I had a chat today with a valued industry mind who pointed out the somewhat obvious: DP signs these young, naive girls because they do what they are told. DP is very big on trademarking girls’ names, and controlling all aspects of their intellectual property and career. An older, wiser girl (or an older, wiser boyfriend) might throw a wrench in these plans.
I’m sure Teagan Presley and Tera Patrick concur.
And they are less likely to pull a Teagan like the one Paulina James is pulling right now. Getting pregnant on contract.
They hire young girls because well, young girls are hot. Duh on that one.
They try and trademark their names and control and manipulate every aspect of their career to maximize their profits. That’s called doing business.
Money is what makes the world go around. So what’s the big deal if they try and make the most they can?
People just hate DP because they are a nest of scumbags. No one is more two-faced in this business filled with two-faced dirtbags.
Ask Tera. Ask Evan. Ask Teagan. Ask plenty of people you’ve never even heard of.
If the alternative is signing performers that are completely shot out or in their 30’s, I think they’ve done an exemplary job.
For the most part, they sign unknowns, drop significant amounts of money to promote, and use all of Adella’s skills to make a name for their performers. In return, they expect a modicum of loyalty and promotion to go with their ROI. According to my sources (inside and outside of the company), DP will work with anyone on restructuring a contract within reason but they aren’t going to let the inmates run the asylum any more than any other company would. They are putting up the capital and taking all the chances, knowing full well that most newcomers fade away after a very short time.
What other company would let a performer continue receiving health benefits and pay during a single pregnancy, never mind two? How many company’s allow their performers to require condoms these days (except Wicked which is mandatory condom)?
If performers are unhappy making premium pay for a few scenes and extra for publicity tours, they shouldn’t sign a contract in the first place. They can enjoy the few months of multi-booked days, the scores of covers, and then the inevitable decline in their personal value to the industry as the alternative.
Tera’s making big money these days because Evan brokered her popularity, a popularity largely bought & paid for by DP, but she would have otherwise ended up working privates or under a far less lucrative contract at Vivid (maybe Wicked). I give him credit for his devotion to her much like Jay G. was the reason why Jenna Jameson cashed out so well from the industry after Wicked poured tons of resources into building her up.
Don Adella told me your check is in the mail
LOL
Can I use it for that down payment on a trailer in Atlanta you were going to rent me? The double wide?
Seriously though, I can appreciate how some hate the contract system altogether (regardless of the company). If you do a little research, you’ll find almost all of the same issues arising in the place where the idea originated; in Hollywood back before your better genetic material was dripping down your mother’s leg. That doesn’t negate the value such contracts have for many in the industry, scores of wannabe’s lining up to sign them in an effort to either make it big, sustain a level of popularity, or to regain what they had.
What a performer gives up in exchange for the steady income and benefits is minimal compared to what they get in return (in most cases). Those that study the history of the concept will also note that in the porn industry, the ladies fare a lot better under contract than their mainstream counterparts did in Hollywood (including number of times the legs had to spread, albeit off camera).
Hey RAINMAN!
thats called a joke
geez
I was just kiddin’ ya back! Sheesh!
😉
If I ran a porn company, I would stay clear away from anyone that young because they tend to be unreliable. I would want professionals who have been around for a while that know what they are doing. Instead of wasting all the money and time and energy on some young girl that might leave in a few months. Or that will cry victim and regret ever getting into porn.
I think I read over at Mike South’s site how Wicked stood behind Jenna Jameson even through her drug addiction and never showing up or showing up late to gigs. She was completely unreliable but they stood by her. Then she left them for Vivid. She still acts like a child and though I don’t know anything about Jay or their marriage, it was Jay that started and funded and still runs ClubJenna but he gets grieve by all the negative press she throws his way.
Becasue young girls are hot?
But I do understand what happens. How many times a company has signed a:
a. A dud (Club Jenna knows a bit on that).
b. A breeder who spent most of the contract pregnant (we all know who they are).
c. A quitter (Keri Sable, Sophia Lynn anyone).
I guess there is no ideal porn whore profile for porn companies headhunters. They take what is available.
Are you saying girls get pregnant on purpose to leave their contracts? Can’t they just leave? I can’t see a company suing a girl and taking her to court because she wanted to leave porn. lol
I saw a lot of potential with Brea Bennet at Club Jenna. But now she’s at Ninn Worx. What happened there?
I like established performers myself but the majority of the market prefers younger gals that don’t have several hundred+ scenes under their belt (admittedly, there is a growing MILF market too but my observations remain intact; if they are shot out, no one cares). You go with where the money is at, not with the safety of a small fanbase more likely to download scenes than pay for them.
As Rics pointed out, testing out a new gal under contract results in some duds, even one of DP’s latest falls into that category (they can’t all be as good as Stoya or Shay Jordan) but no risk=no reward. The benefit of a gal having kids under contract is that you still get paid, still get medical benefits, and don’t have to do anything in return (and this applies to a number of performers, not any one in particular); not to break the contract. They are always free to walk away from the contract; there tends to be financial repercussions to doing so but it’s not likely the courts force someone to perform. 😉
PSB, Brea is a good looking lady but having watched her in a few movies, her potential is a complete mystery to me. If someone like Jeremy would be nice enough to coach her (snicker) maybe that will change…
“Are you saying girls get pregnant on purpose to leave their contracts? Can’t they just leave?”
Houstondon:”The benefit of a gal having kids under contract is that you still get paid, still get medical benefits, and don’t have to do anything in return”
Excellent answer. Also I have a very, very strong suspicion that some but not all of the girls who get pregnant undercontract have serious misgivings about their role in the industry and use the pregancy as a paid “hoatus” to discern about leaving. Some come back, some don’t.
Because they have to be on the pill for their job. So how the hell did they get pregnant unless the pill didn’t work which does happen.
~Since when did anyone get paid when they got pregnant? Health benefits..yes understandable. But other then that I don’t know who you’ve been talking to. But once again HoustonDon, PLEASE know your facts before you post or even insinuate about me in a comment. Thanks!
~Yes, I am a breeder who also was still promoting @ 3 months pregnant & came back to performing 8 weeks after having each child basically.
So, let’s just leave it @ that, I felt the facts needed to be updated so the inaccurate comments don’t reflect upon me.
And on to another story…
Who got paid while being pregnant????
Yes, health benefits are understandable in any line of work if you already had those benefits & is quite correct in your comment made, but
HoustonDon, you have your facts completely wrong once again. PLEASE refrain from making comments towards topics that you obviously know nothing about.
For the record as well, I was still out promoting movies on signing tours, photo shoots,etc. up until I was 3 months pregnant & then came back to PERFORMING FULL SEX SCENES 8 weeks after – which is only 2 weeks after the medical permission is granted for me to have sex.
I just felt I needed to clarify this because I’m not going to have false comments reflect poorly on me anymore.
Better question. Why does Zero Tolerance sign OLDER CHICKS? Amber Lynn, I loved her back in 1984.
PSB, you wrote, “…they have to be on the pill for their job.” I don’t know where you get that from. There are plenty of porn chicks who are not on birth control. Plenty.
Why are they not on the pill and risk getting pregnant which would take them away from work for 9 months and risk not knowing who the father is? Are we talking about the top contract girls who are not on the pill or some girl high on drugs and forgets to take the pill?
But how can it be any different than mainstream actresses told not to get pregnant and to not cut their hair or dye their hair a different color? Mostly for women, how they look is important. Female singers too. I think I read the other week Eva Longoria was told by her bosses not to get pregnant after getting married. They couldn’t risk any of the main women getting pregnant again after Marcia Cross had her twins.
To my mind hiring girls that young, especially under contract, is damn dangerous for a number or reasons. As mentioned above, unreliability and, let’s face it, sexual and experiential immaturity are two obvious reasons, as well as having “a list” of what they will and won’t do.
Far more, and most importantly though, I was at my nephew’s high school the other day for a program and I saw some 15 year olds that looked 25 – I have a pretty good eye for that kind of thing and I couldn’t tell AT ALL – the chance these days of hiring someone underage that would lead to a repeat of the Traci Lords disaster, not to mention winding up in prison for using underage talent, is just too risky to hire anyone that young at all. My rule of thumb is 21 with previous, verifiable work.
Period.
1. I doubt you can contractually prohibit someone from getting pregnant, and you can’t fire them/terminate their contract because it happens. If an actor fails to have a particular appearance, size, etc, they might be able to get out of it. Even if they signed it, no court would allow that to stand.
2. Why not use girls who appear to be 18? It works for Max Hardcore. 🙂
3. Charmane Star appeared in I-was-18-yesterday-now-I’m-in-porn videos for half a damn decade. Aren’t their any other whores out there who can pull this off?
Signing young girls does make a company more or less vulnerable to suitcase pimp issues?
A company can spend a lot of money and effort trying to promote a girl and tour her just to:
1. Suitcase pimp pees on girl mouth during private sex and foces to commit sexual acts she does not like, and she was a pretty extreme girl in her gonzo beginnigs (now imagine that). She got second thoughts and drop out of porn and her contract ASAP.
2. Suitcase pimp give contract girl a sesion of “fist discipline”, breaking a limb and destroying her shooting and dancing schedule for months.
In both cases are the suitcase pimps liable for anything? Pst They are real cases.
Teagan, I never mentioned you but obviously you feel extremely sensitive about your contract issues. You’ve contradicted yourself in public about this stuff a number of times so lets be clear about what the term “completely wrong” actually means.
I spoke about a number of issues, including compensation. The only issue you, as one of a NUMBER of performers that have been pregnant under contract, have taken exception to is whether or not you were paid while pregnant. Even in your latest comment you admit to continuing to receive health care, often considered to be a form of compensation. Other than never mentioning you in this thread, I also never said you continued to receive 100% of your compensation levels while pregnant when you were not working at all for eight months each time (the last six months of the pregnancy + the recovery time).
If it bothers you that I have more than a little information about how contracts work, knowledge largely acquired before you were born but updated over the years by those in the porn industry at SEVERAL companies, I apologize in advance. I get it already, you want people to quietly slink off and allow you to reap the benefits of their silence. Just because someone doesn’t know every last detail about a particular contract does NOT mean they shouldn’t be willing to discuss contracts in general when the topic comes up. It also doesn’t mean they are “completely wrong”.
If you expect people to uphold your desire for a wall of silence any time the topic of contracts comes up, you’re being unreasonable. Also consider that there have been dozens of contract performers over the years, a number of which that have been pregnant so do yourself a favor and ease up on the sensitivity levels.
themoodyblues wrote:
the chance these days of hiring someone underage that would lead to a repeat of the Traci Lords disaster
________________
She was only 14 when her stepfather brought her into Jim South’s studio. How do we know these new girl aren’t 13, 14, 15, etc? If they are that young, ask them for their high school year book! Id’s aren’t enough. You can get those anywhere.
Excellent point PSB. Couldn’t agree more that you can’t be too careful. Goes back to my number one rule of thumb for hiring talent. Not only multiple age verifications, but also verifiable previous work and a decent reputation WITH THE TALENT. They are usually the best judges of who will enhance your product and who will completely fuck it up.
Sound like a good policy.
DP is taking a huge gamble by signing girls who have yet to do a single scene.
I have seen in Spain were most companies do features, sign and promote a girl only to have her quit within the first five scenes.
“DP is taking a huge gamble by signing girls who have yet to do a single scene.”
From what I gather and based on past experience, DP generally shoots a scene or two BEFORE offering a contract to newcomers. The risk is still there but that’s part of the game; the company makes all the expenditures and invokes all the risk so if someone doesn’t work out, they can cut their losses and run but on average, they do fairly well.
Contracts vary at each company but I don’t think the underage issue has ever been a big problem for such companies. In recent years, Max Hardcore had an underage gal signing at AEE, Simon Wolf was duped by an underage girl, and a handful of others made the news before it was swept under the proverbial carpet but major companies (the ones that have a contract stable) tend to do their due diligence better than those that live on a shoestring.