. Most people prefer MPEGs, though there is some bickering over standards and a good Windows viewer. B-G Boy-girl; denotes a standard boy-girl sex scene. B&D See "Bondage" Bear A term used in gay porn usually to refer to a performer with a lot of body hair. Bears are also usually older, with facial hair, and tend to be stocky. Bondage Bondage films usually involve ropes, fetters, chains, or manacles. American law usually forbids that sex occur while the performer is still bound, or that the performer show that he/she can remove the bondage without assistance. BJ Blowjob. BMP BitMaPped graphic. Microsoft popularized (hell, they invented) the .BMP file with the advent of Windows. It is most famous for hogging diskspace. It is much more preferable to use JPG compression rather than using BMPs to transfer graphic information. BTW A three letter acronym for "By The Way..." Cowgirl A sexual position where the girl is on top of the guy face to face, sitting up and riding. The opposite is the reverse cowgirl, where the girl faces away from the guy. cum dodger A performer (usually female) who does her best to avoid getting cum on her face. cum shot The part of the movie when the man ejaculates. DAP Double Anal Penetration -- Two cocks in the ass. And you thought constipation was bad! DL I have found out what .DL stands for. DL is taken from the two individuals which copyrighted the binary format and structure of the movie loops (most Dls loop forever). The names are: (D)avide Tome' and (L)uca De Gregori. The DOCs in the latest DL-view version I have claim a copyright all the way back to 1990. (just more trivia, I know). Not often seen. People in Italy seem to love it. DP Double Penetration - One penis in the vagina, the other in the anus. In gay porn, DP means two cocks in one ass, as seen in several Falcon and Robert Prion films from 1991 - 1994 (most notably the "Abduction" series from Falcon). In hetero films, that is known as a DAP. DPP Double Pussy Penetration -- Just as it says; two cocks in one pussy. Stretch baby stretch! Evil Empire Coined by AVN, the people whose works are distributed by Evil Angel are sometimes collectively referred to as the "Evil Empire." The empire currently consists of John "Buttman" Stagliano, Bruce Seven, Alex de Renzy, Joey Silvera, Rocco Siffredi and John Leslie. FAQ Frequently Asked Questions. Sometimes people call it Frequently Answered Questions, but more often than not the questions are answered with "READ THE FAQ!" Fisting Finger-fucking gone awry. One finger, two finger, three finger, four! The Thumb! Holy cow, my whole hand is up there! Most communities feel that fisting is obscene, so mainstream pornographers tend to stay away from it. Tim says: I don't know about hetero porn, but in gay porn 1) It isn't "finger-fucking gone AWRY" (hey, it was a joke...); 2) it's done in the ass not the vagina; 3) even mainstream photographers such as Falcon and Catalina have recently done fisting movies, including Falcon's recent foray into double- fisting (i.e., one guy has each hand up another man's ass). flame A flame is an incendiary remark meant to provoke or insult. Some people have brought flaming to an art form. They can be found in the group alt.flame. FLC Flick files. These are Autodesk Animator's file types of choice. They are just as big as AVI files, but can be viewed in both Windows and DOS, unlike AVIs. FLI see FLC Fluffer A fluffer is a person hired to keep the male performers erect during breaks in filming. They were popular during the 70s, and now they are usually reserved for those ridiculously huge gangbangs. More details are contained in later parts of this FAQ. FTP File Transport Protocol - A method of copying files between machines connected to the Internet. Most sites provide "Anonymous FTP" which allows you to log in to a server anonymously (i.e. you don't need an account) and get or put files there. FWIW An acronym for "For What It's Worth..." Gangbang (or GB) When many participants (usually male) have their way with one (usually) female. Gangbangs usually contain more than 4 people. G/G (or g-g) Girl-Girl. A lesbian sexual encounter. GIF Graphics Interchange Format - A file format for viewing files on a computer. The GIF format was developed by CompuServe and has become one of the graphic standards. It's now under dispute by a bunch of greedy ignorant weasels over at Unisys. GL An ugly disk-hogging ugly DOS based file format for viewing movies which does its job and not much else. Rarely posted to the a.b.pictures newsgroups. Golden Showers Urinating on someone who wants to be urinated on. Gonzo Rodney Moore says: "GONZO is defined in the AVN as any movie which makes use of a "talking camera" i.e. POV (point of view) style shooting, where the cameraman is also the actor. It would also include the involvement of the audience as part of the movie, not just third party spectators. This would apply to myself, Buttman, etc. And going way back even before Buttman, Ugly George in New York, who was to the best of my knowledge the first "Gonzo" shooter." IMHO In My Humble Opinion IRC Internet Relay Chat. A real-time conferencing system. Members of alt.sex.movies meet on the Undernet (irc.undernet.org) on Wednesday nights at 8 PM Eastern (-0500 GMT) in channel #a.s.m. to talk about sex movies and whatever else comes up. JPG Joint Pictures Experts Group: This file format is most preferred by denizens of the 'Net, due to the excellent compression JPG offers. A .BMP file could easily be 10 times the size of a comparable JPG file... and when downloading graphics, you want the smallest file with the best resolution, and JPG really takes the cake. You need a special viewer to view JPGs and someone over in a.b.p.e.d (or any of the graphics discussion groups) should be able to help you find one. A favorite is QPEG, a DOS based JPEG viewer. Leather films Usually a film in which the performers wear leather harnesses, jackets, caps, pants or chaps, vests, etc. Leather films tend to feature rougher sex. Leather films are a major gay porn genre, although many het films also feature leather. LOL Laugh Out Loud. Used to show that something someone said was funny. MM or m/m Male-male action, usually used in reference to bisexual videos where the men engage in sexual activity with each other rather than only with the woman. META META means it is about the group rather than on-topic. It's an odd little term and I never came across it except on the Net. For instance, a discussion about the discussion you're having is considered a meta- discussion. Does that make sense? So the post does not deal with sex movies, though it does deal with the newsgroup. MFF Male/Female/Female. See a threesome. See N-Way. Mish Short for missionary -- a sexual position allegedly taught to the natives by missionaries... man on top between the woman's parted legs. The term is most often used in reviews: "Tom and Tori then mish for a little while..." money shot see "cum shot" MPAA Motion Picture Association of America, or in the familiar, the ratings board. This board of seven "parents" rates the films Hollywood makes based on what they feel is suitable for audience members. They allegedly base their choices on the merits, although smaller films (like Almodovar's) are often more strictly judged than the "blockbusters." Of course, everyone involved denies this. MPEG Motion Pictures Expert Group - This is a way of displaying movies on your screen. It is well liked because of its high compression ratio. However, the quality of the image may be lessened by the compression scheme. MPG See MPEG N-way A term used to refer to the multiple-pairings available in gay porn. If sex between two people is a duo, and three people is a three-way and four people is a four-way and five-people is a five-way...then most people just like to refer to ANY KIND of sex involving more than two people as an N-way. ObRAME or ObASM OB = obligatory. Since off-topic posts are (allegedly) verboten, you add a sentence or two at the end of your off-topic post that is on- topic, but unrelated to your post, so you made your OBligiatory sex movie reference... PCX This is another form of graphic display file. It was developed by Zsoft for its PC Paintbrush program, and has also become a de facto standard. PITA Not only a bread, but Pain In The Ass. "Boy, that Jerry... what a PITA..." RAME rec.arts.movies.erotica. A moderated newsgroup that also deals with erotic movies. Started by a bunch of a.s.m. readers who got fed up with all the ads and binaries. Reverse Cowgirl or RC A sexual position where the girl on top of guy, facing his feet, sitting up and riding him. This seems to be a favorite of asm readers as it allows fairly unfettered and more "natural" camera work. Reverse Anal Cowgirl or RAC Same as RC, but with anal instead of vaginal penetration. Rimming The act of licking someone's anus. If you could lick your own anus, there is probably a lot of money to be made... ROFL Rolling On Floor Laughing -- The next step above LOL RTFM Read the Fucking Manual - The cry of system administrators and other poor souls who must deal with people asking obvious questions over and over. "How do you save a document? Read the fucking manual, that's how!" Sado-masochism. See "S&M" below. S&M Sado-masochism. Usually sex which involves bondage (see above) but also the infliction of pain and/or humiliation. American law usually forbids sexual activity while S&M occurs. Spamming The act of posting the same or similar message separately (so that only one newsgroup shows in the newsgroup header) to large numbers of newsgroups. An ad for a baseball card sale which shows up in every alt.sex.* newsgroup is spam unless it is VELVEETA. Spooning Usually performed after sex, when two individuals lie on their sides, facing the same direction, and perfectly fit together, like two spoons. TIF Tagged Image Format - A graphic format used in the real world for transferring HUGE graphics files between print shops. Also used to a much lesser extent on the net. You will mostly see TIF files converted to JPGs for compression reasons. TLA Three Letter Acronym TP Triple Penetration - One in pussy, one in ass, one in her mouth. Wow! Trade A term used in gay porn to refer to a performer who does not kiss, suck cock, or get fucked in the ass. Also referred to as "straight trade." Good examples include Jeff Stryker and Rex Chandler, and early in his career, Ryan Idol. Troll A deliberately confused and incorrect post posted to a Usenet group to generate a flurry of responses from people trying to set the record straight. Other trollers enter the fray adding more and more misinformation that the thread eventually dies of strangulation Twink A term used to describe certain gay performers. A twink is young, smooth, pretty. Not necessarily blond, although that's the archetype. Other attributes thought of as twinky are: Almost invariably NO musculature, and acts like a little boy, too. Usually a bottom. Most guys would consider a touch of baby fat to be essentially twinky, but Tim doesn't. Velveeta A message crossposted to many newsgroups, i.e. has many newsgroups listed in the newsgroup header. It is generally accepted that any message posted to more than 10 newsgroups is velveeta. Some purists maintain that no message can be relevant to more than five newsgroups. WWW World Wide Web - A hypertext linking system that connects machines on the 'Net by subject matter. Web servers are set up by (some say deranged) people who are interested in a certain topic. They mine the 'Net for related information, and place pointers to that information from their server. 12 Welcome to the Machine [updated] In this section, we'll be examining some of the more frequently asked questions of Usenet. There are things contained herein which will help you become a solid net.citizen. Non-compliance is known to create prickly bouts of crabbiness in some of the older members of Usenet. So thank you, thank you, thank you for looking here first! Most importantly, remember to have fun! ================================================================= 13 Welcome to Usenet! 13.1 What is Usenet? [updated] Usenet is a distributed bulletin board system that is not limited in scope to the network of networks we call the Internet. Many on- line services, BBSs and other computing sites have newsfeeds without the benefits of FTP, Telnet, or other functions associated with the Internet. With over 15,000 newsgroups, Usenet may be the largest body of collective reasoning in the world. Almost every reasonable question gets an answer, unless those questions are asked frequently, at which point they'd be contained in this document. This document exists as both a reference point and a bandwidth- saver, in that it saves the old timers from hearing questions they have answered a thousand times before... For an excellent (and decidedly non-technical) primer on newsgroups, and the 'Net itself, check out "The Internet for Dummies" by John R. Levine and Carol Baroudi (Available from IDG Books). It's a lot of fun, pretty informative, and I don't get a nickel for saying so. And nowadays, you can't swing a dead cat in a bookstore without hitting some sort of Internet book, so do everyone a favor, and flip through one before hitting that send key. 13.2 What is a moderated newsgroup? [new] According to the Netnews Moderator Handbook: 'Moderated' means that all postings to the newsgroup go to a mail address (e.g., comp-std-unix@uunet.uu.net) instead of appearing in the newsgroup directly. The postings are then forwarded via email to a moderator, or group of moderators, or even an automated program, who decides whether to actually inject the article into the newsgroup or to reject it as not meeting guidelines spelled out in the group's charter. The main purpose of newsgroup moderation is to prevent inappropriate posts to the newsgroup. For example, moderation can prevent discussion or requests for software from appearing in groups dedicated to posting source code. It can also be used to facilitate discussions, to create a forum for announcements, to prevent repeated posts of the same information, or to cut off endless uninformative arguments. Some groups, e.g., rec.humor.funny and some source groups, also use it to control the traffic volume. 13.3 What is netiquette? [updated] Usenet is an anarchic society of people talking about things that interest them. In most societies, the best communication is achieved by speaking and acting in a civil and polite manner. This is not always the case in Usenet. However, things run more smoothly when people are civil and "play by the rules." There is a counterproductive argument which reasons "This is cyberspace... there are no rules, so fuck you for trying to foist these upon me." This argument is highly counterproductive and does nothing except piss people off. I am of the belief that netiquette exists because people before us have discovered what works well, and after all, if it ain't broke... But people will always do what they want when they have no fear... we only hope they do what's "right." Sure, it sounds "square," but playing nice gets so much more done. 13.4 How to join a Usenet group It's simple. Just start reading. Read for a couple weeks. This is called "lurking." Feel the place out. Find out what people talk about, see who's who. Every Usenet group has experts... take the time to figure out who these people are. Find a FAQ for the group and read it. Maybe the question you need answered has been answered before. After all this time, you'll make your first post, and you'll be nervous, and if you're lucky someone will answer it. Then you'll make a second, then a third... then you'll know an answer to someone else's question and *presto!* you're a productive member of a Usenet group. 13.5 Fear and Loathing @ AOL.COM Time was, this section would dissect the reasons why old timers hated posters from America On-Line (AOL.COM). Now, it seems almost quaint. But here goes: America OnLine does not seem to hold a special place in anyone's (except maybe Steve Case and its subscribers') heart. Since the PC explosion, people who have no prior computer experience have been flocking to this magical place called "Internet." However, some shrewd entrepreneurs realized that the 'Net operates on a strange language called UNIX... and novices (read paying customers) are intimidated and go away. This difficultly has long kept the Internet a haven for techno- savvy college students and researchers. A hip club where computer knowledge was a prerequisite for getting in the door. However, a pretty face is being slapped on the Internet, and now all the dreaded "visitors from New Jersey" are arriving by the busload via some place called "America OnLine" The problems began when people who had no prior computer experience started treading all over "hallowed ground" -- speaking loudly and being obnoxious. As it happened, many AOLers -- drunk with the notion of "surfing the net" -- haven't taken the time to read this document (or others like it) or pay attention to the "Tips of the Day" that the AOL staff posts before you can enter the newsgroup area. (If you're from AOL, pat yourself on the back for checking this out...) With a quick click of the OK button, many AOLers just join the fray and make fools of themselves.. almost begging net.denizens to hate them. Now, you may not be this way, but your predecessors were, so AOL (along with many other on-line services) has gotten a pretty bad name. A reader adds this figure: Look at it this way: 1,000,000 AOL users. 25% of them read news.announce or a faq or something, That leaves 75% of them clueless. Say half of them each post two stoopid "Hey d00dz, I needz the kewl warezzzzz" messages. That's 750,000 lame messages. And since everyone wants to talk about SEX, our groups often are the first ones to get killed. Hey, that's enough to piss anybody off. :-) His advice: Realize that the Usenet has it's own ethos, culture and consciousness that was around long before AOL came on line. AOL, or any other .com service, doesn't OWN the net, rather they are accessing it like anyone else. Don't complain "I pay for this, therefore I don't want to see this" - it's an anarchy, and the fact that you have to pay per hour for access doesn't mean shit. 13.6 What's a newbie? Is that bad? A newbie is a person who is new to the 'Net. It is not bad in and of itself, I mean, you have to be new before you can be old, right? However, there are some things you can do to make being new not so bad. While some people use the term as a epithet, most people use it to describe someone new. For instance, take the time to lurk around a group (read things for a week or so, but don't post to get the feel for what is going on). Catch the scene, then post. It's kinda like being a freshman again. In a few years you'll rule the school, but at first, you'll feel pimply and awkward. Fortunately, things happen much faster here. You'll be an old-timer in a matter of months. You'll probably see reference to this document, and you'd get it and read all about us, and feel good knowing what you're in for. If you don't see a reference to this document, then this sentence is quite rather a paradox, isn't it? ================================================================= 14 What else is there to know? [updated] A few things will help you on your way down the Usenet highway. Here are some things mentioned in the document Request For Comment 1855 that you may find helpful: In NetNews parlance, "Posting" refers to posting a new article to a group, or responding to a post someone else has posted. "Cross-Posting" refers to posting a message to more than one group. If you introduce Cross-Posting to a group, or if you direct "Followup-To:" in the header of your posting, warn readers! Readers will usually assume that the message was posted to a specific group and that followups will go to that group. Headers change this behavior. Read all of a discussion in progress (we call this a thread) before posting replies. Avoid posting "Me Too" messages, where content is limited to agreement with previous posts. Content of a follow-up post should exceed quoted content. Send mail when an answer to a question is for one person only. Remember that News has global distribution and the whole world probably is NOT interested in a personal response. However, don't hesitate to post when something will be of general interest to the Newsgroup participants. Check the "Distribution" section of the header, but don't depend on it. Due to the complex method by which News is delivered, Distribution headers are unreliable. But, if you are posting something which will be of interest to a limited number or readers, use a distribution line that attempts to limit the distribution of your article to those people. For example, set the Distribution to be "nj" if you are posting an article that will be of interest only to New Jersey readers. If you feel an article will be of interest to more than one Newsgroup, be sure to CROSSPOST the article rather than individually post it to those groups. In general, probably only five-to-six groups will have similar enough interests to warrant this. Consider using Reference sources (Computer Manuals, Newspapers, help files) before posting a question. Asking a Newsgroup where answers are readily available elsewhere generates grumpy "RTFM" (read the fine manual - although a more vulgar meaning of the word beginning with "f" is usually implied) messages. Although there are Newsgroups which welcome advertising, in general it is considered nothing less than criminal to advertise off-topic products. Sending an advertisement to each and every group will pretty much guarantee your loss of connectivity. If you discover an error in your post, cancel it as soon as possible. DO NOT attempt to cancel any articles but your own. Contact your administrator if you don't know how to cancel your post, or if some other post, such as a chain letter, needs canceling. If you've posted something and don't see it immediately, don't assume it's failed and re-post it. Forging of news articles is generally censured. You can protect yourself from forgeries by using software which generates a manipulation detection "fingerprint", such as PGP (in the US). Expect a slight delay in seeing your post when posting to a moderated group. The moderator may change your subject line to have your post conform to a particular thread. Don't get involved in flame wars. Neither post nor respond to incendiary material. Here are some pointers gleaned from David Harris, author of the (most excellent) freeware e-mail system, Pegasus Mail (available for anonymous FTP from risc.ua.edu in the directory /pub/network/pegasus), who has graciously allowed me to use this material of his. He retains his copyright, and I make no claims on it at all. It's his. All his. Except the funny parts. They're mine. (I'll mark them with a :-) so you remember to laugh) 14.1 What do I call my post? Every message needs a subject. Nothing is more frustrating than seeing messages in your newsreader as having "No subject" as a subject. So, title your messages, and make them mean something! * ALWAYS include a subject line in your message. Almost all newsreaders present you with the subject line when you browse the group, and it's often the only clue the recipient has about the contents when filing and searching for messages. * Make the subject line meaningful. For example, sending a message with the subject WHO'S THIS or DIRTY MOVIES is practically as unhelpful as having no subject at all. * If you are replying to a message but are changing the subject of the conversation, change the subject too - or better still, start a new message altogether. The subject is usually the easiest way to follow the thread of a conversation, so changing the conversation without changing the subject can be confusing and can make filing difficult. 14.2 What should my posts look like? * YOUR POSTS SHOULD NOT LOOK LIKE THIS. THIS IS NOT THE WAY A POST SHOULD LOOK. IF YOU MAKE A POST THAT LOOKS LIKE THIS, YOU WILL PROBABLY GET FLAMED. CAPS LOCK is the Usenet equivalent of shouting. People don't like people who shout all the time in real-life, and the same holds true here. Don't type your message in all UPPERCASE -- it's extremely difficult to read (although a short stretch of uppercase may serve to emphasize a point heavily). Try to break your message into logical paragraphs and restrict your sentences to sensible lengths. * Use correct grammar and spelling. Electronic mail is all about communication - poorly worded and misspelt messages are hard to read and potentially confusing. Just because electronic mail is fast does not mean that it should be slipshod, yet the worst language-mashing I have ever seen has been done in e-mail messages. If your words are important enough to write, then they're also important enough to write properly. * Avoid public "flames" - messages sent in anger. Messages sent in the heat of the moment generally only exacerbate the situation and are usually regretted later. Settle down and think about it for a while before starting a flame war. (Try going and making yourself a cup of coffee - it's amazing how much you can cool down even in that short a time, besides which a cup of good coffee is a great soother). If you need to vent some frustration, do it in e-mail. No one wants to read about your petty arguments. If you must argue in public, do it in the newsgroup designed for arguments: alt.flame 14.3 Who do I respond to? Communication is pretty dull if only one person does all the talking. So, we interact with each other. And, like all forms of social communications, there are some rules regarding replies. * Try to match your message length to the tenor of the conversation: if you are only making a quick query, then keep it short and to the point. * Include only the MINIMUM you need from the original message. One of the most annoying things you can encounter in e-mail is to have your original 5-page message quoted back at you in its entirety, with the words "Me too" added at the bottom. Quote back only the smallest amount you need to make your context clear. You will be hated and flamed if you do not follow this simple rule. * Use some kind of visual indication to distinguish between text quoted from the original message and your new text - this makes the reply much easier to follow. ">" is a traditional marker for quoted text, but you can use anything provided its purpose is clear and you use it consistently. * Don't reply to flames. Occasionally people will try to provoke some response by posting something like PORNO SUCKS or YOU ALL ARE GOING TO HELL. Smile and let it pass. These people crave a reaction. When they don't get one, it is amazing how fast they disappear. There is also something that has appeared recently called a "troll." A troll is a post designed to elicit mega-messages and cripple a group. The troll message is generally an innocent message plagued with inaccuracies. "Sophia Loren was in Sophie's Choice" would be a good troll. The people would point our, no she wasn't Meryl Streep was. Then the trollers would shoot back that Meryl Streep wasn't in Sophie's Choice, she was in Star Wars... and the group gets tied in knots trying to straighten out a thread that has become so twisted, it is best left to die. 14.4 Where do I put my John Hancock? Always use a signature if you can: make sure it identifies who you are and includes alternative means of contacting you (name and e- mail are usual). In many systems, particularly where mail passes through gateways, your signature may be the only means by which the recipient can even tell who you are. Keep your signature short - four to seven lines is a handy rule of thumb for maximum signature length. Unnecessarily long signatures waste bandwidth (especially when distributed to lists) and can be annoying. Some gateways trim .sigs down to three lines, so don't be surprised if you're forty line message gets chopped by the time it gets to Phoenix... or if your newsreader refuses to post your message because your .sig is too long Some mailers (and newsreaders) allow you to add random strings to your signature: this is well and good and can add character if done carefully. You should consider the following basic rules though: * Keep it short. The length of your quote adds to the length of your signature. A 5,000 word excerpt from Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" used as a signature will not win you many friends. * Definitions of "offensive" vary widely: avoid quotes which might offend people on the grounds of religion, race, politics or sexuality. * Try to avoid topical or local quotes, since they may be meaningless to recipients in other towns, countries or cultures. * Variable signatures are usually best if they're amusing; polemical outbursts on politics or other such topics will turn most people off, but a one-liner that brings a smile can make someone's day 14.5 Mind my manners? Eat me! We were taught to be nice to people when we were young, and we all too often forget when we are old. Here are some reminders from Emily Post -- OK, OK, its David Harris again... * If you're asking for something, don't forget to say "Please." Similarly, if someone does something for you, it never hurts to say "Thank You." While this might sound trivial, or even insulting, it's astonishing how many people who are perfectly polite in everyday life seem to forget their manners on the 'Net. * Don't expect an immediate answer. Just because you don't get an answer from someone in ten minutes does not mean that he or she is ignoring you, and is no cause for offense. Electronic mail is all about dealing with your communications when you are able to do so. Plus, it may take a day or two for your message to be heard around the world. * Always remember that there is no such thing as a secure mail system. It is unwise to send very personal or sensitive information by e-mail unless you encrypt it using a reliable encryptor. Remember the recipient - you are not the only person who could be embarrassed if a delicate message falls into the wrong hands. Bullet points courtesy of David Harris. All rights reserved. ================================================================= 15 Inappropriate Postings Since there are so many groups in the Usenet hierarchy, some readers get upset when topics irrelevant to the subject at hand are posted to the group. Sometimes these messages are intentionally placed in the newsgroup to generate a flame war. other times they are posted as a means of drumming up business for a commercial venture... if they don't have to do with sex movies, they are inappropriate. There is a group devoted to the buying and selling of adult novelties (movies, etc.) called alt.sex.erotica.marketplace. You should go there if you are looking for movies to buy (or check out the section of the FAQ that deals with mail order and other purchase options for more pointers...) 15.1 Spam Any message posted to more than 20 groups is spam. Most spams are off- topic commercials. Please ignore spam or send e-mail to the poster and/or to the system administrator from which the spam was posted but do not post a public reply. If you cannot resist the urge to post a public reply, which will annoy as many readers as did the original post, please at least remove phone numbers and addresses so you don't give more publicity to the original post to which you are objecting. Many spams will be cancelled but your reply with quoted material will not be, insuring that the offensive ad remains longer than it otherwise would have. Though spam takes more system resources (diskspace) and is hated by system administrators for that reason, velveeta or inappropriate crossposting is more disruptive to newsgroups. Particularly, the posting of provocative messages to diverse or antagonistic newsgroups (e.g. alt.cat.lovers and alt.animal.haters) tends to provoke flame wars and argumentative threads that seem to go on forever. Try to ignore velveeta and inappropriate crossposts. If you respond to a crossposted message, pay attention to the groups in which it is posted and remove those in which you do not wish your reply to appear. If you don't you may find yourself flamed from a group you never heard of before. Thanks to George Shaffer for this section. ================================================================= 16 Troubleshooting 16.1 Welcome to alt.test Something's wrong. But what? Could it be your newsfeed is down? Or maybe you're doing something wrong. So, you post message to alt.sex.movies or rec.arts.movies.erotica saying TEST - PLEASE IGNORE. And you get flamed or rejected. Why? alt.test is a newsgroup dedicated to test messages. As alt.sex.movies is dedicated to discussing porn flicks, and alt.flame is dedicated to flame wars -- alt.test is dedicated to making sure your mailer works. rec.arts.movies.erotica is a moderated group, the fact that you got a rejection notice should tell you all is well. People don't want to see your test postings in their newsgroups, and this goes for any newsgroup, not just asm. So post to alt.test. And use a wacky re: line, or you'll never find your post. 16.2 Meet your Systems Administrator If you are connected to the net through a college or other large organization, you probably have more than one of these people running around. They are system administrators, and they take care of your network, and know how everything works. Seek them out. Make friends. Bring them cookies or Fritos, and they will help you out. You don't have to be embarrassed asking for help, and you don't have to say you're looking for info on porn stars. Tell them you're trying to post to rec.music.beatles, and they'll think you're just a music fan, instead of thinking you're some sort of deranged deviant who keeps a raincoat close at hand (not accurate, but it's what they'll think...) So, make friends with your SysAdmin and watch your net troubles go down the drain! And remember to say "Thank You" and "Please" a lot. And don't forget the cookies. 16.2.1 But I'm not at a college or large business! Then you probably are accessing the net though a BBS, local provider or large online service. These people have tech support help at your disposal. America OnLine, Compuserve, Prodigy and Delphi have special forums for people who are having problems, as well as having people at one end of the phone to give you a hand as you need it. Use these resources. BBSs are a potluck arrangement, so I can't comment on how their support is handled. 17 I don't have Web Access, what can I do to access some of the Web based services on the net? [updated] You're in luck! Almost every feature available to Internet users is also available to a user who only has e-mail access. The Web is no different. Pick up a copy of the following document: Accessing The Internet By E-Mail Doctor Bob's Guide to Offline Internet Access Summary: This guide will show you how to retrieve files from FTP sites, explore the Internet via Gopher, search for information with Archie, Veronica, Netfind, or WAIS, tap into the World-Wide Web, and even access Usenet newsgroups using E-MAIL AS YOUR ONLY TOOL. Finding the Latest Version -------------------------- This document is now available from several automated mail servers. To get the latest edition, send e-mail to one of the addresses below. To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu (for US, Canada & South America) Enter only this line in the BODY of the note: send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email To: mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk (for Europe, Asia, etc.) Enter only this line in the BODY of the note: send lis-iis e-access-inet.txt You can also get the file by anonymous FTP at one of these sites: Site: rtfm.mit.edu get pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email Site: ftp.mailbase.ac.uk get pub/lists/lis-iis/files/e-access-inet.txt Or on the Web in HTML format at: http://202.41.100.93/~unicefd/dbobfram.htm 18 How to Make a Porn Flick 18.1 How can I become a porn star? Hart Williams (hartw@efn.org) makes these observations... Being a good masturbator is more important than being a stud. Why do you think so few males star for so long? It's the surest way to ruin your enjoyment of sex... and that's assuming THAT you ever get in. (Pun intended) Second: If you REALLY still think you can do it (and I've seen so many male egos implode during 'their big shot' -- it isn't pretty! -- that I can only ask you to reread the above) your best shot right now is to find someone who's making amateur tapes. You'll have to bring your own girlfriend, and you'll both be paid peanuts, but that's the way it's done these days. There are ads in the backs of many magazines, personals, etc. But, you will have a better chance in LA than NY. May God have mercy on your pole... Tim Evanson tells us that: Many gay studios and producers advertise for models and video performers in local gay newspapers such as the NEW YORK NATIVE and LA's newspaper FRONTIERS. The biweekly magazine ADVOCATE CLASSIFIED also contains many ads. Many low-budget studios and independent directors find their casts this way. Several gay porn agents often visit local clubs or special parties in their home towns and distribute their cards, which is a way in which several recent gay porn actors (Derek Cruise, Rick Bolton, Phil Bradley) were discovered. Having an agent doesn't seem to matter; gay porn stars have said in interviews in MANSHOTS magazine that sometimes just being smart is good enough, while others say agents are useful in screening out the crappy scripts and identifying bad directors/studios. Remember: Most scenes that last 15 minutes on film take from 4 to 6 hours to film, and during that time the actor MUST remain erect. Also, most gay porn is very stop-and-go as positions change, lighting changes, and camera angles change. Performers often must have sex in front of anywhere from 4 to 15 people (many of them also masturbating or otherwise aroused). Days often begin at 6 AM and continue for 18 hours or more. Sets are filthy, cold, and location shoots in homes and outdoors hard to find and often very distant from where the star lives. Few studios pay your airfare into town, your hotel room, your rental car, or food bills and rarely provide food or drinks on a set. Pressure to use drugs and alcohol is strong on a set, and sex with your co-actors after a shoot nonexistent. 18.1.1 That's not very encouraging... I really want to do it. Tell me how. It is considerably easier for females. Jim South at World Modelling is one of only two licensed agencies in the business. The other one is sort of in/out of it as I write. Long ago (late 60s, I think) two licenses were issued for this sort of talent agency, and no more will ever be (at least the Powers That Be Have So Decreed). According to people in the know, the current way to get into the biz for a female (always much easier than gents) is to first: Answer that ad in the Classifieds of most LA papers sending you to WMA. But, secondly, through amateur videos. They don't pay squat, and they now seem to comprise the "minor leagues" with the Owners looking at promising new talent. Prayer is always good. The male "stud" is the rarest of creatures. Everyone thinks that he can be one, and every producer has heard it so often that he tends to tune it right out. But, if this still does not dissuade you, let me mention the qualifications: 1. Dick size is not THAT important. The camera (and your imagination) makes them all look larger than life. But, underhung can truly be a disadvantage. Somebody named Dave Cannon made a career for himself by being the only gent that his girlfriend, Bridgette Monet -- a big star at the time -- would screw. This was his entrance (and exit, it's a 2-edged sword). The classic way in is by bringing a porn mega-babe with you. It worked for Ken (Seka's ex) and for Bud (Hypatia's hubby). 2. Also (though down the same road) through amateur shoots. But, again, the demand for males is negligible (approved plumbing is a MUST, and hard to find), and the demand for females -- while not as insatiable as in the 70's(when any girl who wanted to could) and the 80's (when any reasonably good-looking girl etc.), the business is always on the look for fresh meat. Now, I realize that you may believe your destiny is to be a porn stud, and I don't want to dissuade you, but I offer this advice: What is most necessary in the porn stud is the ability to jerk himself off (so as to come on cue). The ones I've known have privately bemoaned the hamburger it's made of their sex lives, and the fact that they're now trapped from here to eternity: always wondering if someone will see their movies. The social crap you'll take is quite a bit more hostile than that the ex-porn-kitten takes. A great trick is to find a girl to bring with you. If they drool over her, they'll accept you -- if SHE insists. But watch it... she has a way of forgetting who got her into the biz in the first place. Brandy Alexandre sez: It pays to hang out and chat in the agent's office every few days for MONTHS until he gets to know you and knows you aren't a pervert, rapist or law enforcement. Or get to know someone in the business who may eventually recommend you. Bill Majors concurs: When I moved from NYC to LA 10 years ago I tried to find talent. It wasn't until a friend actually took me to several agents and vouched for me that I was able to get talent lined up. While I guess it might be possible to break through it is much easier just to find someone in the business and ask them to give you a hand. In spite of all of our competition we are basically a friendly bunch. In the end, getting into the adult video business is really no different than going to Universal and telling them you want to star with Tom Hanks in their next feature. :-) 18.2 What's all this talk about licensed agents? Nick Long (NICKLONG@delphi.com) says: "Agents are licensed in California by the Department of Labor. Others in the biz are classed and represent themselves as managers and/or business managers, and any other associated description. An 'agent' is treated under Calif law as if they were an employment agency and have specific reporting and record-keeping requirements, as well as needing an annually renewable license and a bond. This allows an agent to collect fees for talent, deduct their fee, and pass the money along. In 'practice' it doesn't work that way. Virtually *all* talent is paid directly by the company and the agent 'bills' for his part of the service." "As in any 'licensed' status, there is no problem until the state receives a complaint about an individual, and then they will perform an investigation and proceed accordingly against an 'unlicensed' individual/company, just as they would on a complaint against an unlicensed building contractor, etc." 18.2.1 So, who are the hetero agents? Nick Long provides us with this easy to use chart. The determinations are his own, as I don't know these people... Phone numbers you can get on your own ;-) World Modeling (Jim South) Jim handles just about everybody. He is one of the two licensed agents. Pretty Girl International (Reb Sawitz) Reb is the other licensed agent. Beautiful Models International (Regan Senter) Regan is also somehow currently affiliated with National Productions. Regan has been around for almost 2 years now and does actually do some 'footwork' in getting work for his talent. He is *not* a licensed agent and has received attention in AVN during the past year+ in a negative tone, for many valid reasons. Regan actually tries to represent himself as a 'casting director' to avoid the implication of needing a license. Peter van Aarle tells me that "the reports in AVN that I remember make the guy seem like a complete sleazebag. His latest ploy seems to be having girls who want to get into the business to shoot a 'screen test' with him. This means he (or 'director' Randi Detroit) fucks them on camera, and he uses the footage in his Hollywood Starlets Adventures series." Lucky Smith I don't believe Lucky is a licensed agent, but rather a 'manager' or 'business manager' for which a license is not required. Lucky has a far better reputation and handles talent selectively, usually affiliated with top names in the biz. Hollywood Office (Hal G) Hal is an elderly, widely respected agent who handles primarily 'B' movie gals (the screamers) and he harbors a certain disdain for adult hardcore, but a few of his gals do work both sides, not to his particular liking. 18.2.2 Who are the gay agents? [new] AVN thoughtfully provided a list of agents representing gay porn performers. I cannot begin to rank them, aside from noting that David Forest seems to be pre-eminent. Here's the list, with the lead agent in parentheses: ATO Enteretainment (Joe Romero) Romero mainly represents himself and model Mark Brody. He may branch out as he is intent on leaving porn. Brad's Buddies (David Forest) Forest represents some of the biggest names around: Johnny Hanson, Ken Ryker, Tom Katt, RyanIdol, J.T. Sloan, Scott Baldwin, Sonny Markham, Josh Sterling, and Kevin Kramer. He also handles some stars for dance tours only, such as Chi Chi LaRue and Adam Hart. Con Merten Agency (Con Merten) Merten specializes in young guys. He also represents dancers who can get hard and put on a show. He has represented Alex Austin and discovered Gianfranco. He is planning a comebackfor Domino. D&D Entertainment (Dan Byers) Byers started 17 years ago, and got his start when Scott Masters and John Travis convinced him to get his stripper/dancers to do video. He has three tours of dancers on tour constantly, and represents Bo Summers, Jeff Hammond, Chad Connors, Cort Stevens, Logan Reed, Cody Foster, and Wes Daniels. He helped discover Ken Ryker. Falconi Men (Giorgio Falconi) A former porn star, Falconi represents a diverse array of men, including Chase Allen, Max Grand, Nick Manetti, Patrick Ives, Jack Simmons, Peter Phoenix, and J.D. DeMarco. He landed Chance Caldwell only half a year in the business. Jump Start Casting and Production (Raul Rodriguez) Jump Start represents Colt model Steve Kelso, and mainline stars such as Daryl Brock, Eduardo, Chad Knight, Adriano Marquez, Eric Stone, Peter Dixon, Karl Thomas, Chance Caldwell, and Danny Sommers. Red Dragyn (Fred Dragyn) A long-termer in the business, Dragyn represents young guys who have not been in the business long. He has a huge number of performers under contract. Show Boys Entertainment (Johnny Johnston) Johnston manages the "Showboys" -- David Thompson leading and choreographing, with Kurt Young and Dino Phillips (and sometimes K.C. Hart). Johnston began his business in 1988, but discovered John Holmes back in 1967. "Body, then face, then buns," he says. Southwest Management (Peter Scott) Scott discovered Tom Steele in 1988 and still represents him. Based in Las Vegas, Scott manages Hal and Vince Rockland, Blue Blake, Luc Russell, Jim Bentley, Ryan Block, Brad Hunt, Matt Badshaw, Marcello Reeves, Bryan Kidd, and Trent Reed. He's represented stars such as Grant Larson, Devyn Foster, and Travis Colt as well. He focuses on the "Falcon" look. Sports Models USA (David Crowell) Originally from Washington, DC, Crowell rerpesents Ty Fox, Derrick Thomas, Brock McKay, and Mike Branson. Steele Productions (Troy Steele) A performer and gay rights acitvist, Steele represents Erik York. He represents mostly new guys, and isn't afraid to represent men with tatoos or piercings. He likes men in their 20s and 30s, smooth, young, and butch. He often works with Italian porn companies, rerpesenting European models in America. Your Fantasy Productions (Johnny Rey) A performer himself, Rey grooms models for his Bacchus Releasing videos. He also books dance tours in America and Europe, and looks for performers who can dance as well as fuck. 18.3 Do you think I need an agent? Not necessarily, but it doesn't hurt. Nick Long tells me that "many of the managers deal with Reb and/or Jim, and they can also cut deals directly with the producers and companies. Can't speak for Lucky specifically, but I know Lucky has worked with Jim in the past. I'm sure he also deals direct." "There are also a few companies who will *not* deal with *any* agent. If they hire the gal direct through there own contacts, they will not pay any agent a fee, manager, agent, or otherwise. A lot of the gals act as 'independents' and get their own work. No, they don't get 'extra' for not being with an agent, they just prefer to make their own deals." 18.4 OK... How about getting into gay porn? [updated] This is what Tim Evanson has to tell me... Becoming a gay porn star is easy. Go to any big gay porn city; DC is one, too, cause Bob Jones Productions is here. But any big city will do, if it has a big gay population, lots of gay dance clubs or bars, and (better yet) gay strip clubs (doesn't have to be nude, just g-string will do). The key is to get to a place where someone close to the industry can find you. Many gay porn stars (like Dave York or Brad Stone, my friends in the industry) were once strippers, so it's useful if you can strip or do exotic dancing. That way, people can see what kind of dick you have, and what kind of body. And they can tell that you have ZERO problems flashing it in front of 100 people. My friend Todd tried to do porn with his 11" cock, and he couldn't. He took FOREVER to get hard (bigger guys do -- I know, my bf is 9"), and he couldn't keep it there because he was uncomfortable being watched by 10 people and having a cameraman thrust the camera into private areas of his body and having to start and stop the sex all the time so they could adjust sound, light, angle, etc. Anyway, if you strip or dance, and if you go to EVERY event where gay porn stars show (like gay pride, gay marches, gay rallies, special book signing events, AIDS fundraisers, "porn star night" at strip clubs, etc.) you will get auditioned at any rate. TALK TO THE PORN STARS! My friend Dave York got in only because he just pushed EVERYONE aside one day and talked to Blade Thompson when Blade (who is also from Montana, like me, but not from Great Falls) was stripping here in DC two years ago. The other way is to go to New York or LA and audition. Get the gay Los Angeles newspaper "Frontiers." Most B.Daltons and Crown Books and some Brentano's and Barnes & Noble bookstores will carry it, although I'm not sure if they do in Boise! :) In Frontiers, the gay porn studios advertise ALL THE TIME in the yellow "sex" pages. Go audition. It's that simple. Once you get an audition, it's common for the industry insider to ask you to come to some apartment, go into the other room, strip, come out naked, get a hard on, and masturbate to orgasm. They want to see if you can do it in front of a total stranger, for one thing. They want to see your body, what you look like naked, if you are embarrassed being naked, what your cock looks like hard, and how you cum (fast, is there a lot, does it shoot far, etc.). Then they'll tell you to clean up and get dressed. You will be interviewed as to tastes in sex (will you rim? will you bottom? will you top? will you do enemas? will you do leather? will you suck cock?) and ability to have sex and experience having sex. Then it's "see ya later!" and they will call if they like you. The infamous "casting couch" is not common in the gay porn industry, although some second- or third-rate producers will do that. (Robert Prion, anyone?) If the guy DOES want to have sex with you, it will be as himself and NOT as the industry rep. Eager performer-wanna-be's can also try breaking into the business "cold." I am acquainted with four gay porn stars who either mailed a letter and photo to a studio, or emailed a studio and attached a JPG or GIF. Although this is hit and miss (miss more than hit), it helps by-pass the strip circuit. 18.4.1 Are there any secrets to gay porn success? Tim Evanson tells me that gay porn is caught up by fads. In the early 1980s it was the muscular gym rat. In the mid 1980s, blond twinks. In the late 1980s, natural frat boy types. But almost all gay porn actors have to have a few tools: 1. Be a top and a bottom on film. Although a few actors such as Ryan Idol and Joey Stefano have made careers out of being one or the other, directors want versatility and the chance to make chemistry work between actors who've just met. That means being versatile in bed. 2. Have a dick that looks at least 7" to 8" long. Most men, of course, have cocks only 6"-6.5" long, but since the average height of gay porn stars is only 5'8", a 6.5" cock will look 7.5" long. Being uncut can help in the 1990s, but this is a fad for the most part. 3. Have 5% body fat and work out regularly to achieve extensive definition. Although many gay porn stars are VERY muscular (Tom Katt or Ryan Idol) and some still have their baby fat (Jeff Browning and Joey Stefano), for the most part gay porn stars need strongly defined and often large pectoral muscles, highly developed abdominal muscles, and strongly muscled legs. 4. Shave your body. If you are hairy, shave the hair off. If you are smooth, keep it that way. Shave your balls and shave your ass. 5. Get a strong tan. 6. Learn to moan and scream. 7. Learn to get an erection on command and to orgasm on command. The look of most gay porn stars is often the same, so don't try to stand out. Tatoos, non-standard haircuts, body piercings (even earrings), moles or birthmarks, and scars are decidedly unwelcome. You have to learn to have sex with anyone they put in bed with you, under horrible conditions, and with maybe 5 minutes to get acquainted and learn your lines. Gay porn is not pretty! It just looks that way on screen. 18.5 Do porn stars get recruited? [new] If you have dreams of being Lana Turner sitting in Schwab's and being asked to fuck Kaitlyn Ashley, think again. Mike South says: Directors, as a general rule do not recruit, they hire talent from Jim South or Reb. I am a bit of an exception here as there are no agents in the SE. The agents recruit by running ads in local tabloids and underground papers. Stories do exist, however, of cases where a director has seen a particular model on the road, in a store, or at the beach, handed over a card, and gotten a contract signed. But it is *rare*. One in particular is notorious for hanging around bus stations in LA and hitting on arriving young ladies... 18.6 How much do porn stars make? [updated] Jerry Butler in his book "Raw Talent" discussed the inequity of pay for porn actors versus actresses. He claimed that actresses made in the $1000-1500 range as their day rate, which the male actors made about a third of that, $300-500 a day. Of course, considerations for number of scenes and star power were made for the women. Rumors had Savannah making $10,000 per film and Seka allegedly wants $100,000 to do another film. Neither of these figures have been verified. Frontline's 1987 documentary of the Shauna Grant suicide, "Death of a Porn Queen" mentions that actresses got as much as $1,000 a day for making videos. Brandy Alexandre says Video performers are only paid the day they shoot the video. There are no royalties for sales or rentals, and there are no extra payments when footage is used in another feature like compilations of facial shots, or "Best of..." titles. Most movies are shot in a single day. Most of the time they are shot in twos - two movies in two days - to cut down on equipment rental costs. The men are paid between $250 and $400 a day and women are paid $300 to $700 a day. The variations depend on what is called for in the individual scenes and how many scenes you will be doing that day. Girls make much more money on the road dancing. A great number of actresses today are doing movies just to enhance their marketability as strippers. I do not have plans to go on any dance tours. I wish I could just come to your area and sign autographs at a book store or do those "chat booth" things. Those are a lot of fun. :) An adult film star who asks not be identified says: "Females make from $300 to $1000 a scene, unless they are under contract, in which case the price jumps considerably. But contract girls only work a fraction of the time of freelancers, and won't make as much in the long run. Guys make from $200-$500 a scene, unless they are under contract, etc etc. (i.e. Steven St. Croix and Jon Dough)" Jim Gunn, producer/director of the Strap-On Sally series (among others) down at Pleasure Productions has this to say: Most actresses get paid by scene. Pay anywhere from $200-1000 for a scene depending on who, what, to whom etc. Anal, D.P., Gangbangs, 'Big Stars', all get paid more. Scenes do not take all day typically. Several hours is common, and many performers are watching the clock to run to a second set that same day. Only certain contract girls may get paid per movie. Each of these deals are unique of course. Many movies are shot two at a time over a two-three day period with the relevant performers only sticking around while they have upcoming scenes. Again, this depends on the scale of the movie (big budget with acting or one- day-wonder) and the performers. Are people fired on set ever? Man you can't believe the shit that's occasionally happened on my sets. No-shows, late shows, no i.d. documents, o.d.'s on drugs (once); fistfights, etc. Not usually, but sometimes things happen. Most shoots run smooth with some performers complaining and allowances are made to accommodate people who must leave early, get special food, and the like. I'm sure that it's the same in Hollywood... It's probably safe to say that there is no set pay scale and you get what you negotiate. Tim Evanson passes this along: In gay porn, actors usually make more money than their male hetero porn counter parts. According to statements made by gay porn stars in Dave Kinnick's SORRY I ASKED, the average gay porn star in 1993 made about $500-800 per film, whether it's one scene or several. Some gay porn stars, such as Joey Stefano and Ryan Idol and Jeff Stryker, have claimed to make up to $1,500 per picture due to their star drawing power. However, problem performers often earn at the lower end of the spectrum: According to the book WONDER BREAD AND ECSTASY, Joey Stefano's drug problems depressed his salary under the $500 mark at the end of his career. Newcomer gay porn stars say that salaries for newbies in gay porn now run around $1,000 per picture, and the Adam Film World Gay Video 1997 Directory says that Ryan Idol commanded upwards of $20,000 for his last film, IDOL IN THE SKY. 18.7 How much do porn directors make? [updated] This is a tough call, and no tried and true answer holds. From what I've read, a director is given a certain amount of money to make a movie with and whatever is left over is his salary. While I would imagine he needs a minimal amount as a salary just to take the job, it probably isn't an unusual practice. Directors are usually employed in two ways: Some are on salary at studios, while others work as independents and sell their movies to studios on "spec." Although it is unclear how much directors on salary make, most "indie" directors who sell their movies on spec usually only cover their costs. 18.8 What I really want to do is direct! S. Andrew Roberts (shamu@kincyb.com), our editor behind-the-scenes, offers this perspective: It's really rather easy. Just convince a company that you can produce and direct a movie that will make them money. Get a promise that they will buy it from you when you're done. Then...hire the talent and crew. Book a location. Get a script. Actually, don't bother with a script because the talent doesn't bother learning lines much prior to the time they sit down at the make-up table. Hope to hell everybody shows up within four hours of the call time. Pray the males will get wood, keep it for an hour AND pop on cue. Then hire an editor to cut the movie and a composer to supply music for 15 minute long sex scenes. Hope to God the cameraman has actually shot SOME softcore footage or you may have a problem getting the company to accept only one version. Then... sit back and count the profits. Oh... BTW, the company will only pay you $10,000 when you deliver. If you deliver. Did I happen to mention that they want it shot and edited on Betacam SP? Think I'm pulling your leg? Think again! I had another phone call yesterday from a typical porn producer asking if I'll cut a full-length, five scene feature for $850 bucks (maybe a grand!). I've got $100,000 tied up in equipment and he's trying to convince me to work for peanuts. Want some real advice? Here it is: Forget about "directing movies." Doesn't happen in this business. A "director" is somebody who can deliver a finished movie (and I use that term loosely) on time and for a pre-determined price. Actual "directing" only gets in the way of being a hard-nosed producer capable of making impossible decisions. Start out by shooting an "amateur" and see if you can make a profit. Then try increasingly bigger projects if you find yourself liking it. Good luck! Let us know what nom de porn you will be using so we can look up the reviews in AVN! 18.9 So, maybe mainstream is not where I want to be... would you tell me about amateur? [updated] Amateur is a stepping stone for actors more than directors, but that is not to say that you're work will go unnoticed. Most jobs in the video/film industry (except at the highest echelons) are done by showing off your "reel" which is a bunch of stuff you have edited together to show yourself off -- a video resume if you will. You could use some amateur stuff to show off how well you could capture performers having sex. Tim Evanson says, "One way to break into directing is to become an amateur director, and sell your movie to a studio. Enough sales, and you could be hired! I am personally acquainted with the attempt by amateur directors VidKid Timo in New Orleans and director J.H. at Capitol Productions in Washington, DC. In these cases, the director financed, cast, filmed, and edited the films themselves. Many amateur directors first try to sell their videos via the Web, but most cannot compete at this low level of sales--or recoup their costs fast enough to keep the bill collector at bay. These two directors eventually shopped their video around to distributors, who then picked up their titles. The directors then received a portion of the profits. In other cases I know of, directors outright sold the rights to their movies for a specified amount of money (usually enough to cover costs)." 18.9.1 What kind of budgets to amateur productions have? I believe the average pro video has a budget in the 12-15,000 range. Amateur productions are MUCH less, often done on no budget and then paid $1000 or so by a company for the rights to distribute their tape. The actors and actresses usually go unpaid or get a pittance for their work. 18.9.2 What kind of equipment do I need? As far as equipment goes, a Hi-8 camera is probably best. You can buy one for under $2000. The pros use Betacam SP and one of those camera goes for about $10,000+ so you're better off going Hi-8 :-) You could also look in your Yellow Pages under Video Services and see if you could find a freelance cameraman to shoot the scene for you. However, be prepared for up to $250/day plus expenses for a pro, plus make sure you discuss UP FRONT the fact that you'll be shooting explicit sex. That may be a dealbreaker. 18.9.3 What about editing? When I was editing my post-college short vid on 3/4" U-Matic SP (cheaper than Beta) various houses wanted anywhere from $50/hr to $125/hr for an editing suite, no operator. Add another 30-50/hr for an operator who will work the dials for you. I ended up renting the equipment and assembling an edit suite in my basement. With some haggling and creative scheduling (no charge for weekends, pick up on Friday, drop off on Monday after 2nd weekend = 7 days charged for 10 days possess) I got the stuff for around $2,000. However, I have editing experience; but even with that experience, it took my the better part of those 10 days to cut 30 minutes. Of course, the project was dialog heavy and that took quite a bit of time, and I would imagine that cutting sex has to be a little more forgiving. If you look at most of the amateur stuff that is shot in someone's house, there aren't many cuts, and what cuts there are almost seem to have been done "in camera." 18.9.4 What about legal issues? Ah, the curse of the pornographer.. John Law. There are record keeping requirements that need to be strictly adhered to. These are outlined in the "Legal Stuff" part of this document. Suffice it to say that you'd better consult with an experienced attorney and be prepared to keep strict records of your performers. 18.10 Okay, so maybe directing is not the thing to do... who writes the songs that those people fuck to? [updated] Brandy sez: It's usually friends of people in the industry that have a keyboard and stuff. They get probably $300 and the music is used over and over and over (and most of the time doesn't even suit the scene.) John Stagliano and I have another person we like to use who will originally score the video. He costs a lot but I think it's worth it. We have re-used the music from time to time but only bits and pieces and we give him a few dollars more. Tim Evanson points out: Costello Presley, a mainstay in the gay porn arena, once did an interview in MANSHOTS magazine that proved highly instructive. Presley, a long-time LA studio musician, noted that most composers get about $250 per film because the director knows that the score will probably only be a rehash of themes and music heard previously in other porn films. Top-notch studios will pay more, say $500, if they have a guarantee of a totally new composition. But Presley noted that the reason why most starving artists do gay porn is that they are beginners who fiddle with themes and music and beats, and their experiments litter gay porn. It should be pointed out that most composers are keyboardists; full bands need not apply. Composers should not think that they are indispensable; producers are perfectly willing to dump a composer and just rip off some techno music. There's also an interview with porn composer Rock Hard archived in the r.a.m.e. reading room. 18.11 Well, how about some other tech job? How do I become a videographer? An editor? [new] Most studios hire videographers because the director or studio head knows the cameraman, not because the videographer is the most skilled person around. Yes, this leads to problems with framing, angle, etc. But porn is "closed" partly because studios don't want camera people spending their time drooling over the performers rather than doing their job, and partly because filming porn is such a unique process. Occasionally, a studio or director will advertise at film schools for new camera operators in order to infuse new blood into the framing, angles, shots, etc. It also keeps costs down; a 10-year porn veteran will want more money than a hungry newbie fresh out of UCLA's film school. Once in a blue moon, an independent cameraman will impress a studio with his work in porn, and get hired. But again, don't count on this as your way into the business. Most studios have their own in-house editing facilities. They also sell their services to other studios who do not have editing equipment themselves. Usually, porn is edited by an editor working alone or by the director in cooperation with the editor. The world of editing in porn is even more closed to outsiders than is photography, so don't get your hopes up! 18.12 How much can I make if I write adult movie scripts? [updated] You're assuming anyone wants to buy an adult movie script. According to Brandy Alexandre, 99% of the director's write their own scripts and if they are so inclined to buy one, they rarely pay more that $100 (if that). She also states that "Unless you want to give away your scripts there is really no one that would be interested in them. The directors usually write their own due to the poor budgets. I sold one once for $100, but that was more of a professionally courtesy between John Leslie and myself." Other advice she offers "is if you *do* want to simply see your work produced you should write the complete script, not just 'storylines and situations', make sure that the action takes place in the in a minimal number of locations, and do not 'script' a sex scene. Special actions, activity, and even clothing will get you 'filed' in no time." Jon Erikson chimes in: "To expand on that: as with any business, find out what the customer needs and wants. It would do you no good to write porno version of "Gone with the Wind" if most directors/producers couldn't even come close to doing it justice in terms of sets, costumes, etc. What directors need is not a script, but a screenplay. If you could come to me and say "Hey, we can take that idea you have, and given the studio and sets you have, do the story like this, with shots like this to convey this particular feeling, etc.". I'm sure you're aware that most porno directors leave a bit to be desired in the artistic arena, and many could use a lot of help implementing their ideas. Of course, selling that to a director is one hell of a task." I have heard from some other sources that Paul Thomas paid $250 for a treatment and then botched the script. The quote that sticks out the most in my mind is "... there's no money in it. You put up with exactly the same bullshit as the 'straight' industry, but for peanuts. Fuck that shit." Back in the just-post-golden age, Hart Williams wrote scripts for porn-Hollywood. Here's what he has to say.... When I began writing them, a script went to 30 whole pages (way down from the 80-100 page scripts of the film days) for $500, down to 13 pages (for $300), down to 10 or 11 pages (for, maybe, $200 or $150). The more I sold, the less I made, and I began to hear complaints that it was TOO LONG at that length. And, very quickly, directors' girlfriends began rewriting us, and, finally writing them without needing actual writers. I can only assume that when they broke up with their girlfriends, they just wrote them themselves, or, as J.D. used to say: "Like anybody's gonna fucking care if the boom is in the shot!" Jon Erikson says: I agree 100%. Budgets often also dictate the location, props, etc., which then dictate a lot of the script. We always generate our own scripts, which are typically designed to take advantage whatever sets we have in our studio. It's pretty tough to buy a pre-written script, and then try to gather the necessary props, sets, and locations alluded to in that script when your budget is peanuts. If we come across some inexpensive/used equipment, furniture, props, etc., you can pretty much bet our next scripts will reflect it. We're quite involved in computer 3D animation, so we can generate realistic buildings, space ships, etc. on the computer and write a script around that. One of the pleasures a director gets is having a hand in turning his idea/fantasy into a finished production. Buying a script would take much of that away. Tim Evanson says that gay porn director/producer Jerry Douglas noted in MANSHOTS magazine in 1993 that most gay porn scripts are at most 5-7 pages long. Many directors use in-laws or friends to write scripts, or do it themselves. Some low-budget studios only use outlines, and improvise dialogue or cut it out entirely in favor of "mimed" action story-telling. 18.13 Are there any books I can read about the subject of porn production? There are few books written about the porn industry and its product. Most of the list can be found at the "Legalize" Web site, so I will not redouble the list here (Instructions on how to access the Web via mail are available elsewhere in this FAQ). Some notable "academic" studies of porn follow: David Austin pointed me to the following books: Robert Stoller and I. S. Levine, COMING ATTRACTIONS: THE MAKING OF AN X-RATED MOVIE, Yale University Press, June 1993, ISBN 0-300- 05654-0, text ed., $30.00 which is an ethnographic study of the making of the video "Stairway to Paradise", and then to watch the video itself. On subsequent viewings, refer back to relevant parts of the book. Also useful is: Robert Stoller, PORN, Yale University Press, 1991, ISBN 0-300- 05092-5, $30.00 (available in many public and university libraries) Stoller, a psychiatrist and prominent gender theorist, offers chapter-length interviews with several people involved in the industry, including William Margold, Kay Parker, Nina Hartley, Merlin the S/M King and Jim Holliday. Also, check out: Annie Sprinkle's Post-Modern Pin-Ups, Pleasure Activist, ISBN 0- 9638129-3-9, Publisher : Gates of Heck 19 Backstage... 19.1 If it is so hard to be in adult movies, why do actors and actresses enter the business at all? Most are actors who didn't make it into the "big time". Jerry Butler, in his book "Raw Talent", says he got into porno so he could make a few extra bucks and get some experience in front of a movie camera. However, he didn't expect the stigma to follow him, and when it did, he found he had nowhere else to act, but in porn movies. Now Jerry's may be an extreme case. Keep in mind that it acting is very hard profession to break in to. People who go to Hollywood to find their dreams often find themselves on waiting lists for jobs waiting tables. So it is a way to act and make some pocket money. There are other reasons, too. Some are, unfortunately, supporting a drug habit; some are simply curious (as Hypatia Lee once mentioned in an interview); some figured if they were going to swing in private, why not swing in public and make a few bucks; and some just genuinely enjoy it. Thanks go to Marc for this one... 19.2 So porn stars tend to like their work? It's hard to tell. Some are very supportive of the industry, and say so on talk shows and in major interviews -- Nina Hartley, Little Oral Annie, and Ashlyn Gere, for example. Others are very vocal against the industry -- Holly Ryder, Stacey Donovan, and others. Most remain guardedly neutral -- presumably they do it because it's a job, and like most jobs they neither like it nor hate it, it's just something to do. Thanks go to Marc for this one, too... 19.2.1 Stacey Donovan hates porn? Well, let's just say she did testify in front of the Meese Commission. There were rumors she did it for the money, but by doing so, she virtually ensured herself no warm welcomes back to the porn industry. Peter van Aarle says: On that same subject: Stacey was also the subject of a week long series on Los Angeles tv-station KNBC, Channel 4 in November 1986. It was a "hard-hitting piece" called "Confessions of a Porn Queen - a Shocking Report" with the "Queen" in shadows and her voice electronically distorted (but any porn buff could easily recognize her :-) In reality the 5 part series was a piece of blatant sensationalism (par for the course for sweeps weeks, I'm told) with Stacey apparently being more than happy to tell how all the girls in the industry were being coerced. Well what can you expect from a girl who has been quoted as saying: "Yechh. I hate sex scenes. All that silly grunting and groaning, and all that messy sweat. And hey, how would you like to have to put some wrinkled-up sausage in your mouth. God knows where it's been." Roger P. Tipe says he "found the magazine with the final scathing interview from Stacey. It is in Erotic X Film Guide Aug. 1987." 19.3 Why do we always see men orgasm, but hardly ever see the women orgasm? Nick Long says: "In many cases the women are *not* aroused. It's tough to get females to respond *sensually* as well as sexually when surrounded by cameras, crew, shouting directors, cameras, light stands, hot lights, impossible positions, etc. It's just as tough for many of the guys, which is also one of the reasons there is not more variety in male performers. Many guys try, many love the thought of screwing all those gorgeous gals, but just can't cut the mustard 'on stage'." "Note the word *performers*. It's just that - *performing*..." Keep in mind that if the woman should orgasm, you will probably see it. As far as we know, no attempt is made to censor female orgasms. 19.4 How long do actors stay in the business of making videos? It varies wildly. Directors stay a long time, because it tends to be a profitable sideline. Some of the photographers have been doing the work for decades. As for actors and actresses, it depends on the person. But, by and large, hetero males stay far longer than females. Male actors stay in porn, on average, approximately ten to fifteen years. Ron Jeremy and Joey Silvera, for instance, have been in porn movies for almost two decades. Eric Edwards has made videos since the 1960's. And Randy West has been in adult videos for almost ten years. Females, on the other hand, switch very often. The average time spent in the business is a year, and it is a rare actress who stays in the business more than three or four years without some sort of hiatus. Tim Evanson passes along that Jerry Douglas, editor of MANSHOTS, recently noted that most gay porn stars make about 3 movies and then leave--which means, usually, that they last less than 6 months. Some gay actors have lasted as long as 7 years. "Stars" like Joey Stefano or Matt Gunther often stay about 3-4 years. 19.5 Do porn actors need to be members of the Screen Actor's Guild? [new] No. The Screen Actor's Guild only concerns itself with "mainstream" Hollywood movies. Porn does not subscribe to SAG rules. This is not to say that SAG performers don't appear in porn films. According to AVN, Ron Jeremy has been responsible for getting many a porn starlet her SAG card, by getting them small parts in SAG movies. There *has* been one all-SAG porn flick, The 1974 flick "Sometimes Sweet Susan" starring Harry Reems, Jamie Gillis and Craig Baumgarten, who is now a major legit movie producer. It was advertised as the first SAG-approved all-union adult movie. 19.6 Why do men last for years in the business, when women seem to last only a few months? (This answer is slanted towards hetero porn-viewers.) I think it has to do with the perception that the average het porn viewer is more interested in fresh women than fresh men. While this perception may not be accurate, it seems to be catered to by the "powers that be." Also, as has been mentioned, it is not so easy to be a male porn stud, and often some of the studs we see last only a short time because it was not what they expected... or their girlfriends told them to stop ;-) There must be a demand for new males -- I mean, it is getting embarrassing to watch a 45 year old guy having sex with someone half his age, and it's not so appealing -- but most of the directors feel that the main focus of the videos are the females and they care little who the males are. There are some new faces, but for every Tony Tedeschi, there are 20 one shot wonders. Statistically, I would bet that 95% of the movies out there have at least one of the following actors: Ron Jeremy, Randy West, Joey Silvera, Mike Horner, Marc Wallice or Peter North. That's only six actors and they're in almost every movie. Thanks go out to Marc (again!) for this one... 19.7 How do you know when a performer has retired? To paraphrase critic bill caits, "the only porn stars who officially have retired are dead." Thanks to AFW editior Jeremy Stone for this one... 19.8 Are there actors turned directors? [updated] Sure are. While some actors supplement their income by directing the occasional feature (Derrick Lane comes to mind), others quit acting to concentrate solely on directing. John Leslie, Paul Thomas and Eric Edwards are perhaps three of the best known actors to make this transition. Joey Silvera is starting to cross over, as is Jon Dough. Ron Jeremy is also very accomplished, having directed 150+ video so far... Steve Drake has also directed a handful of movies, and Randy West has now branched out into production and directing with his "Up 'n' Cummers" amateur series. On the actress side, Candida Royalle stands out as being one of the first females having made the transition from acting to the production end. That's not to say that other actresses haven't directed as well, they just didn't quit acting to do it. Brandy Alexandre is the proud title holder of "only woman to act, direct and produce her own videos" (Cheeks 5: Cop a Feel and Best Butt(e) in the West). Sharon Kane and Sharon Mitchell have also stepped behind the camera at one time or another. Some female performers have teamed up with their Sos and produced some successful videos: Teri Diver and SO Tom Elliot; Britt Morgan and SO Jace Rocker; Bionca and ex-SO Bruce Seven; Ona Zee and SO Frank Zee; and Gail Force with (SO?) Jim Powers... Tim Evanson says that "more and more gay porn actors are also going behind the camera. One of the best known and the first to do so were Kristen Bjorn in the late 1980s and Gino Colbert in the early 1990s, but now Karl Thomas, Sam Abdul (who owns Forum Studios), Chip Daniels (who owns Minotaur), Johnny Rey (who owns Bacchus Releasing), Jamie Hendrix (who owns Hendrix Productions), Levvy Carriker, and Christopher Robin are also lensing porn films. Falcon Studios has even set up a "school" for gay porn directors, and many gay porn actors try their hand at this program." 19.9 How long does it take to make a adult video? Brandy Alexandre says: The average movie is shot in one day. Often two or three videos are shot in two days to save on costs so the directors can pocket more money out of the budget (highly common practice). Depending on how long the editor takes to put it together -- usually three or four days -- the movie can be on the market as soon as the box cover is shot and the art is done. Of all the aspects to making a video the box takes the longest. A recent issue of SAVAGE MALE (devoted solely to the making of gay videos THE OTHER SIDE OF ASPEN 3 and 4) notes that most gay porn films are filmed in about 2 days, with big-budget productions like TOSOA 3 and 4 taking over a week to make. 19.10 How long are porn scripts? S. Andrew Roberts, an editor out there in pornland, says that some of the scripts for the features by Fantastic Pictures are four pages long. "If I'm lucky, someone will actually include the script in the box with the camera masters. If I'm very, VERY lucky, the performers will actually utter words similar in meaning to those written in the script... I don't often count on it..." Tim tells me that Douglas' co-authored script for the award-winning Studio 2000 film TAKE DOWN in 1993 was printed in MANSHOTS magazine. In printed form (with photos) it ran only 7 pages. Several paragraphs of directorial instructions were included. The film was noteworthy for being dialogue-heavy, so TAKE DOWN should be read with that in mind. 19.11 Sales and other related figures... Bill Majors, a producer himself, is best suited to field this one: I will have to divide this into a couple of areas. First, for the past 4 years I have NOT been in the adult sex area, but have stuck to fetish since I KNOW that market and am one of the leaders in it. In our fetish market a sale of 1,000 units in the first year is average. In the hard core field an average sale might be between 1,000-2,000 units. Of course this is an average. 19.11.1 What is considered a big success? In bondage and fetish anything over the 1,000 units. I for example