Born in 1950, "James DiGiorgio" (a porn name similar to his real name) graduated from high school in 1967. He served several years in the US Armed Force before being discharged for protesting against the war. Thanks to a lawsuit from the ACLU, he received an honorable discharge.

Jim has worked most of his adult life in entertainment. He entered porn in 1994 as an editor for Sin City. He's been shooting middle-budget videos for them since early 1996.

I interviewed Jim and his assistant Jackie at his office in his own company (partner is Ken) Blue Light Pictures in an industrial park in the West San Fernando Valley at 12:30 PM, 6/2/98.

Jim stands about 5'10, weighs about 180 pounds, with long grey and brown and black hair. He looks like a 47-year old rocker.

Luke: Is a background in drugs and rock n'roll a prerequisite for working in porn?

Jim and Jackie laugh.

Jackie: It's the rebellious mindset…outlaw…

Luke: Is Rob Spallone a member of the Mafia?

Jim: Rob Spallone is New York extreme. [Rob has a Jewish mother and an Italian father.] He's a guinea, wop, Jew… He's not a gangster.

Luke: Does he beat people up with baseball bats?

Jim: No. The talk about him is inflated. He's loud, boisterous and sometimes, maybe, obnoxious… He talks the talk, and walks the walk [of a gangster]… People listen to it, and make assumptions… Rob did not beat the s--- out of Duke. Duke would not be living if Rob beat him. Perhaps some of the guys associated with Duke seem like gangsters, but again this is just Brooklyn extreme. They are just guys who've watched movies like Goodfellas and Casino, watched [actor] Joe Peschi…

I have not met any Mafia in this business. I'd like to. Maybe it would help my career. I'm Italian. I'm a good cook… Break bread and have pasta…

He [Luke] doesn't believe me… [Jim laughs…]

Luke: I believe you.

Sin City's chief editor Weasel walks in.

Jim: "He's my protegee. I picked him off the street… Hired him simply because, like me, he wore shorts and a T-shirt in 35 degree January [1996]… He had no skills. But he had long hair like me and was unshaven.

Why is he named Weasel. From those infomercials on tv for a tool called Garden Weasel - a rust free alloy that is virtually self-cleaning.

Weasel: That's me. I'm a rust-free alloy…

Jim: He thinks the line is really cute and will get him laid…

I have a new internet site… www.jamesdigiorgio.com…

We [Blue Light Pictures] plan an internet site with live feeds of live sex.

I do shows [X-rated videos] monthly for Sin City. They give me the money [$22-30K] and a month or two later I hand them back master tape [hardcore, soft cable versions].

I will sometimes give them a one paragraph synopsis. Sometimes I will run a cast list by them. Almost all of my stuff plays on cable, either Spice of Playboy.

Luke: How did you get into this business?

Jim: Through stand-up comedy. Which is normal. Either that or be a drug addict [Jim's assistant Jackie].

I had been working on an AVID editing system for years. And did stand-up comedy [from 1990-94]. I met this fellow comic [token WASP Madison Primo] at a club. She also edited adult. So we talked. I started freelancing at Sin City in early 1994, the beginning of their growth phase [under general manager Mickey Blank who made Jim post-production manager]…when they went from two titles a month to eventually ten.

I cut lots of Buck Adams movies…

You become a "made guy" in porno, just like the Mafia… You're an outsider until people in the business come to trust you… Then someone has to vouch for you… One guy told me some wild stories, then told me to not tell anyone. I didn't. He saw that I could be trusted, and then he vouched for me… I was in…

[Jackie was "inducted" by Jim Holliday. She began learning at his feet seven years ago.]

I wanted to direct shows. I asked Sin City to give me a chance to direct and they did. Buck Adams left. My first show was Boob Watch, another ripoff of the [tv show] Baywatch. They wanted to do something like [Buck's] Babewatch. I did a few more shows for them while working as a production manager.

Sin City went through some changes [1996-97]. Ed Powers had a short stay in charge of production. Luc Wilder directed production… Then Luc, my friend Kenny, and Gigi Appleton left to form a company called Fallen Angel. But we could not come to terms… So Kenny and I and a third partner formed Shocking Entertainment. Fallen Angel was going to distribute our product but it did not work out.

One day in August of 1997, I walked into Shocking…and the place was empty. Everything was gone. This third partner decided that he did not want to be in this business. I've known the guy for 15 years. Our kids went to school together. [Jim has a 16-year old daughter and a two-year old son. Separate mothers.] He expected quick money. That is not how business works.

You have to get twelve shows in the pipeline… A video will make money for a long time… First, your domestic hardcore sales [$20-$30K]. Then your cable tv softcore sales [$8-$18K]… International sales… Then, a year later you go to mail order…then catalogue sales. Then cut it up and sell compilations… So a $20-$30,000 show may bring you back $70-$80K over a couple of years. When you have 10-40 shows doing that regularly, you're looking good.

He sold our Avid Editing Equipment to a mainstream company for a $40,000 loss. The three movies we produced for $90K have never seen the light of day because he took the masters. He tried to sell them but no one would buy them unless we signed off on it. He came from the garment industry… He wasn't in the business. So people didn't know him or trust him.

Relationships matter in this business.

Kenny and I regrouped and bought another AVID editing company. I kept producing for Sin City which brought in money. Kenny brought in mainstream money. Now I turn down work all the time. We will only cut our features. Otherwise you lose money. It takes two weeks to edit a feature and they pay only $2500. You can cut a gonzo [videotape] in three days and they pay $1500.

Our company is about quality. We don't want to just hack things together.

Features take so long because they are like movies. All the dialogue scenes… Cutting sex is no big deal. You shoot sex in a linear fashion which makes cutting easy. But in a typical 90-minute show that goes to cable, I've got 20-30 minutes of story, dialogue, theme… I get anal with that, and try to make it look like a real movie. And that takes time.

When I shoot a show, Sin City is going to sell the same number of units whether the sex is unbelievably hot or not. I still try to shoot hot sex but profit comes from cable sales.

A typical show of mine will sell 2500 units. If it is really cool, it will move 3,000 with reorders. I don't know if I believe the numbers I hear from Evil Angel… The 4-6,000 units out the door. I talk to sales people who don't believe those numbers. They say, "I don't know who the buyers are." When you ask them to validate their numbers, they will tell you that they have buyers that they are not going to share with you. But sales veterans, who've been in the business 20 years, say, "I think I know who all the buyers are."

Sin City's Night Club did 5-6,000 pieces out the door. But they spent a ton of money on it. Shot in 35mm. Did advertising. I spent two months editing it.

People don't realize how important sound is. People don't realize that tv is an audio medium. You can get more mileage out of something sounding good… It makes it [porn video] sound like a real tv show. You've just upped the perceived production value and quality of the piece. Many people [particularly gonzo shooters] shoot with the three-chip digital cameras which give you low-end broadcast signal…but then they use the stupid little condenser mike on the camera, which gives them lousy audio. On everything I shoot, I hire a boom operator… We use a shotgun mike to get quality audio. And it makes a big difference…

When I'm shooting, I'm thinking about the soft [cable version], because that is where they are going to make their money. Both in the domestic and stand-alones [hotel chains]…A couple of chains now show hardcore but without the pop shots.

You have to understand the formula [for making movies that sell to cable tv and hotel chains]. In these hotels, they show you the first two minutes for free. And then you have to push the button if you want to buy it for $6:99… If you are away from home, and aren't getting laid.

So as a filmmaker, I have to do something in the first two minutes to hook the guys… i.e., I better show some flesh up front, and some of the best flesh in the piece. That may not go with your story. [To resolve this dilemma] I try to cut cool title sequences with great flesh.

We're shooting four movies in one. We have to have the right elements for the hardcore domestic, for softcore cable, stand-alones…and for foreign sales… When you're successful at this, you make money and feel good.

I cut two versions - soft and hard. The soft version has to have elements that are attractive to Playboy cable tv, the standalones, and the foreign cable outlets.

People talk about cutting Euro-versions with the hardcore [graphic scenes of fisting, and urination which are vulnerable to prosecution for obscenity in many states of the United States of America]. But I hear that much of this stuff which is illegal here can get you in trouble in parts of Europe. Euro-versions, showing some girl squatting on a fire hydrant getting pissed on her face…. You can't sell that throughout Europe.

You have to shoot all this within two days - and satisfy these various markets. It's tough. You have limited money [$25-30K] and performers who just want to do sex and not act. Or some performers just want to act and not f---. Alec Metro, Melissa Hill, Dakota, Jeanna Fine, and Herschel Savage can act and f---, unlike me who just acts like he can f---.

I generally do not write scripts. I write outlines. We improvise. I call on my background in theater, comedy and improv. If you want to be a porno star, one of the prerequisites is that you be uninhibited. Which is also one of the prerequisites for improv. So this works nicely.

When you hand porno actors scripts, the lines come out mechanical and stilted.

We just run with it… I am an editor. I can edit the dialogue and create the performance in post-production… Sometimes I just get incredible [spontaneous] performances out of these people.

I don't like to shoot on sound stages because it looks tacky…fake. I prefer to go to locations. I can't dress a soundstage to look as real as someone's living room. Light coming through a fake window with blue gel on it [the window] for nighttime still looks like blue phoney light.

Jim estimates that producers make their investment back from hardcore domestic sales. Meaning, that including boxcover and duplication, a typical middle budget porno will cost $30,000 to make. Duplication including the box costs about $3-4 a tape. You duplicate 5000 tapes = $15-20,000. Total cost = $50K. Sell 2500 units at $12 each to distributors = $30K. Distributors tack on about $5 each, and the tape retails for $20-$30.

Jim: Cable and international sales are the gravy. It depends on the show. Certain expensive shows are not going to earn their money back from the hardcore domestic sales. In fact, I'm not sure they ever get their money back. Sometimes it is just done for ego.

Jackie: It helps promote their other titles.

Jim: It's like how records used to be. There was an A side and a B side. Mainstream movies were the same way. You went to a double feature at the theater - the A movie and the cheesy B movie.

Spice likes to buy worldwide cable rights for $15K.

After a year or so, your movie goes to catalogue… Meaning it will then sell to distributors for $3-4 each. And once you have 200-300 titles in your library, you can start making compilations. Now we're extending into DVD. So a $40,000 investment can bring back, over years, $100K.

Nobody comes into this business for the short-term and make it… I hear stories about people coming from Texas because they've heard there is easy money to be made…

Gonzo shooters have to spend less money because they don't sell to cable. They don't make soft versions. They hope that their domestic hardcore sales pay their bills, and foreign sales are profit. A lot of these guys shoot a movie for $5,000. They usually shoot around the first of the month when the talent is hungry for rent money…and suddenly they can make incredible deals… Talent who charge me $700 for a boy-girl scene, will do an anal for $400.

I don't beat the talent down. I try to pay them their rate. I treat talent with respect. Nobody has to suck my dick to get work. I think I have a good reputation with the talent. My sets are fun. I don't scream and yell. This is not brain surgery. This is porno. The fate of the world does not rest on this stuff. We're here to have fun.

Jim appears in many of his productions but has never performed sex. "I once did a girl with a strap-on because it was a POV [Point Of View] shot. She talked to the camera, saying "come on f--- me…" So, I had the camera, we put a strap-on on to my pants, and I walked into her…

There's a saying: You don't s--- where you eat… I buy into that. I don't date people in this business. I might…but…

I'm single. Divorced. I live alone. I was married eighteen years. I pay child support. I make a good living but have nothing to show for it.

Jackie: He's a really good dad…

My wife was Catholic but we weren't practicing… And the mother of my son is also a non-practicing Catholic.

Apparently, I don't believe in birth control.

I have immense disdain for men who don't take care of their children. Men who are violent to women… Everything I do is for my children. That's is what this all about. I'm trying to create the master race with my own seed. [Jim smiles]

I am not the greatest family man. It's tough in this business… When my children come over, I have to make sure that other things are not happening… I live in a guest house…with a hot tub… An A-frame… Spiral staircase which is really cool, especially if you have handcuffs… I found it on a location…

A lot of people shoot at my place… Tight Ends… Brian Williams, Jim Lane… Chuck Martino…

Luke: I hear that Factory Home Video went under.

Jim: For how long can you sell tapes for 99 cents and stay in business…

Luke: Money laundering?

Jim: Let me put it this way: Let's forget this business. The entertainment industry has always been a nice place to launder money. Music business… To pick on this industry is not fair…

I worked in the mainstream business for 20 years… And I saw more drugs in that business and more extra-curricular sex…casting couch… More bulls---, egos, arrogant assholes… I like the people in this business… We have our own view of things… It's clannish as it should be. Only a few years ago this was illegal, so there's still a certain paranoia among company owners. Right now we have a friendly government towards the adult industry but that could change…

Look at these hypocrites on local TV news… Every station at night in May…during Sweeps week, has porno… "Is porn being shot next door?"

Do you think these [tv people] give a flying f--- about your kid seeing people f---? All they give a f--- about is ratings so they can sell their TV commercials for more money. And they look so concerned, with this serious look on their face… f--- them.

But when sweeps is over, you won't hear squat about this industry. The whole world is hypocritical. I find refreshingly honest ways of looking at the world in this business, that don't exist outside of it. Sure, there is backstabbing here… but there is less of it here. People put more value on relationships here… Why do I keep doing shows for Sin City? Because I have a relationship with these people. If I get myself in a jam, I can turn to them…

I worked in corporate America for 15 years for a Fortune 200 company [defense contractor]. I directed their marketing and training videos. Backstabbing environment. All about - what can we put over the government to make money. I feel way better about myself shooting people making love than shooting and selling weapons of mass destruction…

The T & A cable tv market booms… Look at HBO and Showtime… Some of their shows approach our soft versions. They are looking at our market and thinking, "we're missing out on a lot of revenue…" People don't want to watch a movie from 1972 at 3AM. They want to see good looking people having sex.

I had a director from mainstream come in here… He has a deal to shoot an erotic piece. And he told me that he felt uncomfortable shooting sex, even though it is all simulated. And he asked me to be second-unit director…to shoot the sex scenes.

I told him: "Until you've been down between a woman's legs with your camera, and said to her, 'honey, you need to spread your legs a little wider, I need to see the spooge dripping out of your pussy…' You can't be free enough to tell people what to do [in a simulated sex scene].

So this [porn] is a good training environment for me to get there [hard R].

I sold a sitcom [Whacked Out with comedian Dana Carvey] to NBC [around 1980].. I had several movie scripts optioned…

For years I worked as a grip… I got to meet the right people… But you couldn't sell them your script… So I had to quit working behind the scenes, and then later present myself to them as a writer.

It was tough making a living. Then my wife got pregnant [1981] and I had to get a real job [making training videos…]

I wrote the trailer for the movie Like Water For Chocolate…[Mexican movie]…It's the biggest grossing foreign film ever in the US. Beat out I AM A CURIOUS YELLOW.

They call this pornography. But what about the mainstream industry, selling movies to kids about serial murderers? And parents feel fine showing their kids these R-rated movies. Kids grow up watching blood, decapitation, and murder… But don't show them [kids] two people making love. We live in a hypocritical society.

Jackie: What they're doing is obscene.

Jim: I go to a move theater, watching one of these violent R-rated films, and I turn around to see kids with their mothers!

I accidentally took my 16-year old daughter to see the Al Pacino movie THE DEVIL's ADVOCATE. I thought it was good movie but it had some intense stuff… An intense rape… I was embarrassed to sit there with my daughter while watching Al Pacino say, "I wanna fist-f--- the world."

And yet, I look around the theater to see parents with ten-year olds. How do you take your kid to see that? Those parents should go to jail. I am not into censorship, but we should use some common sense about what we expose our children to.

In 1996, when I first shot a movie, Luc Wylder took me down to World Modeling and introduced me to Jim South. You have to be vouched for…

[Luke: I had the same experience when I went down to World Modeling as a prospective producer in late 1995. I mentioned that Yosef and Rita at Factory Home Video had referred me to them, even though it was not strictly true.]

I don't do business with agent Jim South anymore. I don't like to pay for nothing. I was paying him $8K a year… When I finished a show, I'd send him a cast list and he'd sent me a bill.

Jim South never once turned me on to a new girl. Jim told you how he faxes to the companies… I have never gotten a fax from him. I had a big meeting at Sin City where I announced that I was no longer going to pay Jim South for nothing. No one there had received a fax from Jim South with pictures of talent… And this is from a company that probably pays him $60K a year…

I'd rather give the money to the talent… I am not going to pay vig… [Vigorish - the approximately 20% margin that casinos and bookies take…]

Licensed agents can only take a maximum fee of 10%. Yet I am supposed to give Jim South $65 if a girl walks on my set and says two lines? And I never met her through him.

And since I've stopped doing business with him, he's tried to blackball talent and crew from working for me… And Jim, if you read this, act like an honorable man and just do your f---ing job. Because if you did your job, I'd still be paying you. If you get new girls, and you fax me their pictures, and I use them… I will pay you. But I am not going to pay for nothing.

I remember going down to World Modeling and looking through their books… And half the time I could not find anybody because their photographs looked like s---. Come on, Jim, if you're going to make all this money off people… Take a decent picture. Forget the polaroids… Spend a few bucks. Buy a 35mm camera… So you can see what the people actually look like.

I stopped working with Jim at the beginning of 1998. It was a culmination of things. [Jim won't elaborate.] On a personal level I like Jim, but I am not going to pay him for nothing.

How does Ed Powers get the girls first? Evil and Elegant Angel before anyone else shoots them? I can surmise how that happens. The people at Sin City asked me, 'if we give Jim South X-amount of money, do you think he will let us see the girls first?' And I said, no. Because then he would have to squelch his other deals.

Regan Senter has faxes me girls. Forty pages… Clogged up my fax machine. I had to call him and ask him to stop. Regan and Rob Spallone do their job. If I am on a set and a girl flakes, Rob gets me a girl immediately. And he only takes 10% [of the talent's fee].

I've never received a phone call from World Modeling trying to get anybody work.

One afternoon I was in Malibu. And this girl flaked on me. So I call and call World Modeling. And they say, 'We're working on it.' But they never found me a girl. They never called me back. And then I found out that the girl who flaked on me was sitting in the office the whole time.

I remember going to his cattle call three times at year at Exquisite Pleasures [Bianca and Bruce Seven's place]. That ain't meeting my needs. It's a flea market for porno stars.

I've worked with Reb. He's a good guy but I never hear from him. He doesn't represent many people. I've used Lucky Smith's girls…

He's a manager and a real lawyer… He manages their money. Makes them put some of it aside, so that when they get out of the business, they have some money.

I used to blame the shenanigans at World Modeling on Steve Austin. But Steve worked for Jim. South is responsible for his own office.

I understand that Buck Adams lives in the wharehouse at Notorious. He works as talent. He's not shooting anything.

Luke: I thought he was shooting for HBO?

Jim: That is what he tells everyone. I've spent hundreds of hours editing with him. He can get you very excited about concepts and ideas…. But he lacks follow-through…

Buck can act and f---. Guaranteed wood.

Let's talk about PAW and the Free Speech Coalition. Never once have I heard from them about a meeting or notified about a list or a quarantine… We had to hunt it down. And still that fax machine doesn't spill out any information from those people.

I do 15-20 shows a year. I shoot about 100-150 sex scenes a year, employing about 200 performers. I'd think that people would notify me about meetings.

Sin City wants to draw up a piece of paper about HIV. If someone does not want to use a condom, they are going to have to sign this paper, signifying that they understand the risk. And we had to hunt down the information from AIDS PROJECT LA. They were too busy at PAW running their own clinic…

[Jim is getting angry.]

And PAW is not going to approve results from another clinic? [Referring to the controversy over the North Hollywood clinic which has long been supported by Rob Spallone.] And I don't need a seal stamped by Jim South…

Jackie: The only person who can apply a seal is the person who drew the blood.

Jim: Do I think this is an attempt to control the business by certain people? Yeah. If all the blood taking has to happen next door to my office, then I guess all the talent has to come through my place.

We [at Blue Light Pictures] want to scrutinize the tests. We don't want copies. We want to see the originals. I've sent people home to get them and will continue to send people home…

Condoms? It is talents' choice. If they choose to work without condoms, they are going to read a piece of paper and sign it. That paper is direct - You are at risk. These are the activities that are the main source of infection.

I don't make hiring decisions based on condom use. And that is where companies are going to get themselves in a jam, in legal liability…for discriminating on the basis of condom use.

I am almost more interested in my soft version, because that is where they are making their money. Condoms don't matter for soft.

This industry is full of people stuffing s--- in a beautiful box [cover]. Consumer beware! By the time they find out, they've already bought it or rented it. People don't return stuff much in this business. [Not true when it came to Luke's movie WHAT WOMEN WANT. That got returned in droves because of its poor quality.] Half the people watching these things are doing it on the sly, from their wives… David Horowitz is not going to do a consumer report on the quality of pornos.

It doesn't sit well with Jackie or I to stuff s--- in a beautiful box. Or when a s--- box is wrapped around one of my videos. It is in my interest to give Sin City a good show [even if it doesn't make a dramatic difference to sales for a particular video].

There is no market research in porn. That's why I go on the internet - rec.arts.movies.erotica newsgroup and some of the porn chat rooms. I want to find out what people want. Sure, some of these guys may be the hardcore fans, but they study this stuff. I think what they have to say is valid. I want to listen to it. Sometimes I disagree or their suggestions are not practical. Everyone who is manufacturing simply wants to please the distributor, because they are the ones who will push the stores.

It has influenced my decisions. If I see tons of guys say they do not like a girl, I think twice about using her. Or if I see tons of guys say this one is a hottie, then I try to use her. If I do not know who she is, I walk in here the next day and say, 'find me…' And things that fans want to see in the shows… Facials…I did Gothic… I got a couple of emails saying how much they liked Shelby Mime having glasses on and could I please keep the glasses on.. So in my new show Naked Lust, coming out next week, I use this girl called Temptress. She plays a projectionist in a screening room. She does a solo masturbation scene while Herschel Savage and Heavenly Leigh are f---ing in the screening room. Temptress kept her glasses on… And I am going to do that glasses thing again. These guys said they would've loved Shelby's scene if she kept her glasses on all the time. So I am going to do that, even if there are only these two guys who want it. For you two, you've got it. There may be a ton of guys with a glasses fetish.

My best stuff… Naked Lust: The Tragic Legacy of Ed Would. Herschel Savage plays a coarse mobster-like producer named Rocco. Dakota plays a Marilyn Monroe character, who sings 'Happy Birthday Mr President' while she's getting f---ed. Melissa Hill plays a starlet. She's killer. I shot two months ago. We shot some of it on Super 8mm film, which we have done in our last five shows… For the title sequences and some of the dance sequences… Yeah, it cost me more money. And I don't get a penny more from Sin City. So, if that cost me a thousand bucks, some people would say, 'That's a grand you could've put in your pocket, Jim.' But I'm trying to build a reputation for quality. I believe it will pay off later as I become in demand.

I had two mainstream character actors play Vinny and Lenny, two sleazy agents. I've tried to recreate the look of the B film from this era [1950s?].

Boobwatch got an AVN nomination, if that means anything. You don't give people trophies for getting f---ed in the ass.

The first Nightshift - we shot sex in the back seat of taxi cabs on Ventura Blvd on Friday night. We had to use walky talkies to look for cops. Nikki Lynn's first movie. I played the cabbie and she did Shayla LaVeaux in the back seat. Guerilla filmmaking. We could've all gone to jail. We had guys chasing us wanting to look in. Shayla kept sticking her ass out the window…

I like shooting risky stuff. Though I won't where children might be… I always get a permit, get insurance.. Do everything right, and by the book… I've had police officers and fire marshalls on my set and have never been shut down. But you can't get a permit to shoot in a taxi cab on a public street. You can't get a permit to shoot sex on a public beach in California.

Not only is this titillating for the viewer (they know we shouldn't be shooting there), but it is titillating for the performers. They get off on doing something they know is dangerous. That risk factor got these girls wet.

Psychosex with Jordan Lee is the only gonzo I've done. But it is a high-end gonzo, shot at Lacy Street Studios where John Leslie shot some of Drop Sex. It's MTVish looking. We went down to Johnny Rockets on Melrose Avenue, a well known hangout. There are 500 people there and 100 Harleys. I get out of the car with the camera and Jordan. I ask the guys if she can get on a Harley. I just want to shoot stuff for the title sequence. Jordan gets on the bike. We've got people posted looking for police. I ask her to take her top off. First the sweater, then the bra… The guys go wild. I turn around to see 75 yards away, sitting at a table at an outdoor café to see a couple with a 12-year old son. The kid is smiling big time. Mom and dad have their jaws open. Their chins have hit the table. I tell Jordan, 'Get your top back on.'

I used some of those same Harley guys for Coed Carwash. We did a big nightclub scene. They were extras. I hired security. Instead of serving iced tea, we served them beer. I had four cameras going. Girls dancing naked… It was rowdy. Tom Byron watched Coed Carwash and thought it was funny.

I like doing period pieces - stuff that we can recreate authentically. We don't have the budget to recreate Roman times. But we can do the '60s which we will for my next show for Sin City, Stag Party. Guys playing poker, 8mm loops on the screen, hookers show up… Right wardrobe.

In my Naked Lust, I made sure that everyone had the right underwear. We had stuff out of the Sears Catalogue from 1962. Angora sweaters. Hose, skirts below the knees, the garters… It gave me a hard-on.

Luke: What do you like to watch when you jerk off?

Jim: My favorite videos have bondage-fetish themes with hardcore… I jerk off more reading. I like to jerk off to sexy stories in the newsgroups. Creating my own visuals in my head works better for me.

I work seven days a week, 12-15 hours a day. A pornographers work is never done. When I get antsy and want to go out, I go to a strip club. I was throwing money at strippers at Bob's Classy Lady. And this girl Erica Lockett walks up to me, and says, 'what are you doing here? You get paid to look at pussy."

She's right. I like to look at pussy. I like to go to dive bars that many people would think of as dangerous. One titty bar I go to…everyone in there is a Hells Angel or a crack dealer. I thought it was so cool - This dirty, grimy dangerous dive. So I shot a movie there. I had to hire security. I've got a dark side.

I don't have any serious intimate relationships.

Luke: How would you feel if your daughter became a porn star?

Jim: I would not be thrilled. I don't want to sound hypocritical, but, unfortunately, girls usually go into this business because of growing up in abusive environments. They don't have the skills to make a good living. It's either this or McDonalds. My daughter did not grow up in such an environment.

Some of the girls do this right…setting up a dance career, investing in property. As Schuller says, turn your scars into stars. They are turning lemons into lemonade. Unfortunately, some of them are turning their scars into more stars. My daughter got dealt a good hand, so I if she went into porno, I would wonder why. She was not raised in an environment that would facilitate that [porn].

She knows what I do. I don't know to what extent… She may think Playboy. She's told me that some of her friends want to work for me. Two girls told her that I was one of their favorite directors. And she thought they were kidding. Then they named titles of my shows. They saw them on Spice or Playboy cable tv. Sophomores in high school.

Where are those kids parents when their kids are watching the Playboy channel? This stuff is for consenting adults. It is not for children. Parents who let their kids watch this stuff are falling down on the job. These are the same retards and morons who want the government to control this stuff, because they can't control their own kids.

I take responsibility to make sure that what my children see is filtered.

Luke: Last time you were in church?

Jim: Less than two months ago. My parents, on their 50th anniversary, reaffirmed their marriage vows. It was a beautiful thing. I loved it. My father looked like he was dragged there, but my mother sure had the time of her life.

Jim's partner Kenny: It is interesting that you [Luke] asked that. I have Japanese clients and they don't have these religious hangups with sex. Even in Europe these conflicts don't come up as much…

Luke: How many women have you slept with?

Jim: Quite a few. I was in England from age 18-21 [1967-70]. England is a promiscuous country. Girls can get birth control without their parents permission at 15. They can go in the bars at 16. Denmark was all commercial sex.

I am 48 years of age. I look preserved for my age.

Luke: Clean living.

Jim: I still have my hair… A biker, acid, heavy-metal look. I have a youthful attitude about life. My son keeps my young. My daughter's friends all think I am cool. I stay up with music and with what's hip. You don't need to be Matt Zane to appeal to Generation X.

I respect that Zane made a decision to target an audience because most people just use the shotgun approach. You've got to focus so that at least somebody appreciates what you do. I can go to a party and meld in well.

I haven't edited gay stuff, because I am not gay. I am not bothered by it, but I can't create gay eroticism. The editor is responsible for the soul of the movie - pacing, rythym… If we got gay work, I'd think about hiring an editor who is gay. Even a porno has a soul.

I have a soul. I'm socially conscious. I think the Puritan ethic in this country is BS. My conscience was more bothered when I produced propaganda for weapons of mass destruction.

The military [Jim served from '69-72] threw me out in 1972 because I demonstrated with Vanessa Redgrave and others against our participation in Vietnam. I wrote a newspaper that went to the world against the Vietnam War. The only reason we were there was to serve the needs of certain corporations… My parents saw me on the evening news getting arrested in England…

The military threw me out for my political activism. The military is governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It is in conflict with the US Constitution. I understand the need for it in a wartime environment. But not for our participation in Vietnam. I wasn't in Vietnam. I was in England. My rights to free speech were denied me because I was in the armed forces. I got arrested for circulating a petition on the base to repeal the code… The FBI followed me for years… I was harassed. When I came home on leave, with my uniform on, kids are driving by spitting on me…Calling me "baby murderer…"

I have an interesting background, as all good pornographers should… [Jim laughs.]

www.jamesdigiorgio.com

Director James DiGiorgio writes on RAME:

At 6:15 P.M., Friday, 6/12/98, my buddy Rob Spallone is sitting in front of the front door of Starworld, on a director's chair, with this nearly catotonic dog lying underneath it. I drive in. I'm there to help Sal Sodano, the true Godfather of Porn, with the AVID editing system Sal's just put together. Matt Jade is standing to Rob's side, his hand inside his leather jacket (9mm Glock? .357 S&W?). Rob's mom is also there, but her hands remain visible. I'm relieved. I know that Rob's mom used to be a hit-woman for the Calimari Family back in the day. I get out of my car. The dog doesn't even look up. Matt quickly frisks me and tells Rob I'm clean...no piece...no wire. I kiss Rob's ringfinger and inquire about his father, Joe.

I'm told they sent Joe home early. They've been sending Joe home early every day since that little "accident" that took his thumb. I ask Rob if Joe's other thumb is safe. Rob tells me it's okay cuz he took care of his Dad's little problem with the boys...but now Joe owes Rob...and Rob will collect on the debt, father or no father. Rob taps the business end of his Louisville slugger into the palm of his hand, just to underscore the point. Sal emerges from the secret, paneled door that masks the "other" office. The one not even Luke F-rd knows about. The office where all the real "biz-a-ness" is handled. We all show our respects to Sal..knowing who he really is. I tell Rob this "gavon," this Luke, may be getting too close to the truth--The BIG connection--you know what I'm talking about. Rob agrees. I ask Rob if he thinks Luke might be a fed. Rob wonders aloud, "maybe, he IS in here all the time with a tape recorder. It's like he's wired right out in the open." I ask Rob if he's watched the movie "Donnie Brasco?" Rob looks me dead in the eye. A cold chill runs down my spine. He tells me he told Luke that if he turned out to be a fed, he (Luke) would be sleeping with the fishes. I solemnly nod. Then Sal motions for me to come in. I notice Matt's not keeping his hand inside his jacket anymore. "You'd better go," Rob advises me. I smile, and shake Rob's hand with the secret Cosa Nostra handshake, then follow Sal into the dark, inner sanctum, of porn's most powerful man.

***

James: "On-line" and "off-line" are different components of the editing process, and generally refers to either a type of editing sytem, or a different editing process.

"Off-line" editing is the creative part of the process. It is where the editor wades through all the camera masters to then assemble a "cut" of the movie. This cut ends up either as an EDL (Edit Decision List), or a finished "sequence" (using digital, non-linear systems like an AVID).

"On-line" editing is the process of assembling all the pieces from an EDL (usually on a different system), to arrive at a finished product (or master).

On non-linear systems, the "on-line" portion of the process is the recapturing of the clips at a much higher video resolution, and allowing the computer to re-assemble the sequence and output it to a master.

Often, the 'off-line" and "on-line" editors are different people or different post-production facilities. During the "off-line" process, little attention is paid to the technical aspects of the video signal, since that video will not be used in the final assembly. But during the 'online" process, complete attention is paid to the technical aspects of the video signal.

I have my own post-production facility (along with my partner). We have two AVID digital, non-linear editing systems. These cost nearly two-hundred thousand dollars. We then are able to accomplish both the "off-line" and "on-line" processes on the same sytems, in-house.

For the record, the quality of the video signal we produce would pass muster at the networks. (We have mainstream clients and masters we've delivered for the A&E channel, the Discovery Channel, and the History Channel, have never been rejected for quality.) Of course, a great deal of the quality also has to do with how the original footage was shot, how it was lit, what kind of equipment was used.

Much of the low-quality of videos (in the adult industry) is the result of duplication. Low quality video tape is used, and the tapes are duplicated on consumer machines with inadequate maintenance. The balance is the result of incompetent production skills. Often, it is the result of both incompetent production skills and the use of either low-end equipment or equipment in need of maintenance, incompetent post-production skills and equipment, and low-quality duplication.

3/21/01

Luke F-rd Live

Listen to Tuesday's show.

Topics for discussion: Pat Riley's critiques of JimmyD's movies and why intellectuals like Rob Spallone love The Sopranos.

James DiGiorgio's 19-year old daughter, and his 13-year old nephew and younger brother snuck into the chatroom without revealing themselves. Jimmy started hitting on them. After the show, he found out who they were. He was appalled.

Listen to Jimmy's embarrasment as he finds out the woman he's been flirting with is his daughter.

Read the chat here. The character "aj_and_meadow" is Jimmy's daughter and nephew and brother. Their chat name is based on Tony Soprano's kids AJ and Meadow from the HBO TV series The Sopranos.

James DiGiorgio directed The Sopornos 1 and 2 for VCA.

JimmyD's daughter writes: "Dear Luke, I have heard so much about you from my father. I just wanted to e-mail you and tell you how funny we thought your and my fathers reaction to yesterdays prank was. My cousin and I just love the "listen to jimmys embarrasment" that was so great, thank you for recording it because we were bummed when we couldn't hear a reaction of some kind on the air. Thanks so much!"

Brandy Alexandre writes: Well that's rich. Does he think that screeners only go to people are definitely going to give glowing approval to every single feature? Maybe instead of the petulant foot stamping, he should listen to the criticism and try to produce a better product, take it with a grain of salt, or be reminded that perhaps no one takes that particular critic very seriously. And if you think being removed from a screeners list will effectively prevent someone from reviewing your movie, think again. You piss of a critic soundly enough and I guarantee he'll put his own 5 bucks on the line to rent your features and give give an overly thorough appraisal. Worse yet, they may never be mentioned at all. You never can tell--the stated reasons why Riley doesn't like something just may what someone else does.

Robert Lombard of Creative Image Management writes: I must say my level of respect for certain individuals in the adult industry rises again. YES, after listening to the conversation between you and Jimmy D after he found out his daughter was in the chat room. His tone, and nervous laughter was sincere and filled with love. IMPRESSIVE to say the least. Needless to say when my daughter gets older and figures out my involvement with the adult industry...I surely would ask "D man" for advice. By the way tell Jimmy I got one more "Soporono's" cigar available...come over to the office Jimmy and pick up your reward. It is time we meet face to face. And Luke you should come too. Jews in numbers are better suited when meeting with Italians.

Lynne writes: Just wondering what Jimmy D thinks about his daughter doing porn videos? Would he be cool with it? Would he shoot her getting DP'd without a condom? And what does he think about guys in their forties who think nineteen-year-old twats are great fun to drool over but not worth respecting as human beings?

Jim: "Quasarman wrote that Michael Raven has only been in the business four years and he's a top director. And all Q's got are his clothes and his TV set. But I wrote Q, here's the deal: I ain't saying that Michael Raven made his career off his wife Sydnee Steele. But when Michael Raven first came into the business, it sure helped that he had that wife. She certainly opened a couple of doors for him that he wouldn't have been able to open himself. Then he took over after that. So maybe Q should take his wife... She's good looking. Got quite a body on her. Got some chest on her. I'm thinking that if Q put his wife in some scenes and became a suitcase pimp like that, it would help out his directorial career."

Michael Raven replies: Uh Jim, exactly which doors would that have been?

Jim: "Cherry Mirage, when you were with Extreme, what sort of extreme stuff did they make you do?"

Cherry Mirage: "Nothing really. I held my ground. I watched a lot of funk ass s--- go down, don't get me wrong. I watched a lot but I didn't participate in much."

Jim: "You were like the little princess there?"

Cherry: "The way you and Tommy [Byron] make that sound. I guess about a year ago, Roger T. Pipe interviewed him and they still had some upset feelings about me. He mentioned that I acted like a little princess."

Byron told Pipe: "She is a very pretty girl and obviously one of your favorites, but she is a bit of a spoiled brat. I don't know if you noticed, but in her scenes, she was not all that into it when it came to the sex. She was just there to be cutesy-pretty. When it came down to being real and ferocious and extreme, she didn't really fit the bill but she looked great on a box. It was just one of those silly little things that gets all blown out and feelings get hurt. Basically, she wanted to get paid for scenes she hadn't done because it was the twenty-first of the month and she was guaranteed a certain number of scenes. In hindsight, that that was a bad way to go when it comes to a contract. After a while, every movie that comes out has the same people in it. She didn't like to have scenes canceled because she had to prepare, but we were still a new company. There were three people doing ten jobs each. Being the spoiled brat that she is, she just couldn't understand that. I think if she looks back on her time with us, based on what her career is at this point, I don't think that she can honestly say that it was a terrible time. Let's be real, it put her on the f---ing map. What's she going to do working for Bobby Rinaldi?"

Luke: "You said you saw a lot of funky stuff go on there. Like what?"

Jim: "The time Gene Ross took his wig off?"

Cherry: "This is the first time that I've said anything against them. It's been almost two-and-a-half years now. Take this and love it. ...They pushed a lot of their own contract girls to do things that they were obviously uncomfortable with and they really didn't care. They threw caution to the wind. They didn't care. They didn't give a s--- as long as they got what they wanted. And every time it was worse. It's real appalling...to see a woman who feels that she's so crushed by the weight of a contract or money that she's gonna let some 24-year old kid, and that's all Rob was at the time, push her to the point of tears and still go ahead and do it."

Luke: "What sorts of things were they pushing the women to do?"

Cherry: "Oh, nice try Luke, but that's how far you're going to get."

Jim: "Did you ever see Gene Ross come on to an Extreme set and take his wig off?"

Cherry: "No. It never got that bad. Come on. It was scary but it wasn't that scary."

Jim: "They probably got more extreme after you left."

Cherry: "They got worse. I watched what could've been a good thing turn into a real s---ty thing. And as I understand it, all the way up to their last contract girl, it's been a bad car wreck. You're watching the wheels fall off and the people fall out...

"Lizzy Borden is an ok person if you can get her away from Rob. Rob's a great talker. He makes you believe that the whole world is waiting to see what Rob Black and Extreme will do next. But when you get out of that circle you realize that Rob is just an annoying gnat that people like to swat at.

"So when you get Lizzy out of that, and you make her remember that she's a good person. She's a lot of fun. She's got a big sweet heart and doesn't really want to hurt anybody or say anything mean or negative. But get her next to Rob and she's this cat woman thing with a bad attitude."

Jim: "She adopts his personality."

Luke: "Cherry, are you implying that Rob may not make a great mayor of Los Angeles?"

Cherry: "My little sister wants to get into the business. I told her that she wasn't mature enough. It's not that I don't want her to get into the industry. I don't want her to get into the industry right now.

"When I want to have good sex, I go home. When I want to get paid, I go to work."

Jim: "What do you think of Jews?"

Cherry: "I think they're cheap."

Luke says: I looked up James DiGiorgio on the internet under his real name and one of the only two results that came back listed him as the author of this 1997 book: "Who’s Pretty Boy Then? One Hundred and Fifty Years of Gay Life in Pictures."

James Digiorgio writes Quasarmanrants.com: I'm havin lunch today at the San Carlo Deli with Rob Spallone, and a big shot from VCA. And just so you know, the San Carlo is the best friggin Italian deli in the valley! It's right there in that shopping center at the corner of Devonshire and Mason in Chatsworth. So anyway, we're sittin outside eatin panzones, prosciutto, and some antipasto, when I see this guy come running by. Sure enough, it's freakin Fritz. But I don't think too much of it. I point him out to Rob and we reminisce how we abused Fritz at some shoot one time. Suddenly, we hear this loud thump! We look up. Apparently, Fritz had jumped into his steel-blue minivan, threw it in gear, and proceeded to run the front tires over one of them big f---in cement things in the parking lot. Now Fritz is sittin there, his minivan straddling the cement thing. He's looking around, trying to figure out what to do. Then he guns the engine, the minivan lurches forward, the back end hits the cement thing and bounces about two feet in the air, Fritz puts the pedal to the metal and peels out of the parking lot with tires screeching. Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Voyager7 writes on RAME.net: We don't want Pat to be embarrassed by having to take VCA ol' biddie tapes up to the rental counter at his favorite smut emporium and have the clerk/owner think less of him. Then again, maybe he will be deft enough to hide the tape(s) between the Barely Legal, Chocolate Mousse and Cocks In Frocks vids. If push comes to shove, we can all chip in and buy him a London Fog raincoat (maybe Frank can start scouting one out, remember to get one with corduroy patches on the elbows...) and he can stoop to stealing the VCA titles so he can get his ol' biddie and Veronica Hart ideology fix.