Do Porn Stars need an agent?
By Mariah Milano
This question seems to be coming up more and more recently. In my opinion the answer is yes and no. If you’ve been around for a year or more then I say it’s up to you but you don’t NEED one. If you’re new then definitely you need an agent if you want to get paid and paid correctly.
There are girls out there who like the hassle of bookings being handled by an agency and that’s very understandable to me. I was lucky enough to be with World Modeling for my first 3 years in the business and to be treated very well by Jim South who wasn’t an agent, but THE agent for over 25 years. He actually cared about the girls he represented and would never send some 18 year old to do a dp without explaining to her the downsides of the shoot and what it would do to her per scene rate should she start out doing this type of work.
(this is generally, not true in EVERY situation)
Let me elaborate. When a girl is brand new she is going to get the most money per scene than at any other point in her career. First of all she isn’t all over the place on websites and DVD’s and banners and galleries. She is fresh and new and will be much more of a value to the production company/website. As time goes along her rate will get lower because she is seen on many other sites and movies and is no longer the fresh new face of the industry. She will then become one of the many girls working and shooting and she will be able to get what the going rate is for her scenes unless she is exceptionally attractive. When that happens is when a girl should then decide if she wants to take it to the next level with an anal scene or a 2 on 1 or
something more hardcore. At that point she can demand a crazy rate for her first anal scene. For example look at how Gianna Michaels was able to hold off on doing an anal scene for nearly 4 years and then as she was ready to call it quits for a while she got a fat paycheck from the best company out there IMO Elegant Angel. Same goes for several of the top porn stars lately. They held out, built their names and then got paid. Very smart and savvy and you have to give credit to whomever it was that drew up that marketing plan.
Now the beef I have with the agencies is this: They get paid $100 booking fee from the production company who hires their talent then they also get %10 from the girl hired. So they tell the girl she needs to be available for as much work as possible when they are filling out their "Do’s and Don’t" lists. The young girls trying to make everyone happy and become the new Jenna Jameson will listen and do whatever they are told because they don’t know any better. So they go out and do an anal scene for their 5th or 6th scene and get $1800 instead of the $1200 they usually get for a straight boy girl. They are ecstatic to be getting that extra cash and decide they’ll do more anal scenes even though it fucking hurt like a bitch! 🙂
So now they are doing anal scenes for $1800, then $1500. then when their straight boy girl rate goes down to $800 or $900 their anal rate is $1200. So instead of holding out and building their name up and getting a $5000 paycheck to do their first anal scene they fucked everything up and rushed into something they weren’t properly advised on doing. My former agent sat and told me in HER office that she would NEVER book a new girl or anyone under 22 or 23 to do an anal or dp scene. Yet one of her most popular girls is doing almost exclusively anal scenes at 21 years old. So what will she be doing in 2 years from now and for how much? That’s the real question.
The agents also push the girls to escort which to me is fucked up. I know I know, most are already escorts, but what about those of us that aren’t? Does that mean our agent won’t work as hard for us if we don’t do the bachelor parties and overnights to New York that they ask us to do? I really think it does. I have experienced it first hand to speak on it. Its the way it goes in this business these days.
I currently do most of my bookings directly but I have a publicist (Star Factory) and recently began representation by a new agency (Big Love) just in case I feel I need someone to have my back for a mainstream project I have been hired for. It doesn’t hurt to be covered in case someone thinks they can walk all over you because you’re a hot porn chick! lol
All the new girls out there get an agent that doesn’t bring up escorting when you interview them. And yes, YOU interview them!
THEY work for YOU! not the other way around! Be smart and don’t go for the fastest dollar because if you handle yourself in a professional manor the money will come. You’ll shorten your career by jumping ahead, but if you’re into the ass fucking and double penetrations then by all means, jump!
A very wise soul once said, "if you enjoy your job you’ll never work a day in your life", and I can honestly say that I love my
job these days, but it does feel like work sometimes I have to admit! But yesterday when I was sucking on Sophie Dee’s huge tits and getting my pussy vibrated by this little Asian slut I wasn’t working one bit!
God Bless and Happy New Year!
xoxo
Mariah Milano
About a year ago I asked a woman who was starring in a very big feature why her agency hadn’t sent out any press releases for her. This is a very well known agency. She was like yeah they never sent out press releases for her. Press releases are basic and the least of what an agent should be doing. She called him & emailed him and he wouldn’t reply back to either. I then told her to send out her own releases, gave her the formula to write press releases, and which websites will post them. I said many of the women are now sending out their own press releases themselves because the people they pay won’t.
So, basically you’re saying that pws should have an agent but at the same time you’re saying that they shouldn’t. You advise them to hold out on anal and DP until they can get $5000 for an exclusive first anal/DP scene but also that they should just do it if they feel like doing it. You criticized the agents(of course without naming any names,God forbid (except for that cute little jab on Lisa Ann)) for “pushing” girls to escorting but you fail to explain how exactly are the girls being pushed if refusal on their part doesn’t mean that their agent won’t work as hard for them as he would have otherwise.
Consequentially, this article doesn’t really answer the question in the title (or any other question for that matter) and only provides the reader with with the information that you sucked on Sophie Dee’s huge tits yesterday(and that it felt good) and that the pws should handle things in an adult manor(most likely as opposed to handling things in a Tudorian, Victorian or Georgian colonial manor)
Newklear, did you not read what I fucking wrote? I said “This question seems to be coming up more and more recently. In my opinion the answer is yes and no. If you’ve been around for a year or more then I say it’s up to you but you don’t NEED one. If you’re new then definitely you need an agent if you want to get paid and paid correctly.”
So in other words new girls do and established girls don’t! How wasn’t that clear?
And abso-fucking-lutely they should only do anal or dp if they are comfortable doing it? Is that not ok to you? Do you think girls should be doing things that hurt them or they aren’t turned on by just for the money??
You don’t think they should hold out to do anal scenes or whatever so they can get the most out of it? That’s just good business sense to most, but obviously not you right?
And I think that it’s a valid question to ask if an agent will work as hard for a client who doesn’t do the extras as they will for the ones who are willing to escort and do the higher rate scenes.
Also where in my editorial does it say the name Lisa Ann? Nowhere!
If you don’t believe that the agencies are pushing escorting then you’re a bigger fucking idiot than your reply already proved you to be! I’ll name one that does without denial I would imagine, LA Direct. Derrek loves his girls to escort and encourages it. Ask any of the girls who work for him if he does or not.
This reply sounded like it has personal animosity behind it because it is factually incorrect and sounds kind of angry.
And I like how you keep refering to Porn Stars as pw’s meaning Porn Whores I assume? Very nice. We pw’s keep your world revolving obviously or why would you be here. You stroke it watching us fuck on camera then you are so self-loathing you need to come here and bash us. Outstanding!
PW can also mean Porn Worker. I use the term as such. Not everyone is a star in the Industry.
Hi Mariah, thank you for your nice reply.
I’d like to respectfully point out that you, in fact, advised even established pws to have an agent because “It doesn’t hurt to be covered in case someone thinks they can walk all over you because you’re a hot porn chick! lol”.
I think that as a rule of thumb it’s better to hold out on doing more hardcore acts. Doing an anal scene for $1800 when you can hold out on doing it and get $5000 for it is dumb. Thing is this statement is not consistent with what you wrote later in your article specifically “You’ll shorten your career by jumping ahead, but if you’re into the ass fucking and double penetrations then by all means, jump!”. So should a girl who is into ass fucking hold out on doing anal or by all means jump forward and do it?
Besides, take you as an example. You’re definitely among top 100 pws ever. After all those years you can still charge top rates and get them, your sites look great and your ass is from another world. Yet, you did every mistake in the book when you started in porn. You did anal and everything while you were still rather obscure and plain looking(imagine what would Elegant Angel pay now for the first Mariah Milano anal scene), immediately blown all your money as soon as you earned them, had kid with a ghetto inhabitant and even got branded yourself as his bitch with a tattoo on your shoulder. Yet it all worked out for you somehow eventually. You’re a living proof that girl doesn’t need to do smart things(or even avoid doing completely retarded things) to be successful in porn.
“And abso-fucking-lutely they should only do anal or dp if they are comfortable doing it? Is that not ok to you? Do you think girls should be doing things that hurt them or they aren’t turned on by just for the money??”
I wouldn’t say hurt them but what’s the point of watching a porn scene if the girl doesn’t show any signs of embarrassment of guilt? Like that scene you’ve done for canhescore. I jerked off to it repeatedly.
“Also where in my editorial does it say the name Lisa Ann?”
So you’re denying that you meant her by “My former agent sat and told me in HER office”. LOL
“If you don’t believe that the agencies are pushing escorting then you’re a bigger fucking idiot than your reply already proved you to be! ”
Oh I don’t have to believe, I happen to know that first hand so to say. I also support it; most pws think they are actresses, models or talents and would probably never escort without being fed bullshit about how glamorous whoring is by someone like Derek. God bless him for that. I was just curious if you had guts to say the name.
“Derrek loves his girls to escort and encourages it. ”
Yet, most top level pws are with LA Direct. Obviously they don’t mind too much.
“Ask any of the girls who work for him if he does or not.”
I’m a porn fan, how am I supposed to ask them anything? The only way I see would involve paying 8 dollars a minute on imlive.com cuz they ignore trolls in free chat.
“This reply sounded like it has personal animosity behind it because it is factually incorrect and sounds kind of angry.”
No, I’m just bored.
“We pw’s keep your world revolving obviously or why would you be here.”
Not really, I’m just waiting for pizza delivery.
“You stroke it watching us fuck on camera then you are so self-loathing you need to come here and bash us.”
Your description of my actions is more or less correct but why self-loathing?
PW as Porn Worker, it makes sence.
Porn Whore is reduntad since porn comes from the greek pornoi that means whore. So a Porn Whore is a Whore Whore, that is redundant. Porn Workers is porn precise.
A Porn Star is a whore star and that is unfair, not all porn workers are stars.
TEST- Ruby it works honey. Don’t use any caps. Wipe your thing clean and retype and save it..
“Oh I don’t have to believe, I happen to know that first hand so to say. I also support it; most pws think they are actresses, models or talents and would probably never escort without being fed bullshit about how glamorous whoring is by someone like Derek. God bless him for that. I was just curious if you had guts to say the name.
“Derrek loves his girls to escort and encourages it. ”
Yet, most top level pws are with LA Direct. Obviously they don’t mind too much.”
Thats until hey get arrested escorting for the Earl, that is where the fun and games start.
Whores are supposed to keep their mouth shut unless they are sucking dicks.
Por whore do not listen, so they try to talk to the cops. The Earl and their minions do not like that at all.
I totally I agree that I did things wrong when I started out in 1998 only 9 days after my 18th birthday. That is why I feel qualified to write such an article. The anal scenes I did were never “full anal” scenes. I have been in discussion with Elegant Angel to shoot my first full anal scene but we haven’t worked it out yet, but their offer is substantial and they are the only company I would shoot it for. But not many girls last as long as I have either, and don’t forget I did take a 6 year break.
So you know there are other agencies with females working there and / or owning them so you are assuming something not stating facts. 😉
You’re right, I did say that if you’re into anal and dp then you should do it. My opinion is that you should do on camera what you like to do off camera and to do what turns you on. The sex should be as real as possible so that the scenes are fucking hot.
John Stagliano was asked once why he shoots anal scenes and he said it perfectly, “If a girl is getting her pussy fucked she can think about how she’s gonna spend the check or about anything other than the sexy, but if she’s getting her ass fucked by a big cock there isn’t much acting or anything else on her mind other than that huge cock in her ass!” So if you love ass fucking then by all means, ass fuck if you wish.
I didn’t try to make rules, I was simply pointing out some of the strategies for being successful in this business.
thanks for the compliments, I appreciate the acknowledgment. Not so long ago a couple of no name amateur idiots replied to one of my editorials calling me low end and no name etc and saying I’m not a real porn star…so to have someone say what you said, well it makes a girl all tingly inside! 🙂 I didn’t see their names on the AVN and XBiz nominations though did i? 🙂 lmfao!
Thank you, I can be computer stupid sometimes!
Mariah, I remember the first time I saw you in a porn scene. You were so cute and sexy I’m sure I bought or rented every VHS tape that had scenes featuring you for at least a year, probably two.
Glad to see your still around and still as beautiful as ever!
thanks pornster! 🙂
Mariah, I hate that porn stars were called Porn Whores too. One more thing Mariah, you have the best ass in the adult business 😉
mariah, you talked the other day about how good it felt to suck on sophie dee’s titties. but, which do you prefer a)licking pussy or b)sucking cock. thanks!
Every PW should hire Monstar. He is a porn svengali…
that’s why i hired him! 🙂
I like sucking cock more than just about anything…maybe because I KNOW I’m so good at it??? 😉
thanks for the ass compliment!
Very good article/essay.
It all depends on what type of girl/talent you are as to whether or not you “need” an agent or agency.
If you’re a young girl without a car who’s a pedophile’s dream, who doesn’t care whether you shoot for a legit company or are doing privates then fine – go with an agency.
I’ve worked with 3 agencies in total. 1 sucked and 2 were OK.
As of current, if I were a fresh and new talent, especially a pretty white or latina girl who’d never shot even 1 scene here’s what I’d do:
1) build your website (DO NOT hire one of these porn site “hubs” to do it for you – you will never see a dime – just find a local individual if you are too lazy to learn HTML).
2) shoot your own content including B/g or beyond (even if it’s super amateur it doesn’t matter – just make SOMETHING and save it as your OFFICIAL first scene – it will be valuable later)
3) send casting photos out to the major studios – even if you’re overweight as long as you’re young and haven’t worked yet you’ll get cast in something.
4) shoot no more than 10 high end to mid level scenes with whoever offers the most money (don’t sign a contract though unless it’s Adam and Eve or Digital Playground).
5) hire one of these new PR companies for a few months to get your name and face in the “porn news” – make sure you don’t pay anymore than $300 a month.
6) launch your website and put out a press release about it – maybe even have a website launch party at a local club
7) webcam your ass off and put out maybe 2 or 3 new scenes a month on your site and also distribute vod via clipsforsale or something of the like.
Then just go from there. If you follow that simple plan and don’t live outside your means, you can make it in “porn” for a bit and not have to escort or do privates (unless that’s just you’re thing and you’re into it).
making money in porn is NOT hard as an individual talent with just a little common sense and business savvy – especially nowdays because it’s not a small little clique of weirdos anymore. Anyone just about anywhere can create porn – high or low end.
Freeones and sites of the like aren’t killing porn. Hell, they drive a shitload of traffic to my sites.
It’s the boring scenes, lack of creativity, and lack of good looking talent that’s killing porn IMO. Make a crap product – you get a crappy return.
I’m sure people who read this shit have done the following already, but I still have to inquire as to whether or not anyone ever has REALLY taken the time to see who funds and OWNS the tube sites? Once you figure that out, you realize pretty quick why only a handful of people/talents/studios are doing “well” financially in porn currently. I wonder who’ll wind up breaking that story. On second thought no one will ever most likely touch that element.
The best guy is Brian Gross, he used to work for a major music label in PR (has tons and tons of mainstream connections and isn’t a snot like the Star Factory creeps) and currently handles Sasha Grey who is doing rather well. If you’re going to spend money on a publicist, hire the best one.
I haven’t had a “snot” issue with star factory lol
and Monica what PR firm will work for you for $300 a month? So far I’m more than happy with the work I’ve gotten and it’s already made me far more in appearance fees alone than what I pay them.
Brazzers funds and owns some of the biggest tube sites. You’ll find Reality Kings and Bang Bros full length movies all over them but only 3 minute teasers from Brazzers. That’s why I refuse to shoot for them anymore, no matter what rate they offer me.
“That’s why I refuse to shoot for them anymore, no matter what rate they offer me.”
Wow Mariah so you’re actually putting your money where your mouth is. Unbelievable. Not that it would change a thing – 99 % of your fellow pws apparently don’t give a fuck – but it’s still kinda nice to read.
I don’t shoot for them and have told them that I won’t. They offer to pay my rate without question every time, and I still won’t do it.
They saturate the internet with stolen content on their tube sites and they think I need their $1800 that bad? I don’t think so!
they also made a site mariahmilano.biz to try and take some search traffic after I had been shooting for them every 3 weeks and was told I was one of their top girls…really a great way to show it by trying to undercut my own sites. fuck brazzers.
mariah, i had a question for you yesterday on another thread, maybe you overlooked it but freeones has your bio as caucasian. that can’t be right? your a mix of italian and…..
Wow Mariah, I didn’t realize that $300 a month was so low – then again I’m not nearly the level of performer that you are. How much did you hire your PR company/person for per month and what services do they provide for the cost? Thanks for your reply in advance!
Yeah pornfan I had them change that! Nothing against being caucasian but I’m not! 🙂 I’m Sicilian baby! 🙂
Monica they do press releases, they help with any promo appearances that you do. Like I am doing an appearance tomorrow night and they are blowing up the online fliers here in the Tampa area and also sending out the promo materials to all their clients which has lead to 9 other paid appearances already.
I was asked to host the Adam n Eve after party Saturday night and they worked out the details for me as far as pay, bottles I want, guest list etc. They also organize me for the red carpet for Saturday night and will make sure the media knows my latest releases, coming projects and magazines I have coming out this spring. things like that. they don’t get you work like an agent though, but their work does lead to more jobs. So this paid appearance tomorrow night is only $1200 for a Martini bar but it lead to 9 other appearances in larger venues one being a $5k in South Beach which is cool and the Barcelona show headliner. things like that.
Its basically anywhere from $1000 to $5000 a month depending on what level of service you want
Hope that answers it. lol
Thanks Mariah for the reply. It’s good to know exactly what a PR company should be capable of achieving for their clients, and how much a client should expect to spend.
Unfortunately I don’t think many adult PR companies currently are up to par with who you’re working with. Maybe that will change – actually it’ll have to for them to continue to survive.
I have been approached by several in the last 6 months but when I found the Star Factory it just seemed like the right fit for me. I mean, take a look at Stormy’s career. She is one of the most well-known porn stars and I would say #2 behind Jenna. Even ahead of Tera IMPO. She’s running for a US Senate seat for Christ’s sake! lol She was photographed on the red carpet at the Grammy’s with Beyonce and Keira Knightly. Her husband (or soon to be ex or whatever) is Mike Moz co owner of the Star Factory and he has orchestrated her career since day one at Wicked. All I needed to do was look at where she is to know they know what’s up.
Mariah,
You know that you, Monica Foster or any other poster here who is at least 30 years old can run for Senate exactly the same way as she does, don’t you? The odds of you winning would be exactly the same. Mary Carey ran for governor of California and the only result was a catchy phrase (finally a politician that wants to be screwed by you, not the other way around) in her Bella models escort profile.
Yes I’m aware. However she has been given credible press coverage and her campaign manager’s car was bombed lol which obviously means that someone somewhere was threatened by her running.
She is running on a libertarian platform and while I don’t expect her to win I think that with her Senate hearings that she did it certainly shows that we’ve come a long way. I’m not a fan of Stormy’s by any means. We’ve been on the same set 4 or 5 times and we did actually meet once and of course she was rude as hell.
She is no Mary Carey who was a bimbo and to me not even a real pornstar. She had hardly done any hardcore and was more of a side show than someone who was taken seriously.
The point I guess is that because of good public relations people know who she is and that she’s running, what platform etc. O’Reilly has mentioned her numerous times as well as Hannity and others at Fox and I would imagine CNN and MSNBC as well but I don’t watch those channels.
Mariah, is the AVN red carpet only for nominees?
yes it is.
Good work Newklear — as Mariah never makes much of any sense (to anyone but herself). She could have ended her op/ed after the third sentence, but blathered on and on and on into unrelated tangents that don’t even support her original thesis (does ‘new’ female porn talent need to give away 10% of their potential future earnings, or can they better manage their careers on their own with a little common sense).
Hell, Peter North said all of this back in the day when he was dating Jewel De’Nyle (but again, you’d think this is fairly simple stuff to grasp). Likewise, Monica Foster did a thousand times better job detailing all of this without using 10,000 words (many useless and trivial). For if anyone had actually looked at her site, they’d find a very useful flow chart for ‘new female porn talent’.
Finally, the only reason Fox News would shamelessly do ‘news segments’ on Stormy’s so-called political career…is because sex sells. So they’ll hype a nonsensical run for public office by a porn chick, as it’ll drive ratings and allow them to wallow in tabloid salaciousness under the guise of giving the public news ‘fair and balanced’. Fox News doesn’t for a second believe she has a chance in hell of winning or even getting one percent of the vote. To them, she’s nothing more than a silly porn girl with semi-delusional ambitions. So they take her as seriously as they would the winner of a porn critics’ Best Facial award.
Sammy your grammar is atrocious. I wrote this looking at two different aspects of a career. I made a stupid mistake in keeping an agent after I was re-established in 2007. It was useless and ended up being worthless in the long run. I am doing far better now with a publicist and doing my own bookings.
Sammy I have a great idea. Why don’t you pack up your Pacer and go to Arizona and find that idiot Jane B and the two of you can get married and wallow in drama and self-righteousness until death do you part! 🙂
And if you talk to her make sure you tell her I said Hee Haw! 🙂
reference this http://board.freeones.com/showpost.php?p=3949528&postcount=25
oh yeah, can’t mention Fox News to a left wing wacko without getting them all riled up! All riled up indeed! lmao!
Thanks, Mariah, it confirms what I was told. I think all hell will break loose on Sat at the award show, because many are not aware of the new rule. I hope someone gets it on flipcam.
it’s not a new rule…it’s been that way for a few years however, people would get let in because they have a name or whatever. Imagine them trying to tell Jenna J or Janine or Seka they couldn’t walk the carpet! 🙂
Really? I know that last year talent needed a pass to get on the red carpet and that they don’t give AVN Hall of Famers free tickets anymore. I’ve seen pictures of plenty of people on the AVN red carpet the past few years who were not nominated for anything.
yes as I said, people had people get them on but this year they are tightening it up since they aren’t serving food at the awards.
Guess who is being considered for Hall of Fame for next year???? 😉
A woman who can’t even start her sentences with a capital letter is chastising me about grammar?
In any event, your op-ed should have been about porn talent much like yourself who upon reestablishing their careers might wonder if they should go it alone, or get an agent. As the general ‘one size fit all’ argument doesn’t fit what you’re actually trying to discuss.
“Guess who is being considered for Hall of Fame for next year???? 😉 ”
Shelley Lubben? Desi Foxx? One of the Whoredeshian sisters? I give up. Do tell!
Come’on Newklear, it’s Chasey Lane for the lay-up on this one!
Mariah–
Do male performers who are just starting out need an agent or a manager? Thanks.
I have no idea. I would say yes just to get hired. No one will hire a new guy because he says he can perform because 99% can’t.
I remember Anabolic used to have these hilarious male auditions but I imagine most studios don’t have time for that kind of thing. I may have to pick up Jack Lawerence’s DVD.
I’m in NY and to my knowledge there is no normal straight-porn scene here. It’s either Goth or Gay which is not appealing. No sun-tanned, fit-bodied porn around these parts…and thats too bad.
Mariah wrote:
“If you don’t believe that the agencies are pushing escorting then you’re a bigger fucking idiot than your reply already proved you to be! I’ll name one that does without denial I would imagine, LA Direct. Derrek loves his girls to escort and encourages it. Ask any of the girls who work for him if he does or not.”
http://www.ladirectmodels.com/talent.php?id=613&gender=female
And Mariah is the Best on in South florida too!!!