Page 36 - AVN June 2012

ADULT WHO’S WHO
DirectChat.tv Celebrates 2nd Anniversary
Friday the 13th might seem like an inauspicious day for a
party, but it was a lucky one for attendees of the second-
anniversary bash for DirectChat.tv. Held April 13 at the
“Voyeur Villa” in Brno, Czech Republic, the party featured
an open bar, a buffet, and live entertainment. And guests
enjoyed getting a look behind the scenes at the villa, which
is a live cam house operated by DirectChat.tv.
More than 60 adult industry professionals converged on
Brno from countries around the continent, including
Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Holland,
Belgium and Slovakia. The Czech Republic’s second biggest
city, Brno has developed a thriving adult industry and
become a hot spot on the European porn scene. Brno has
developed a reputation among business travelers for being
an affordable and exciting party town, especially after two
international webmaster meetings held in 2010 and 2011.
SZNY, the founder and originator of DirectChat.tv,
moved to Brno from Holland in late 2009. The entrepre-
neur turned his eight years of experience in the business
toward creating a live cam platform with advanced social
media features.
The event, starting at 8 p.m., offered informal network-
ing opportunities and a way to reconnect with old friends
and make new connections, enhanced by the presence of the
site’s cam girls as well as local porn stars and promo models
provided by DirectChat.tv talent management partner
ErotikModels.
As the small anniversary party morphed into a true indus-
try bash, these attending sponsors contributed promo mod-
els and platinum sponsorship packages: AdultSexContent,
PayServe, Corazon Gruppe, EroAdvertising and
DatingFactory. The evening was documented by photogra-
pher, Julia Kirelle and supported by AVN Media Network as
an exclusive media partner.
The hosts are already looking forward to the third annual
anniversary party next year.
R.I.P., Sledge Hammer
The adult industry mourned the death of Sledge Hammer,
who passed away April 12 after being removed from a
respirator following an incident April 8 when he was
Tasered by Los Angeles Police Department officers.
The 39-year-old had been a performer in nearly 800
hardcore videos stretching back to 1995, when he did his
first two movies for Stoney Curtis’ Celestial Productions
before disappearing from the porn scene for almost two
years.
“He’s a giant teddy bear; real nice guy,” said director
Bobby Manila, who worked with Hammer last year in
Mom’s Cuckold 6 and 7. “He was a real great guy to work
with.”
“I was often on the box shoots with him, and we used
him on several,” recalled Christian Mann, former owner
of Video Team, for whom Hammer did 26 movies. “I
remember him as being a gentle giant. ... He didn’t seem
to have some of the swagger bravado that a lot of the
male performers at the time had.”
According to Curtis, who is acknowledged as
Hammer’s best friend in the industry, the beefy actor was
suffering from depression and paranoia. This reportedly
led to a severe anxiety attack, which prompted his girl-
friend to call for an ambulance to take him to a hospital.
Reports differ on exactly what happened, but at some
point police shot Hammer with their Tasers. He suffered
a heart attack and it took 10 minutes before the EMTs
were able to restart his heart.
Joey Silvera worked with Hammer on four volumes of
his Service Animals series. “Oh, man, he was 100 percent
a go-to guy, even in the most difficult situations,” Silvera
recalled. “Whatever the situation was that I put him in,
he would make a great scene out of it. ... He was a great
performer. The girls always genuinely liked him, which
was a huge advantage to me.”
At press time, a cause of death had not been deter-
mined and the LAPD’s Force Investigation Unit was
looking into the incident. The Office of the Los Angeles
Coroner issued statements noting that before a cause of
death could be listed on the death certificate, toxicology
tests would first need to be completed.
“I will miss him,” Curtis reflected. “Since news of one
of my best friend’s untimely and unnecessary death, there
has been an outcry of love and respect for him. It’s too
bad he didn’t realize how many people actually loved the
guy and found him to be a kind soul.”
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