Teresa Orlovski

With her husband Hans Moser (Sacha Alexander), Teresa Orlovski operated the large German porn producer - distributor VTO, best known by its brand name Foxy Lady.

"If we're talking about pornography," Moser told the authors of Porn Gold, "we're not talking about eroticism - because eroticism is nice, but naïve. It's not realistic, it's bulls---. Erotica is nice to have, but you can't keep it. The realistic in life is more important.

"I'm a craftsman. If you are naïve and live only in dreams, then you are no use to this society in this world. An artist has the right to certain naivety, certain dreams, but he's not a good artist if he doesn't see the reality on the other side."

Born around 1945, Hans married in 1965. Bored, he began to learn photography. He decided to take nudie photos and sell them in the then illegal German market.

He visited Copenhagen. "Picture sets, slides, and 8mm films - all of them in black and white. The films were made in Soho [England] using prostitutes, and they were the best films I've seen in my life, they were so horny and natural. "

Moser says the porn trade developed in the seedy streets of Soho, England. The largely 8mm films were shipped to Denmark, the first country to legalize hardcore.

Hans took pictures in Germany and carried them to Copenhagen for publication there. On the way home, he smuggled hardcore magazines and films. "It was naïve…stupid. It was an adventure… When I remember, it makes me laugh."

Moser was caught four times, he says, and jailed.

In 1982, his life turned around when he met his future wife Teresa Orlovski. Says a friend, "Hans had searched all his life for a woman to be his partner. Of the succession of beautiful ladies I've seen him with, none of them would really put anything into the business. They'd take things out, but none would put in. But Teresa absolutely lapped it up."

VTO's marketing campaign features Teresa as corporate president, Teresa as magazine publisher, Teresa as lead writer, Teresa as sex counselor and Teresa as sex performer. (Porn Gold, 1988, Faber & Faber)

Teresa and Hans split in 1990. He married British porn star Sarah Young.

By Clifford Cremer who owns the worldwide copyright.

1994

Video Teresa Orlowski

Throughout the western world, pornographic films are a substantial part of the total video-supply. And although the so-called "hardcore"-movies are strictly banned in Asia, even there they're being sold on a huge scale, be it illegal. One of world's biggest producers of adult movies is the German company "Video Teresa Orlowski", from Hannover. Penthouse had an interview with the owner and director of VTO, miss Teresa Orlowski.

By Clifford C. Cremer

Anyone who visits the "Media Park" in the German city of Hannover for the first time, thinks he wandered into the national t.v.-studio's of Germany by accident. In an enormous hall, the complete ceiling is covered with rails, cables and studio lights, while the floor is littered with expensive camera's and all kinds of pieces of scenery. Throughout the hall small open spaces are created, the sets. High above the sets rises the directors-room, from where producers keep in constant touch with the technical staff below. The "Park" is outfitted with two fully computer-controlled film-studio's, together measuring more than 1000 square meters, and each of the studio's contains the latest hi-tech equipment in light and sound. Total costs of the studio's: more than 35 million Deutsch Mark.

The building with the studio's also contains a computer-animation- and a lithography-department, outside stands a huge warehouse. Except for the storage of materials, this warehouse also houses the reproduction-facility, where 250 video-machines are reproducing "mastertapes" 24 hours a day.

It's not soap-series which are produced in the "Media Park", for the only product of this hi-tech film-factory is pornography. Every day hardcore sex films are produced here, with professional models as well as with amateurs. The "Media Park" is the homebase of "Video Teresa

Orlowski", and it is the biggest porn-factory in Europe, probably even in the whole world.

The company is led by Teresa Moser (maiden name Orlowski),

who is a celebrity in Germany and one of the biggest stars of pornography of the last ten years. With an enormous banking-loan, Orlowski, who is from Polish descent, built "her" VTO into the self-employed company it is today, even when a couple of years ago the company was almost bankrupt.

Orlowski got involved in the hardcore world in 1981, through her ex-husband Hans Moser, another big name in the industry. Until that time the girl from Krakauw, who was only living in Germany for three years, was working as a waitress in pubs and restaurants in the German "Ruhr"-area. As a receptionist and as a model for the publishing company of Moser, Orlowski soon saw the great opportunities of pornography.

After six months she quit her job, and in 1982 she founded her own publishing house, called "Verlag Teresa Orlowski". Except for sex-magazines, VTO also produced hardcore video's, in those days still a novelty. With the series "Foxy Lady", in which Orlowski starred herself in the leading role, VTO conquered the international video-market, while Orlowski became an instant celebrity herself.

Now, 15 years after she left Poland, charming but tough Orlowski is the boss of a multi-million dollar company, with an estimated annual turnover of more than 20 million Deutsch Mark.

Penthouse interviewed lady Orlowski (now aged 40) in her fancy office in Hannover. Opposite her desk, six t.v.-screens are located, which are connected with the film studio's below. During the interview a new film

is shot, and on the screens in Orlowski's office, a blond girl in blue stockings is visible, who has sex with an enormous black man. Orlowski watches the screens while she talks, and now and then she grabs the phone to call her producers in the studio's, to give them her comments or instructions. For she may be the owner and director of the company (called "the old one" by her staff), whenever possible she still likes to arrange every little detail herself.

Miss Orlowski, what does pornography mean to you in general?

"Pornography is very difficult to define. In every country it means something else. The films I produce are mainly meant for the German market. A Frenchman would laugh about my films, to him they're some kind of Mickey Mouse-productions. In France, men almost like to rape their wives, therefore French adult-movies are very hardcore and violent. The same goes for Italy. Germany is more soft, much softer even. It wouldn't be a good thing if we couldn't produce our own films in Germany, because

that would mean we were to rely on the French or Italian market. Then we would have to cut so many things out of the films, that almost nothing would be left. And we can't rely on the American movies either, because those films are too soft again. There's too much acting in them as well, for Americans are born actors. In every film they have two or three sex-scenes, which show two or three different positions, and you don't even see a lot. And don't forget about the bad technical quality of American x-rated films. But to answer your question, pornography to me means nothing more than sex in front of a camera."

That's all? I mean, there's nothing idealistic to it? Is it just a way to make money?

"Of course we're a business-company in the first place. Although the basic idea of VTO was, that we didn't want to buy copyrights from foreign countries. We wanted to produce our own films. Besides that, we tried to make pornography more acceptable for society. We didn't want to

give our viewers a product they felt embarrassed about, we wanted to give them something they could talk about with their friends. Without those friends asking: "My god, where did you get that trash?" But I have to admit that idea didn't work out at all. People still buy the cheapest

and lowest s--- available on the market."

What's better, pornography or the reality?

"I don't know reality so well, but in any case, it's a sad reality nowadays. I give the people a product which tries to stimulate them. I'm selling dreams."

Or illusions?

"More or less. But not always, because here I also get women who say: "I want to be f---ed three times a day, and my husband isn't capable of doing that." To them, porno is their real sex life."

There are not a whole lot of people who do the same things we see in your films, in the real.

"Of course not. The men who watch my films know perfectly well the difference between dreams and reality. They have a good time watching my products, and after that they know quite well the real life is waiting outside again. After watching a James Bond-movie, they also don't expect

from now on they have to drive an expensive car, or they have to get ten beautiful girls hanging around their neck. They only watch the movie to have a good time.

"I had a lot of troubles with the German mentality. The women accused me of showing only girls, who always want to have sex, and men who are always capable of doing just that, 24 hours a day. But what do those women expect? Do they want me to show a documentary about a woman who has a headache all the time?"

Is pornography to you a product like all other products?

"Yes, like all other products. If I could make more money selling plastic flowers, I would change my job immediately. But we're not only producing sex-movies; we also make t-shirts, calendars, magazines, computergames, we're operating phonesex-numbers and even contact-magazines on computer."

What is your annual turnover?

"No amounts. I'm very satisfied. The media always want to know my financial situation, but they never write about my expenses. The people don't want to know that somebody who never got to a university, is making as much money as I do. VTO is the world's biggest producer of sexfilms. That's the truth. Our company is the biggest of it's kind in the whole world. We have rooms where people can eat, where they can relax, where they can sleep. We have giant warehouses, reproduction-facilities, everything. No other porn-producer in the world has those things. Most of them only have two desks, a phone and a fax-machine. Once every two months they produce a film."

What are the average costs of producing a sexfilm?

"Those costs can be very low, because we can shoot a film in two hours if we want to. When I have a teenage-girl and two young men, everything could be ready within two or three hours. But no person in the world can have sex for three hours while somebody is checking the make-up all the time and while the studio-lights are burning hot. That's why I want my people to take more time, and at least get fun out of what they do. They have to act natural. The man must not act, for he is not an actor. All he has to do is to get a hard dick in the right time. The people who watch my films only want to see free sex. They don't want to follow a storyline. I don't make Hollywood-pictures, I produce sex."

But women often say they rent an adult movie just for the story of it?

"I don't trust women, women are not honest. They have problems with their feelings. They talk a lot and pretend to be self-confident, but in reality, they're sexually frustrated. Because their lust can never be as strong as man's lust."

Where do you get your models, how do you recruit them?

"Mainly through model-agencies. We can't recruit people in Germany legally. I'm not allowed to write in my magazines that I'm looking for people who want to star in hardcore-productions. Because according to law, that would be pimping. Even though only adults are involved! But

the state is the real pimp, for they want to cash in on the taxes, while they know everything about my company.

"There's a longtime misunderstanding among the public, which says pornography is a business of prostitutes. But that's not true at all! This business has nothing to do with prostitutes. Most hookers want to stay anonymous, they don't even allow others to take their pictures.

Besides that, prostitutes don't have the right attitude to do this job.

"We do a lot of business with French women, because they love sexuality. We also work together with Hungarian girls, because they look very attractive and like the money they make. Their parents would have to work for three months to get what the girls make in one single day (about 1000 US dollar). Because of that, I get a lot of young and

beautiful girls from that country. Unfortunately, German women themselves are not very well represented. In the German culture, it's not done to consume pornography, let alone to participate in it. The mentality here is: if you can't pay your bills anymore, try to do a porno-movie. But those kind of people I would never employ. Never."

In all European and American labels, one constantly sees the same faces. What is the difference between your movies and the rest?

"That's not always true. It only applies to the men, because there we have the same old problem again. In Europe, there are only about ten actors, who are always in demand for hardcore productions. Producers don't want to experiment on the set. Taking a new guy means waiting a lot before the actual shooting. I don't have special females among my staff who take care of erections. When the man has an erection, the make-up of the woman is bad again. When that is corrected, the man's "hard-on" has gone. But anyway, we don't put actors on the foreground too much, that's not what our viewers want. Males in a hardcore-production are a nuisance. The viewers only want to see beautiful females, and pretend they themselves are the ones who's f---ing them. The males in a hardcore-film are the waste-products of the production.

"I would say we differentiate from other labels trough the diversity of our models."

Do you select those models yourself?

"Sometimes. I get all the mail on my desk. Today, for example, I got letters weighing together more than five kilogrammes. A lot of men and women, boys and girls, apply for a model-job. I write my own notes on their letters, and then my staff will pick the people we want to work with. It's very easy to see who's useful and who's not. When somebody applies, his or her letter should be short and businesslike. If someone writes me a long letter, I know he or she has problems, and I'll never take them."

What do you pay attention to when those people are here?

"They have to look aesthetic. We want to show luxury. Models must be healthy and clean. We're tolerant; if you have a tattoo, that doesn't automatically mean you're not fit. If you have a strong and sexy appearance, that's enough. A filthy truckdriver wouldn't stand a chance.

"We don't want negative stories about our company, we always have to fight for our image. That's why we're very keen on the right people."

You also get people from the non-western world?

"Yes, many. But most are unusable. They're not comfortable with all the high-tech equipment over here, and that shows in their performance. We do get a lot of letters from Asia and Africa for example, but those people don't realise of course we're not going to pay for their trip to Germany.

"However, we do have a lot of Thai girls, who are really doing a fantastic job. But of course they want to stay anonymous, nobody knows what they are doing over here."

The porno-branche is not accepted, but tolerated by western society. Is today's sexual morale in the western world different from 20 years ago?

"Yes, it has become worse. People now think they're more liberal, but in reality, they're more f---ed up than ever.

Twenty years ago, the people in the West thought a sexual revolution had taken place, and everybody was more open-minded about sex. But those people never raised their children with those idea's. Youths today think

very negative about pornography, because the media made it all look so bad. That's a pity."

How many people are involved with the shooting on the set?

"The crew is 10 to 12 people, plus the actors and actresses. Every day, we use about 10 models, who stay here for two to three days. In one week, we use about 40 models."

You don't work with "big names"?

"The viewers don't want big stars anymore, instead they want new faces every time. In the States they still work with so-called superstars, in Europe we don't. Besides, we don't even have European superstars. Someone who wants to see pornography, every time wants to experience something new. That's the basic idea behind hardcore-films: that every time you see new faces.

"Comparatively the porn-industry throughout the world still is too small. Demand is far bigger than supply. That's why I use so many different girls all the time, I need new faces."

In how many hardcore-productions did you appear yourself?

"Fourteen. But since five years I don't do that anymore. During the shooting of these films, most of my nude-pictures were taken. Those 14 movies were shot in a 6-year period. Shooting took place in two days a year. In my 12-year porno-career, I had 35 partners. I think most housewives use more partners in such a time. But I only disappoint people with statistics like this."

How does it feel to be a very famous sex-star in Germany?

"It feels good. However, a lot of people of course think that I'm some kind of sex-crazed monster. But those people just don't understand I'm only a businesswoman. They think I walk through the streets naked. My fans start to shake like a small dog when they meet me in person. The people like to fantasise about me, they think every day I'm lying in my bed till noon, while some servant cuts my fingernails. But I'm just a producer, a publisher. And a very good one indeed."

Are you never being harassed because of what you do?

"Never. At the beginning I was afraid, strangers would recognise me and start to talk to me in the street, but actually that never happened. If somebody recognises me, he walks very shyly towards me and asks in a very soft voice, if I'm Teresa Orlowski. After that they ask for a signature. People are of course shy in the first place to admit they're watching my movies."

What are the newest developments in the hardcore-business?

"Actually there are no new developments. There are only new ways to sell your products. If you would have asked me three years ago about pornography per computer, I would have said that would be difficult. Today, 30 percent of my turnover comes from pornographic software for personal computers. Seventy percent comes from video's and magazines. In three years from now, that may be opposite: 30 percent in video's, the rest in computer-software."

How many movies VTO released so far?

"More than 1000. Every month we produce 22 films. We've got all kinds of special series, ranging from "Lolita Special" to "Perverted grandmothers"."

You mean there are perverted grandmothers who appear in your films?

"Yes, mainly women aged over 60. The word "perverted" has a special attraction to people. They think a woman over 60 who still likes sex is perverted. That's why we call it like that. The truth however is, the more intellectual a person, the more perverted his brain. That's my personal experience. It has nothing to do with age of course."

Who invents all these series?

"Me myself, of course, who else? I can do that because I not only think like a woman. If I would do that, I would have lost my job a long time ago. My products are meant for men, and I know everything about men. With my films, men can satisfy themselves. Maybe it's very easy to satisfy a man."