With Reese Rideout appearing in so many issues of Men Magazine, it’s no wonder that he’s been awarded Man of the Year by the magazine Friday night and he totally deserved it. Here he is at MJ’s Swallow with the announcement and dancing the night away with fellow Randy Blue stars .





Related:
Reese Rideout on Cover of Men Magazine August 2008
Reese, Chris, Xander for Men Magazine Nov. 2008

Univeristy of Nebraska Huskers wrestlers Paul Donahoe and Kenny Jordan have been kicked off the college team after it leaked they had performed as Cal and Nash on FratMen.tv. Coach Manning issued a statement claiming “the history of behavior of these men, including the current matter, does not reflect the standard of excellence we aspire to on and off the mat.”

Related:
FratMen’s Real College Jocks
Michigan man kicked off Nebraska wrestling team

It’s hard to figure out if ‘college jocks’ are the real college jocks you see on campus or just keywords websites use for marketing purposes. But a recent scandal Fleshbot Gay reported says that real college jocks perform at FratMen.tv. A University of Nebraska - Lincoln gossip site and NU Huskers sports blog recently broke that national wrestling ‘champion Paul Donahoe and teammate Kenny Jordan recently modelled for a gay porn website in various states of undress.’ Both are currently under investigation by the University of Nebraska Athletic Department and NCAA, dismissal and serious repercussions are likely.

According to gossip blog The Scarlet Project,

Donahoe, a senior from Davison, Mich., won the 2007 NCAA national championship at 125 pounds and was a third-place finisher this past March.

Jordan, a junior from Frankfort, Ill., came to Nebraska out of high school before transferring to Lincoln (Ill.) Community College, where he was a 2007 national junior college champion. He transferred back to NU last fall.

FratMen has disabled the previews of the two stars.
Related:
Fratmen: Nash (Paul Donahue) and Fratmen: Cal (Kenny Jordan) (from DudeTube)
2 NU wrestlers under investigation
Breaking News: National Champion wrestler bares all on gay porn website
Real College Wrestling Jocks @ Fratmen.tv (No, Really!)

Following my initial post about Brodie Sinclair departing from Raging Stallion and then Brodie’s response, both Brodie Sinclair and Ricky Sinz have issued statements on JustUsBoys explaining the separation. Brodie claims of horrid working conditions on the set of Grunts while Ricky Sinz says otherwise. Raging Stallion exclusive Steve Cruz (here and here) and Raging Stallion Vice President Kent Taylor commented on Queer Porn Nation against Brodie’s allegations.

Read the following posts and comments on how the story unfolded.
Raging Stallion Fires Brodie Sinclair and Ricky Sinz
Correction About Ricky Sinz at Raging Stallion
Brodie Sinclair Comes Forth
Brodie Sinclair Fires Back
Ricky Sinz gives his two cents on Brodie Sinclair

Michael Lucas has issued a comment about Johnny Hanson’s switch to barebacking. Lucas initially refused to comment for fear of promoting the story.

Yet after learning of Hanson’s irresponsible statement that “being the top wasn’t too much of a health risk,” Lucas decided to respond. Lucas revealed that Johnny Hanson is HIV positive and therefore questioned the Hanson’s words.

When I saw the photo of 42 year old Hanson below, I did ponder that he’s HIV positive and I thank Lucas for confirming this. Viewers need to know that being the top is not immune to HIV risks and that there are uninformed HIV poisitive barebackers.

Click here for Michael Lucas’ response with Vincent Lambert.

WARNING: Bareback films and the photos represent actors are not using condoms with mutual consent. Barebacking is an extremely dangerous act that may lead to HIV and STDs.

Please help all Adult Gay Community Websites, based in the United States, stay in business. Read and send the letter provided by National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to the US Department of Justice by Sept 10th. Click Banner below

Some people say they had trouble copying the sample letter from NGLTF websites. Here is the story and letter from NGLTF:

The federal government is proposing regulations that would effectively kill adult social-networking sites. This is being done under the guise of fighting child pornography. You have until September 10 to object to these regulations. It’s easy to do and essential. A sample e-mail comment is at the bottom of this page.

Please forward this information to your friends!

What’s the Deal?

The Department of Justice is proposing regulations to implement a federal law designed to combat child pornography, known as Section 2257. The law was first enacted in 1998 and was amended in 2006 and significantly expanded to include regulation of the Internet.

While many of the regulations pertain to companies that produce adult entertainment magazines and videos (and are extremely burdensome), they would also affect anyone who uses an adult social-networking site. Here’s how:

* The regulations would require the people running a site to get and maintain personal information from every user (that means you) who posts a “sexually explicit” photo, including your photo ID (driver’s license, passport, or military ID).

* The regulations would allow the Attorney General to conduct warrantless searches at will on the sites’ records, including your personal information.

* There are few safeguards over what the FBI can do with the information it obtains.
* If a site operator fails to comply with the regulations, he or she would face a prison sentence of up to 5 years.

* For more detailed information on Sec. 2257, go to http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/misc/2257_fact_sheet.pdf.

Obviously, none of this has anything to do with child pornography. Instead, it is a blatant attempt to end the ability of consenting adults to use adult social-networking sites to meet other people for sex. Obviously, if these regulations go into effect, they will kill this industry. What You Can Do

The Department of Justice has published these proposed regulations and the public has until September 10 to comment on them.

We need to generate thousands of comments objecting to the proposed regulations – and it’s easy to do via e-mail. Just follow the instructions below.

Why We’re Involved

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Inc. is involved in this fight because we believe sexual freedom is a fundamental human right and we don’t think the government has any place in relations between consenting adults. These regulations are part of our government’s hypocritical and punitive views about sex, sexuality, and reproductive rights. All of this – from abstinence-only sex education programs to the elimination of funding for accurate and explicit HIV prevention programs – fall hardest on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

For more information about the organizing, advocacy, and public education work of the Task Force, visit www.thetaskforce.org.

Take Action Now

Here is a sample letter with the e-mail address you need to send it to (Admin.ceos@usdoj.gov) and the subject you must include in the subject line of your e-mail (Section 2257 Docket No. CRM 104).

Please also consider a contribution to keep this advocacy work going.

Sample Letter

To: Admin.ceos@usdoj.gov Re: Section 2257 Docket No. CRM 104

To the U.S. Department of Justice:

I am writing to object to the proposed “Section 2257” regulations.

These regulations are complicated and burdensome on legitimate businesses, and have very little to do with protecting children and minors from pornography. Their reach — particularly into adult social-networking internet services — is overbroad, unnecessary, and would allow the federal government to search and seize personal records of adult consumers without a warrant; a clear violation privacy and constitutional rights.

Specifically, I object to the following provisions:

1. The regulations (18 § 2257(b)(1) and (c)) would force adult social-networking services to obtain and maintain personal information about their users, including the user’s photo ID (driver’s license, passport, or military ID). (I must note that the sites already require users to affirm that they are over 18 years of age.) Many sites have tens of thousands of users and it is simply not possible for them to do this. Moreover, many people who use these sites want to maintain their privacy, for any number of reasons, including the sad fact that they might face discrimination and/or violence if others found out they were using these sites. It is still legal in 31 states to discriminate against someone who is gay or bisexual, and in 41 states if the person is transgender. The combination of the recordkeeping requirements and many users’ fears about providing such information will kill the entire industry.

All of this is overkill given that adult social networking sites were not identified as a problem in the production, distribution and downloading of child pornography in the Department of Justice’s own report on “Child Pornography on the Internet” (May 2006).

2. The regulations (18 § 2257(g) and under 28 C.F.R. § 75.5) would allow the Attorney General to conduct unannounced warrantless searches at will on the sites’ records, including reviewing and presumably seizing the personal information on site users. This is an egregious abuse of government authority, an unwarranted invasion of privacy and, in my opinion, a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

3. The regulations (28 C.F.R. § 75.5(4)) provide insufficient safeguards over what the government can do with the information it obtains through its searches. This, by itself, has a chilling effect on the ability of people to engage in constitutionally protected activities. As noted above, this is particularly dangerous for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Let me be clear: I believe children need to be protected from coercion into pornography and it is important for the federal government to do all that it can to insure those protections. Sadly, many of the provisions of the proposed 2257 regulations do nothing to address child pornography, but instead are clearly aiming at destroying an industry and ending a legal and valuable way for adults to meet one another.

Sincerely, (your name) __________________________________________________

It was pretty well reported a month ago that 2008 FDNY Calendar cover boy Mike Biserta pulled out his huge hose out for the always horny gals over at “Guys Gone Wild.” The fire department has cancelled all future calendar shoots and decided against disciplinary action against Mike Biserta because the act was commited before he became a firefighter.

David Forest, an agent ot many gay pornstars runs a thread at Atkol Forums that divulges gay porn pay. As I had assumed, gay pornstars aren’t paid that much: $3200 per scene for Roman Heart as a Falcon exclusive and Matthew Rush’s $2800 (one scene per year) plus $3000 per month for the website. No wonder many of these stars resort to escorting and club appearances to supplement their income.

Below are several revealing responses by David Forest:
1)How much do these exclusives really get paid?

In 1994-5 KEN RYKER signed a Falcon deal for $2100 per scene (5 scenes) … and they paid the agent who signed him to this AWFUL deal a 15 or 20% commission ON TOP of that (Dan Byers in Denver). BUT … guess what? I know you won’t believe this could happen … KEN didn’t realize Falcon was making those commission payments until I took over his management … and questioned him on it. He had been paying Byers 20% after each scene he did, not knowing that Byers was ALSO getting a payment from Falcon. Imagine that.

NOW … here’s the problem with this deal. KEN became an INSTANT SMASH after the 1st movie (”New Pledgemaster”). SO … Falcon, being sharp … decided to use KEN for just ONE SCENE in each movie they did with him … starring him, of course, in each one. SO … for $2100 + the comm. to Byers … they had a guy who could headline their movies for pennies ($2500 with the comm) … and was the HOTTEST new star going (RYAN IDOL was probably, overall, a bigger and more widely known star … but, RYKER had the 11 inch dick). Ryker did FOUR (4) movies like that (Pledgemaster, Big River, Other Side of Aspen and The Backroom).

KEN had 1 scene remaining on his deal when I became his manager. AND, Falcon wanted to do a MAJOR film for his last one (they knew he’d be leaving … LOL … but they had ONE more scene). They wanted him to do two (2) scenes AND lots of acting … plus, there was a BONUS in the contract if he completed all 5 scenes. KEN turned it over to me … and I went back and forth with Falcon … finally agreeing on $8100 for RENEGADE (the final Ryker/Falcon movie). BUT … that deal, 12 years ago, is what began the souring of my relationship with John R. He felt that I came in and “ruined” his shot at getting KEN for much less. Actually, 2 scenes and the bonus (which was equal to one scene) would have been $6300. BUT … that extra $1800 really upset him. I started at $10,000 … ended at $8100 … but things were never the same between me and John. Oh well. I was just doing my job. That’s really how my reputation and studio relations got negative. Studios in the XXX biz … especially the gay XXX biz … just don’t like a guy like me fighting for the TOP $$ for his star. In Ken’s case … Falcon only paid $1800 more than was called for in the deal ($2100 per scene and a $2100 completion bonus). BUT .. to them, that was losing the battle. AND I, of course, was blamed.

Just a little “side note” … before Ryker finished the Falcon contract (and “Renegade”) … Catalina Video had come to me and asked if THEY could sign him to an exclusive deal. I told them I really shouldn’t even discuss it until his contract with Falcon was up (aren’t I just so honorable) … but, about 6 weeks before I knew we’d be done with everything (contract, the last movie, etc.) … I asked Catalina what they were thinking of offering. When they said … well, we know he’s getting $2100 per scene from Falcon … and they pay an agent’s comm on top …. I said: You’re not saying that you expect Ryker to leave Falcon and come to Catalina for the SAME deal, are you? AND, of course, that was the beginning of the end of my relationship with Catalina. YES … I’m saying that to be on good terms with the gay XXX studios … you can’t push for TOP $$. Hell … when it’s KEN RYKER … the hottest new star to come along since RYAN, JEFF and REX … you damn well better go for the TOP $$.

Speaking of KEN RYKER (again)… in checking to see what the 4th Ryker/Falcon film was (I couldn’t for the life of me remember, “The Backroom” … even though that’s the movie where Ryker was in leather … sooooo cool) … I suddenly came across some interesting revelations. I hadn’t been on the KEN RYKER page at TLA Video in a long time. NOW … some would say I’m naive … I see THREE (3) VCA compilations that all have KEN RYKER in them. 3 movies with KEN … but he only did ONE movie for VCA. However, our contract didn’t forbig the re-use of the footage, if so desired by the company. I’m surprised that Flynt hasn’t used RYAN IDOL footage from, “Idol Country” (one of Ryan’s greatest films). My contract for that one gave VCA total rights to the footage … and, by dropping the restriction clause, I got RYAN $20,0000 for that movie (not bad in 1994).

I’m just so uncool with “compilations” … since the stars NEVER get a dime from those cheap ass movies (Leisure Time, Catalina … and, wouldn’t you know it .. now … VCA, owned by Larry Flynt). RYKER did ONE film for VCA (”Matinee Idol”) … I got him $12,000

I also saw that Ryker’s Revenge & Mass Appeal were being offered, ON DEMAND. I’m checking to see if those 2, which RYKER had very tough contracts on (I was in prison at that time, 1996-8, and Ron Palmieri - attorney, handled Ken’s business and I could swear the contracts didn’t allow any “re-use” of the footage). I’ll let you know what I find out.

I always get “wordy” in the first few questions. Sorry. BUT, it’s all good stuff for you kids to know about (above).

This is about EXCLUSIVES … and how much they are paid ..

Another exclusive deal, that has just ended, is ROMAN HEART. I believe his latest contract (I think they did THREE deals with him, total) is for $3200 per scene … 5 scenes … and the $3200 includes a full extra day on each movie for stills. Not sure about a bonus … but that’s normally always part of the deal … sometimes, however, the model has to not only finish the full contract … but … wait 90 days before he can do another film for someone else. They hold up giving them the bonus until 90 days after their last scene … and if they’ve worked for anyone else … they don’t pay it. HEART just filmed for Ridgeline (Jason Ridge/Jeffrey Sanker). His last movie for Falcon, I believe, is the one directed by MATTHEW RUSH. I guess there was about 3 months between the 2 … so Roman probably did get his bonus. So, with 5 scenes @ $3200 … plus a $3200 bonus, that’s $19,200 TOTAL income for an entire YEAR in movies. Hell … this past year, if I was Roman’s manager … and he didn’t have the Falcon deal … I would have asked for (and maybe gotten) $20,000 for ONE MOVIE. He’s at the top of his game. He sells movies. I’m sure Ridgeline paid him very well for whatever he recently did for them in Palm Springs (at least $5,000 for 1 scene, I’d think).

BARRETT LONG, just as a comparison … got $1000 for 10 scenes (in 1 year) from All Worlds Video … when he first began.

Some of the exclusive deals are for 6 scenes in a year … maybe $1800 per scene. BUT … remember .. it’s still the model’s ONLY money from films for that year. They’re bound in to the contract.

The deal I made for BILLY BRANDT, after he was let out (that’s an entire story in itself) of his Falcon contract … was $25,000 for three (3) movies in 1.5 years (2 scenes per movie) with Pacific Sun Entertainment (”Getting It At The Rave,” “Angel Blue” and “Billy Brandt Lost On Sex Island.”

2)Do you get along with Michael Lucas?

I can get along with anyone/everyone. I do NOT hold grudges (unlike some folks around here). BUT … Lucas, who I’ve never actually met … and he admits he’s never met me (other than via email/phone) is a strange cat. We had “words” over the whole CHAD HUNT dispute last summer (Chad didn’t feel he was still under contract to Lucas … Lucas felt he was). Lucas caused me to lose CHAD from a great LIVE show on Flirt4Free (Chad Hunt & Jason Ridge). I’d certainly book my stars to him if I had the right one for a specific project. BUT … Lucas traditionally tries to pay LOWER than normal, if he can. On the other hand … he’s the ONLY one to give JOHNNY HANSON a new “shot” … when JOHNNY wanted back in the biz. AND, Lucas gave Johnny what he wanted, $3000 for 1 scene. I’ve yet to be able to find another studio that will pay Johnny that fee (and he won’t take less). When Roman Heart left Falcon … he was getting $3200 per movie (1 scene + 1 day of stills). Maybe JOHNNY needs to reconsider his price … I think ROMAN is probably a bigger “selling machine” than Hanson.

What’s the most money ever paid to a male porn star. If you didn’t broker the deal, what’s the most you ever got for a male porn star.

The single biggest guarantee (paid at one time for a single movie) was $50,000 … paid by VCA (when Russ Hampshire owned it) to JEFF STRYKER for “Jeff Stryker’s Underground.”

However, the most that a male porn star made from one movie … paid over a period of time (royalties) … was approx. $75,000, which KEN RYKER made for “Ryker’s Revenge.” He had a $20,000 guarantee and got $5 per unit sold. So, in theory, they paid him, upfront, for 4000 units. It sold approx. 15,000 pieces … hence, he made $75,000.

Ken made about $40,000 from “Mass Appeal” on 8000 units @ $5 each.

RYAN IDOL got $20,000 for “Idol Country” and $25,000 for “Idol in the Sky.” RYAN was all contracted for “Idol Cruise” (Odyssey Men/Cbi Chi) in the summer of 2002 … where HIS guarantee was $20,000 (like Ryker’s) … but I got him $9000 additional for various extra things. $29,000 total. He also was to get $5 per movie (upfront him for 4000 sales at $5 … plus $9000 additional) … and, if it sold 15,000, he’d have made $75K + the 9K. But, he questioned the signature on the contract and aborted the whole deal. Very foolish and without reason. The man who signed the contract had signed the contract for “Idol in the Sky” … in 1996.

5. what is going on at Falcon (since you first asked)? Are they shifting business models under the new owners?

Falcon will always be the leading studio … if, for no other reason … they have 30+ years of gorgeous movies. My wonderful friend, Chuck Homes (may he forever rest in peace) … was a fanatic for perfection and beauty. He had the utmost concern for making sure his movies/models were flawless. He spend extra money to have better cameras, better film, better editing, etc. The new owners are, just that … “new.” Much of the staff are fairly new. BUT … they’ll be OK. Hell … they HAVE the money to do things right … they sell hundreds and hundreds of dollars each day in OLD catalogue stuff. ROMAN HEART just re-signed with Falcon. Eric Rhodes likes Falcon. Who knows about Matthew Rush and Falcon.

Matthew, just because he’s used to it … and it’s NICE … will probably hang with Falcon. He’s only guaranteed ONE MOVIE per year (actually, one scene per year @$2800). BUT, he’s been getting $3000 per month for his website … which is why I think he sticks with them. I don’t know what he got for directing for them … but, I doubt that they’re going to be having him do the directing on any sort of full-time basis.
For him to suddenly decide to do “privates” … because, as he’s posted, he needs some quick money … would seem to me to mean that something isn’t the same with his cash flow. Who knows. I can’t believe that a guy who needs quick money … and decides to “offer his services in private” … wouldn’t come to THE male madam of the world, Ms. Forest, to ask for a few clients. Makes no sense … but, that’s NOT why I called the guy he’s so mad about. Now that the whole MATT RUSH hustling thing is sinking in … I’m really puzzled why he doesn’t want a few of my fabulous clients. I’ve been setting up “private meetings” for nearly 30 years. If I were Rush, I’d take advantage of what is so available.

Hub of all that’s hot

San Francisco — surprise! — has surpassed Los Angeles as the capital of the gay adult entertainment industry
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, February 23, 2007

To the list of accolades that make San Francisco the gayest city around, you can add this: world headquarters of the gay adult entertainment industry.

Over the past few years the core of that industry has shifted from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and nearly every leading studio that makes gay adult content now is centered in the city, mainly in the South of Market and lower Potrero Hill neighborhoods.

The content of the industry — that is, the movies themselves — has also shifted, from DVDs and videotapes to the Internet, and to the city at the forefront of that medium. If you download gay porn from the Web, there is a good chance that the images are coming from servers sitting in the shadows of AT&T Park.

This weekend, both transitions will be acknowledged as the GAYVN Awards — the Oscars of the genre — take place at the Castro Theatre on Saturday night and bring the entire industry, including its stars, to the city.

The event, where awards in 38 categories will be presented, is for the first time open to the public, as all eight previous ceremonies were industry-only affairs in Los Angeles nightclubs.

Buttressing that main event is a first-ever industry conference at the W Hotel and a string of parties, one of which — Colt Studio’s 40th anniversary party — will take place across the street from City Hall tonight.

Observers say these events are major changes in the multimillion-dollar industry.

“It certainly shows an acceptance of gay sexuality, but it also shows an increasing acceptance of pornography as a form of popular culture,” said Jeffrey Escoffier, a New York writer who lived in San Francisco for 15 years and is writing a history of the industry to be published next spring.

He traces the modern roots of the films to New York in the early 1970s, where pornographic movies showed in theaters in the city. The Athletic Model Guild had started in the East Bay prior to that, though it produced only photographs and still images. (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was photographed by the guild in 1975, during his body building days. He wore leopard-print briefs.) About the same time, Charles M. Holmes started the Falcon studio — and idealized the blond California surfer — in San Francisco and others started studios in Los Angeles. Colt founder Jim French first took his erotic male pictures in New York before moving the operation to Los Angeles in the late 1970s.

As the years passed and the heterosexual adult industry blossomed in Southern California, many studios there created gay-themed products as well.

The industry soon underwent two major changes: The first was the introduction of home video, which expanded the market beyond only men in urban cities with porn movie theaters. With VCRs, anyone, anywhere, could order films through the mail and enjoy them in private.

The arrival of the era of AIDS in the early ’80s affected a second sea change in the industry. The look of men in the films — known in the industry as “models” — switched from an average aesthetic to that of extremely well-groomed, tanned and toned men, a representation of “health” in the midst of HIV and AIDS. However, the studios did not begin using condoms in their productions till the late 1980s and early 1990s, and many men involved in the early days of the industry, including models and directors, died because of the disease.

Los Angeles remained the center of the gay and straight industry for a while, but in the late 1990s and early 2000s several Falcon directors started their own studios in the Bay Area.

Those studios — Titan, Raging Stallion, Hot House — remained in San Francisco and soon became leaders in the industry. In 2003, former Falcon director John Rutherford and his partner Tom Settle bought Colt, which had been struggling, and moved it to San Francisco, where it once again became successful.

“Now that a critical mass of companies can be found here in San Francisco, more outside companies find it beneficial to relocate here to take advantage of the porn-friendly climate,” said Chris Ward, co-founder and president of Raging Stallion.

It is unclear how big a business gay porn actually is in the city. None of the studio heads would share their revenues, but they did estimate that the gay market was 5 percent to 10 percent of the overall adult market, which is commonly valued between $5 billion to $8 billion. That larger number is unverifiable as well, but if true it could mean the total industry could easily be worth $100 million in the city.

Studio owners say there are several advantages of being located in San Francisco — chiefly the city’s liberal attitudes toward sex and sexuality and, of course, its large gay population.

Rutherford said making gay porn in Los Angeles wasn’t always easy and that the police would occasionally disrupt shoots.

“For people who live in San Francisco, our videos play a larger part in their life, which makes it a community standard,” Rutherford said.

The city, and the Bay Area, also has innovative people who have created many of the advances on the Internet, the next frontier and the third major change for the adult industry. As with VCRs and home viewing in the decades before, the Web is fundamentally changing how people watch porn.

One San Francisco company startup opened in the 1990s to create ways for online gamers to connect through video streaming; now it has become the major conduit for gay adult content on the Web.

“We were like a lot of startups in the mid-’90s. We were a young group of entrepreneurs open to pretty much anything,” said Tim Valente, president of NakedSword.com.

“All of us would sit around working late and talk about all sorts of things. The topic came up of streaming and what you could do with it,” said Valente, who suggested they consider gay adult video. “We were in San Francisco, I’m a gay guy, I said I’d go knock on doors, and that’s pretty much how it started.”

Valente started a subsidiary of the gaming site, calling it NakedSword.com, in 2000 and the Web site “went crazy” with hits. The site now partners with all of the major studios and streams about 90 percent of gay adult content available, Valente said. The company is a major sponsor of this weekend’s events.

The Internet helps the studios, too, as they stream their own video and also sell products from their Web sites.

Revenue for Falcon Studios last year was split in half between online and wholesale sales, says Todd Montgomery, who bought the studio in 2004. This year, online money will surpass wholesale revenue for the first time, accounting for 60 percent of sales, he said.

And the Internet boom has also created an amateur porn industry of producers who can cheaply make high-quality videos and post them on the Web. Many of these producers are pushing the aesthetic of the male pornographic model away from the Uber-polished back to a more natural look. They are also producing porn in individual scenes rather than full films with through story lines, trends major studios are also following.

Some amateur producers are also pushing the line on condom use, too, creating what are known as “bareback” videos, in which condoms are not used.

Such films, produced exclusively by smaller studios, are highly controversial within the industry because of the risk of contracting HIV. Some call bareback movies “snuff films.” The Gay Video News Magazine Awards ceremony bans such films from even being nominated, though they are reviewed in the organization’s magazine.

Major studios used to refuse to hire models who had appeared in bareback films, though that restriction has relaxed. Still, none of the majors condone the production of bareback films.

A smaller San Francisco studio called Treasure Island Media specializes in bareback films, however, and “people have definitely responded to it, and we have a pretty solid fan base,” said Randy Johnson, a producer for the studio who also screens potential models for films. As for the threat of HIV, Johnson said the studio matches people of the same HIV-status and “nobody is being put at risk.”

Johnson called the industry and award ban “hypocritical” because “there are no degrees; condom or no condom, it is all pornography.”

The images and practices the studios do show sometimes concern people like John Karr, who has for 30 years reviewed gay adult movies for the Bay Area Reporter, the Castro neighborhood paper.

Karr said he wonders about the impact of porn on the sex lives of average gay men, whether it leads them into excessive fringe and fetish practices. Two movies up for awards this weekend — “Justice” and “Folsom Filth” — were both produced by San Francisco studios and portray hardcore and violent sexual acts.

“The very profusion of the gay sex film industry has led to super-performers being developed that do not represent the everyday person and the everyday person thinks that’s how he should be acting — and the circle continues,” Karr said, adding, “This is something to view in wonderment, instead of condemnation.”

Source: SFGate

The owner of the 1961 Fellini classic La Dolce Vita has filed a suit against the always controversial Michael Lucas (real name Andrei Treivas Bregman) for trademark and copyright infringement by the movie of the same title released in December by Lucas Entertainment. Owner Michael Lucas brushed off the lawsuit as frivolous claiming that “Nobody can be confused and think they’re buying Fellini’s movie by buying mine.” In an interesting coincidence, Michael Lucas issued a press release, the same day this lawsuit was filed, announcing that he’s legally changed his name to Michaelangelo Antonioni.