Page 57 - AVN August 2013

Adam Grayson
Chief Technology Officer, Evil Angel
Tech wunderkind Adam Grayson has something in common with Paul
Fishbein, former owner of AVN: They both founded impactful adult enter-
tainment companies from their dorm rooms. In 1998 Grayson created
SearchExtreme.com, an early tool for customers to find adult
movies based on scene-by-scene meta tags. After a decade of run-
ning it, Grayson sold the site to Gamelink.
Soon after Grayson became Evil Angel Cash’s affiliate manag-
er, and when Fame Dollars took over the program, Grayson
assumed a broader role with the company as chief technology
officer. “Evil Angel has always been my favorite company in this
business—from a fan perspective—and to get the opportunity to
be a part of the team and work with John Stagliano and the directors
on a daily basis has been incredible,” Grayson said. “I see this as my
dream adult job: working for the number one company in a role I really enjoy
and feel I’m good at. I always tell people that this is my last job in adult...I just
don’t think anything else could top it.
“To arrive at this pornographic monolith and actually be able to effect real
change on the technology and financial sides of the business has been really
rewarding,” Grayson continued. “Should the day come when I leave Evil, I will
be able to look back with a lot of pride knowing that I worked hard—and
worked smart, as Christian [Mann] would say—and left John with a better
overall company than I found in 2009.”
Nate Hall
Production Manager
To anybody who’s roamed Porn Valley over the past decade, Nate Hall is
almost surely a familiar face. But many may not realize just how thoroughly
porn courses through his blood—he is the son of Bambi Hall, Bonnie Kail’s
predecessor as head of sales at Wicked Pictures from 1995 to 2001.
Nate landed his first gig as a PA on an adult set the day after his 18th birth-
day in 2002, and has been steadily working in various capacities of produc-
tion ever since. In 2005, he graduated to production manager work,
and in 2006 he became “Winston Burbank,” b.j.-only cocksmith
primarily gracing the works of director Jonni Darkko, for whom
he also regularly PMs. Others commissioning his services on a
routine basis include BurningAngel, Zero Tolerance, Mile High
Media and New Sensations. And all hold him in the highest
regard.
Said BurningAngel head Joanna Angel, “Nate is the most trust-
worthy, responsible and underrated person in the industry. He is the
glue that holds my entire production team together and I really don’t
know what I would do without him. He is the first one on set, the last
one to leave, and whether I have him work on his birthday, or have him on a
22-hour day, he never, ever complains. He has a true selfless passion for mak-
ing other people happy, and that is a real rarity in this industry.”
Added Darkko, “Nate’s really good at what he does. He’s been doing this a
long time, and he is very focused. He’s got a knack for it. When you give him
projects, he gets them done. He puts on a good, happy face and he’s a good
guy to have around. He
’s a great motherfucker.”
For his part, Hall has the humblest of humble outlooks on his role in the
porn trenches. “Porn is all I have ever known professionally. I wouldn’t trade
the experience for anything,” he said. “I get to work with very skilled and good
people every day, and no day is the same. I’m just happy to be in this business.
I’m lucky to work with the people I’ve come across and hopefully will be here
working, regardless of what I am doing, for as long as I can.”
Cisco Lamessi
Director of Production, Penthouse Video
It’s hard to picture Penthouse Video running smoothly without
Cisco Lamessi. Not only is he the director of production, which
includes overseeing the content of everything the company puts
out, from its websites (including online social media like “World
of Penthouse”) to its channels (even the commercials advertising
them) to its video releases—essentially all of the content that gets
released under the Penthouse name. He also personally shot the
layouts for 10 Penthouse Pets, including October 2013, plus lay-
outs for the last two Pets of the Year.
“My background is photography, video and audio, and also, I
have experience in aerospace engineering, and that’s why my
background goes to computers and all the technical stuff,” he
said. “Because of my background, I bridge the technical and
creative.”
Lamessi got into the industry in 1998 as a webmaster
for popular softcore site Danni’s Hard Drive. When the
company was bought by Penthouse, he came along,
working as a production supervisor; his duties quickly
expanded as the company itself was expanding.
During peak months, Penthouse shoots about 96
scenes per month, all in 3D, which are cablecast on two
channels in Europe. The company is moving fast into
Asian and African markets as well, possibly even China—and
Lamessi will have to oversee all of it. Whew!
photography, video and audio, and also,
I have experience in aerospace engineering,
and that's why my background goes to
computers and all the technical stuff
—Cisc o Lamessi, Penthouse
”My background is
Tracy Leone
Sales Manager, Elegant Angel Productions
The sweet and bubbly Tracy Leone has been in the adult biz since she
was 19 years old. Starting her career in the Goalie Entertainment ware-
house working for Al Segal and Lynn Swanson, Leone then cut her
teeth in sales at Triplex Distribution. After Triplex merged with Empire
Distributors, Leone stayed on at head buyer. Her natural effervescence
and sales acumen led to her position for Jon Blitt’s Mile High Media;
she worked there for a year before moving to Elegant Angel, where
she’s been for over three years.
“The most rewarding thing about my job is working with
customers,” Leone said. “If you
’ve ever met me, you know
that I am a people person. I love getting to know my
customers and they help me to do my job better. I also
love traveling and getting to meet great people across the
country.” From warehouse staff to sales manager at a
prominent adult studio, Leone is an adult industry suc-
cess story and a testament to hard work.
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