I got a call at noon, Wednesday, 8/26/98, from agent Reb Sawitz and his new contract girl Annabel Chong. She plans a line of features from Jerry Garfinkle's Impressive Video. Her debut: "Pornomancer - The Return of the Ultraslut. John Bowen and Rob Black should get worried."

 John Bone writes:

It's been a week since I offered Rob Black (he's soooo cute that I just want to pinch his cheek) Jasmin St. Psycho's contract for $1, and I have heard nothing. I think Jasmin queered the deal yesterday when she suggested he would be better advised spending the $1 on a soda pop -- which actually would be my choice. Problem is, I don't want her back.

Regan Senter showed some interest in acquiring her, but he wants to f--- her first and that could also ruin the deal. So I'm making this a public offering, anybody that would like to purchase Jasmin's contract, good through March 1999, should contact me at the address below.

Now for the sales pitch.

Jasmin St. Psycho: "The World's Biggest Bitch"

She will keep you amused for hours, constantly reinventing her life story.

She will show up for at least 40% of all her scheduled shoots.

Her personal life is so fascinating that you will enjoy her 2 am calls describing the latest drama she is experiencing.

You will make new friends with the industry press, as you are constantly denying her stupid statements and using up favors keeping her angry outbursts out of the trades.

No other girls will be a problem in your life, as she can't stand competition and will chase all others away.

Ready to deal? Wait, there's more - you also get her fiancé Earl Slate, the guy she calls a diseased faggot and publicly abuses for everyone's amusement.

OK, here is the closer:

Act today and I will also throw in 2 tickets for a Dodger home game!

Telephone operators are standing by.

(818) 766 0400 Fax: (818) 766 9885 e-mail:crmteam@ix.netcom.com

Jasmin says: "John's the world's biggest overgrown baby. Why is he still talking about me? This is old news. He makes himself look bad by badmouthing me. I find it flattering that he still talks about me. He's acting like an obsessed boyfriend. The industry knows he's a scumbag.

"I'm an A player who's been playing on an F-rated team. Now I've traded up.

"Regan Senter is not good enough to be the dirt beneath my shoe.

"John has no proof about my being engaged to Earl Slate. Yes, Earl gave me a ring. It was a Christmas present, not an engagement ring."

From Politics:

Last Friday, Michael Ross finalized his appointment to "ConsumerNet," an organization consisting of consumer advocacy groups from coast to coast.

"Our goal is to provide consumers with access to information about companies, products and services that these businesses provide or that consumers use." Ross said. "My areas of expertise stretch from Internet to Collectibles to Telecommunications to Adult, and I plan to work hard to enhance consumer rights in all areas."

The position, Director of their web presence, comes with a staff and six figure budget (that is still being finalized), that includes a publicity budget.

Because of legislative schedules, arrangements have been made so that the bulk of Ross' work will be accomplished during the "off season," (Commonly referred to as legislative recesses).

"Our network is expanding, and soon I will be educating other advocates around the country about adult issues, not to mention how to fight back in the political process,." Ross continued. "It goes hand-in-hand with the On-line Lobbying School I am sponsoring."

According to Ross, "We're going to be teaching classes dedicated to lobbying. School starts 9/15/98 and information can be found at http://www.lobbyist.org

In an effort to educate the largest amount of people in a short time, we have also written a handbook that will be tailored to meet the specific needs of the user (different slants and focuses). For instance, there are several designed for the Adult Entertainment Industry which will provide users with specific information, written just for them. Combined, all of the hand books are designed to help you effectively participate in the political process.

*********

Sacramento Moves To Ban Nudity

In a move directly related to AB 726, the City of Sacramento today introduced an amended version of their proposed anti-nudity ordinance. The ordinance is designed to outlaw Nudity entirely.

"We knew this day was coming and we are prepared," Michael Ross said. "We have held owners, managers and dancers meetings that are designed to educate, organize, save businesses and keep jobs."

On Sacramento's behalf, we have created a secondary effects report in an effort to defeat the ordnance and are in the process of finalizing a "model ordnance" that we hope to get on the ballot.

The next dancers meeting is September 13, while the next owners meeting is slated for September 15. For more information, or to help, please contact us at (916) 456-7311.

•••••••••

AB 726 Signed; AB 2055 Sent To Governor

In the last week, over a dozen bills affecting our industry have been sent to the Governor for his signature. As of this writing, AB 726 has been signed, while AB 2055 awaits the Governor's signature. With that in mind, we want you to know that we will be releasing our End Of Year Report next week. The report will cover all bills, resolutions and amendments that were signed into law by the Governor, with an analysis on how they affect your business.

******

New Email Regulations Headed Towards You

Government Passing Policies aimed at stopping SPAM

For the last year, we have been following two bills dealing with the subject of "Internet spam" (our amendments were adopted) The bills are AB 1629 and AB 1676 (outlined in earlier editions of the AEA), and will be detailed here after passage or signature by the Governor. Simply put, the laws affect the way adult businesses can conduct business over the Internet. If you want copies, an analysis or operational instructions, call at (916) 456-7311.

A veteran of more than 20 years, Editor Manny Neuhaus has been fired from Screw. According to a source, it's part of the budget cutting masterminded by Al's girlfriend Rose. At one time, Screw's circulated 250,000 copies. Now it's about 14,000

***

Tim Evanson writes on RAME (rec.arts.movies.erotica newsgroup):

"Billboard" magazine ran two major articles in its "Home Video" section in back-to-back issues in August, both detailing how adult video is making DVD "super-charged" and how porn is finding more acceptance at the retail level.

In "Adult Fare Lends a Boost to DVD" by Earl Paige in the August 8th issue, "Billboard" discussed the way porn has made inroads among retailers and show organizers. True, porn and the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) are going their separate ways: Free speech topics were de-emphasized at panels at the VSDA, and recording industry giants (like Tower Records, Recording Industry Assoc. of America [RIAA] and the Motion Picture Assoc. of American [MPAA]) led the way in defeating California legislation which would have mandated that separate sections in video stores for adult videos.

But state and regional VSDA associations are increasingly accepting of adult product. In Wisconsin, the state association cancelled its annual trade show in favor of an adult-only show. The Carolina VSDA will have a larger section at "Sun Splash" and the Southern Florida VSDA will have an adult panel for the first time. Vivid Video even co-hosted an event earlier this year with the Southern California VSDA.

But perhaps the best sign of porn's increasing acceptance comes from the fact that adult product is gaining acceptance at other, larger shows than VSDA and is finding new venues for product promotion. At the East Coast Video Show in October, porn's venue has expanded the last several years, and a new Adult Entertainment Expo will be held in Las Vegas in July, 1999.

Porn studios are also seeking out the larger trade shows, such as the Consumer Electronics Show (or CES, where, contrary to the trashing the venue took in "Premiere" magazine, the adult section had to be moved to the former parking garage of the Sands Hotel two years ago because there was no venue in the city large enough to hold the section). Even traditionally non-porn shows, such as the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), are seeing porn vendors now. Two years ago, Vivid Video established a presence at the NARM show in Orlando, and made an appearance at NARM in San Francisco in 1998. A large number of porn merchandisers have announced their intention to attend the 2000 show in Las Vegas.

Porn, "Billboard" claims, is also making inroads at the grass-roots level, too. Tower Records now carries adult DVD titles in 78 of their stores (Tower purchased 300 copies of Vivid's first DVD releases - a huge amount, when a "hit" video racks up sales of only about 2,500 copies in its first month of release), and Bayside Entertainment (a distributor) is pursuing music store accounts aggressively with porn product. At the VSDA, Vivid Video held a VERY large promotional event with the Virgin Megastore. Product displays were at the top and bottom of escalators, in-store announcements were made, "Time" magazine and local TV stations covered the event, and trailers ran on monitors in the store. In Texas, a state traditionally quite hostile to porn, the Baker & Taylor chain is coordinating an adult DVD program for all its branches. The Amarillo-based Hastings chain has also started carrying adult product, both video and DVD.

"Even now 50% of our customers are shopping all five departments [including adult] each visit," said the Hastings CFO.

DVD has a downside, however. Front-runners like VCA and Vivid have found that as more porn studios enter the market, their product is pushed out.

Readers of "Billboard" might also take heart from Seth Goldstein's "Picture This" video column in the same issue. Goldstein notes that VSDA lost something else in addition to porn purveyors this time around: It lost retailers. It seems that many retailers fled the exhibit floor in July.

It seems that retailers wanted to head to the "room appointments" where they could get specialized treatment and displays. Goldstein notes that the "mammoth" 20th Century Fox floor exhibit was practically deserted, while the Fox room upstairs was packed to overflowing with retailers more interested in niche sales and information rather than advertising glitz and hard sells.

"Billboard" ran another article on adult video in the August 15th issue.

"X Titles Move Into Vid/Music Stores" by reporter Trudi Miller Rosenblum provided a more in-depth look at porn's mainstreaming. Porn suppliers will separate from the VSDA next year into their own show, "Billboard" noted, probably taking half of VSDA's attendance with them.

But "Billboard" documented the acceptance hard-core porn has now at chains such as Tower, Virgin, Wherehouse, Compact Disc World, J&R Music World, Hastings, and Movie Gallery. (Readers should note that Wherehouse, which just emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, bought the Blockbuster Music division from Viacom - which means even more porn available to consumers, as Blockbuster Music begins carrying the stuff in selected and expanding markets.)

DVD, again, helps lead the acceptance of porn because "the adult filmmakers are using the DVD technology to a greater extent than mainstream filmmakers," said the CEO of Compact Disc World. Hard-core titles account for 33% of Compact Disc's DVD sales and 25% of its overall sales. But adult DVD, with packages that look like "regular DVD titles" and toned-down boxcovers, is also attractive to technology junkies. As the "technology elite" accept adult product, so do retailers. "We get a lot of cross-over from owners of DVD machines," says Metro, a Rhode Island-based distributor/retailer.

Adult titles also help improve the bottom line because porn studios often have such unsophisticated pricing policies. "Trying to get the consumer to come into your music or video store is much more difficult when you have mass marketers using all the major music and movie titles as loss leaders. The only way to be competitive is to carry a broader spectrum of product," says Playboy president Barry Leshtz. Since porn studios and distributors rarely engage in MAP (minimum-advertised-pricing) or loss-leader pricing, porn retains a steady price that stores can build on.

Studios have gone to great lengths to accommodate retailers' concerns. Vivid offers movies in four distinct versions, each with varying levels of explicitness. Some distributors create "hard-core covers" for the adult bookstore market and "soft-core covers" for the music and video chains.

Vivid also refuses to ship product to certain states, and even goes as far as barring releases in certain parts of states: New York is okay, except for Syracuse and Buffalo; South Florida is okay, but North Florida is not.

Vivid has noted, however, that the softest versions of their product do tend to sell very well in these out-of-bounds areas.

But overall, it is sales themselves which are convincing retailers to carry porn. "Billboard" notes that when people see porn in a music store, they feel more at ease about buying it. That seems to be the key, and it's increasing acceptance of hard-core and soft-core pornography alike.

By D.K. Stanton:

Mark Kernes, features editor and multi-faceted columnist for Adult Video News magazine, has openly expressed an interest in serving on the Free Speech Coalition’s board of directors. A vacancy created by the recent resignation of this same magazine’s founding publisher/editor, Paul Fishbein, could indeed be the impetus which transforms a six month old notion into reality.

Considered as one of the industry’s unsung heroes by FSC chairman of the board, Jeffrey Douglas, Kernes began his tenure within adult entertainment approximately 15 years ago by generating free-lance film and video reviews while maintaining employment as a court stenographer in the Philadelphia area.

In 1991, he joined Fishbein in relocating AVN to the west coast and has continued as a member of the adult community since that time.

"I’ve been interested in free speech as early as college," stated the NYU graduate. "Apart from money, voices apparently are what influences the politicians." While applauding advances that have been made within the State of California, he would like to see lobbying efforts expanded to the national arena. Kernes views the adult entertainment industry as tame and sedentary, voicing a conviction that the government would be better served by addressing more serious societal issues such as white collar crime.

Although sympathetic to the needs of other adult enterprises, including nightclubs and merchandising endeavors, Kernes feels that the Free Speech Coalition, the video industry’s trade association, must concentrate their efforts until diversity is more financially feasible. He is, however, prepared to defend the rights of directors and producers who are often perceived as "pushing the envelope", citing the first amendment as the single overriding factor which must, above all else, prevail.

Mark Kernes is featured monthly throughout the pages and departments of Adult Video News.

Paul writes:

I've only just become aware of your site via the feed article. I'm fascinated to see such a large body of work on porn. I wonder if you have already done or would consider doing an article on some of the sleazy practices of some porn sites around credit cards & false advertising.

I made the mistake of being lured by some web sites to hand over my VISA number for what I thought was a one time payment for a limited period of access. Contrary to my understanding based on text on these sites they deduct an amount from my VISA account every month. E-mails to the sites attempting to unsubscribe are ignored as are e-mails to the Internet Billing Company.

Attempts to get these payments stopped by both my credit union & VISA have resulted in buck passing exercises & I may have to cancel my VISA account to stop them.

Pat Riley writes on RAME:

Few women will screw someone other than their SO, especially a recently SO'ed or married girl. If they do the only reason is for the bucks and you can be sure the ooh-ing and aah-ing is as fake as a $3 bill. So when you watch Mrs Recently Married being screwed by Fred I'll-f----anything-that-breathes Stud the scene rings totally false. More than that, it's insulting to the viewer; she (or the producer/director) is thinking the poor mook (viewer) is sufficiently gullible to actually believe she's actually having an orgasm.

Add in the idea that the guy is actually profiting from his wife screwing other men--i.e. he's a pimp--or at the very least thinks so little of his relationship with her that anyone can f--- her (for the right bucks). I find this personally distasteful. Just as I wouldn't want to associate with drug dealers, I don't want to associate with pimps. I particularly dislike the idea when the guy is just off-camera (some of Ed's flicks).

You might say isn't this all the porno industry? Well no, not quite.

There are--or were, I find them few and far between today--girls who actually liked sex, weren't committed to any particular male, and in their real life would screw guys because they liked screwing them. IOW they had a far more male-like view of sex. I don't have any objection to such a girl screwing on camera and me paying to watch it.

Similarly, a couple of SO's or boyfriend/girlfriend who want to generate a few bucks by letting me watch their copulatory activities is fine.

One other alternative is where the girl is a sufficiently good actress and the movie is well enough done that I can believe she's the character she's playing and that character is the one I believe is screwing. Contrary to the belief of many on this NG, the less you actually know about the performer, the better. I makes it much easier to believe them in a particular role.

***

Alex Katz, Russian immigrant owner of In-X-Cess productions (since 1994) and numerous other companies, entered porn in 1988 while still in college.

He owns the one-stop distributor "Pro-Video" which distributes tapes across America.

At one time, Katz had Kylie Ireland, Sylvia Saint (Czech) and Isis Nile under contract. He now has dozens of Russian girls under contract through his St. Petersburg modeling agency (SPB). "Since the fall [of communism], they all need money. They'll do whatever it takes."

On 8/25/98, Katz said "I don't think anyone else is shooting in Russia. It's very difficult to…"

Luke: "Dangerous [mafia]."

Alex: "You said it. I didn't."

For the first two editions of his "Russian Model Magazine" video series, Katz used models brought to him by Moscow talent agent Leonid Perlin. In September, Alex releases the third volume. "We also plan later this year upscale large budget feature productions in Russia.

"We don't just shoot simple scenes with Russian girls and present them to the market, 'there's a Russian girl.' Who'd believe you in today's market if you said someone was a Martian, they truly are, unless you film them in Mars, speaking Martian… Unless that Martian takes it in the ass in a special way.

"America is the only place in the world where, for selling a porno tape, your loved ones, your peers and your family may forget you. You can be exiled from polite society while for killing a man, you can live happily ever after, not only in Brentwood. But still, you can make lots of money."

After receiving a legal threat from a law firm representing Zorro Productions, Katz took his In-X-Cess movie The Erotic Adventures of Zorro off the market.

Katz's biggest movies include Hamlet, Marquis de Sade, Sexy Killer with British model Sarah Young, Magnificent Seven Girls (which features the debut of Vicca and Nikita), Betty Blue, and Castle of Lucretia.

Though the box cover for Marquis de Sade says it was directed by Luca Damiano, it was helmed by Joe D'Amato. "Europeans are disorganized with their materials. They could care less about particularity."

Alex says his company and D'Amato have concluded $2 million worth of upcoming productions - Experiences, Hell's Angels, Selen - Queen of the Elephants… "It was shot in Tunisia, Africa with real life animals… She'll be riding them… She takes it in the ass with a smile and a breath of fresh air."

D'Amato has shot a 35mm, $500,000 "pirate epic" Treasure Island.

"We're co-producing some movies with Nicholas Moore who made Sexy Killer, Castle of Lucretia and others… Also, Luca Damiano's Lolita and Anastasia. Plenty of anal and production values.

"Frank Thring is doing the Lee Nover ("Some people bend over, be we Lee Nover and give you more") gonzo line for us. He directs the series for Private called Pirate. He travels all over the world, finding girls in France, Germany, Czech Republic, etc…

"It's not illegal to shoot pornography in outlying areas of Russia, but in many of these areas you can't release anything harder than a softcore version."

In-X-Cess also plans to release further editions of Hawaiin Video Magazine, Japanese Video Magazine… "I've created The Girl Banger, a private nerdy person, Ed Powers style, with Doctor Dick aka Dick Stud Burro."

Alex created this year an upscale gay line called USMALE. In September, it will release The Men of Magnum, a "big budget production… Each box with a complimentary Magnum condom inside. We're also releasing the first big budget gay movie shot in Russia, An American in Moscow, shot by Russian Andrei Lev. Next, Killer Looks. And in October, our gay movie of the year, a mafia epic (The Underboss) with a cast of 27 directed by Paul Barresi.

In November, Alex will release The Stiletto Connection fetish series helmed by Frank Thring, which will resemble his line Pirate line. First volume will be entitled Stiletto Boots, second Stiletto Tits…

Lex writes on RAME: "Let's lose the "psycho-fan" nonsense. Katie Chlymidia does 11,000 videos and spends the balance of her professional time dancing naked in front of a sweaty crowd of unscreened strangers at the Klitt Klubb under her stage name. Even if her burly "daddy" accompanies her to every single appearance, he ain't bullet-proof. Is it such a leap to suggest that telling people that her name is actually Jane Playne has not appreciably changed her personal security problems where the psychos are concerned? Assuming, of course, that Katie is actually that important to any lunatics in the first place.

Get real. Isn't the real concern that if her name is made public, the folks in her neighborhood might find out what she does for a living?

Do we actually have a "right" to hide from the public what we do in public? Personally, I doubt it. We have no obligation to disseminate (?) what we don't want to, but if information is in the public domain.

Pat Riley on DVDs:

DVD, eh? Just another solution in search of a problem, like Laserdiscs and CD-ROM's. Unless the movie companies/DVD machine mfgs do something sensible in the marketing area they're dead before they get out the door. Just like HDTV, although there your benevolent government working hand-in-glove with the we-need-some-more-bucks TV industry and the I-must-have-the-latest-gadget yuppie might MAKE you pay for the product whether you want it or not.

Let's see. I rent the latest Debbie Does Dallas #34 from my local smut shop, pop it in the VCR, and proceed to watch the usual crap. The FF button gets lots of work out, but if I really want to study the scene the resolution is good enough to make out the zits on the performers ass, her dingleberries, the scars under her tits, the bags under her eyes, and the bruises on her legs. Why would I want better resolution?

The only things I might want to see that I'm not getting is whether she has a c-section scar and the reason I can't get that is because the f'ing asshole of a camerman fails to give me a shot of the right area. Not likely to change under DVD.

If I really want to watch a scene again (highly unlikely) there's rewind and if I want to take a leak there's a pause button. Just why would I want "chapters"? Oh, oh, I must re-watch the scene where Ron Jeremy pokes Janine. I mean that was so fantastic...the emoting!...the quality of the dialog...uh, uh, uh,...the realism...Ron Jeremy's gut!

What the f...'s wrong with rewind and play? Chapters will save you 0.9 microseconds, eh. Wonderful! And at a cost of what?

And then we have the EXTRA MATERIAL like outtakes and interviews with the f--- bunnies...er, I mean stars. Jeez, what about that blank tape at the end of the cassette? They couldn't put them there? Just why would I want to listen to an interview anyway with some of the dullards they have in the industry? "I can't do guys because I might fall in love with them." Uh, huh. It wasn't believable in print; what makes you think it would be better on DVD? And how about those outtakes? Nikki Brantz s---ting herself over the kitchen floor. Yeah, right! That adds a lot to my viewing pleasure. Or those outtakes Vivid used to put on their tapes a year or so ago; the ones with Lori Michaels saying "No, I really didn't have a orgasm, I'm just a good actress" (only the gullible would believe that). Great addition, guys!

Or, if I understand correctly you can choose in some selected scenes the music and/or the camera angle. Did anyone think that maybe this was the director's job? This is like someone giving you a blank book, parts of a story, and a bottle of glue. Most videoes (mainstream too) are transitory experiences; not worth even the slightest effort beyond pushing Play.

Ten years ago I bought a Laserdisc player--the latest and the greatest. It has been used about ten times (once a year) most of which have been running the test disk so I can check some other part of my equipment. CD-ROM's are great for music and distributing software and dictionaries, although everything I've bought in the last two years I've downloaded from the internet. I just can't work out what DVD's would be useful for.

There is one way the mfgs could make us buy DVD's: contract with a movie studio (say Paramount) that their movies would only be distributed on DVD, never ever on tape. Make the DVD's available to the rental stores at very low cost--maybe a royalty arrangement--and be prepared for a year or two of burn time. Perhaps Paramount could stand the cost but there's no porno company that could sit by until enough of the public got the message.