Page 51 - AVN July 2016

And while two of porn’s most bankable stars, Jesse and Alexis
Texas, receive the finishing touches on their makeup in the next room,
the 44-year-old former adult store clerk from Hershey, Pennsylvania,
is reflecting on success.
“Just being able to persevere with all the changes in the industry
and still stay relevant, transitioning from format to format—VHS to
DVD to all medias, all the way to digital and the web,” he says. “Just
being able to keep my brand relevant through all those times. Being
able to stay original and keep up with technology.”
Indeed the timely rebranding of Jules Jordan Video as not
only a gonzo studio but also a distribution hub has turned into a
multimillion-dollar enterprise that is synonymous with premium
adult content. Jordan now sits atop an organization that releases up
to 10 new titles a month that still include his own movies that he
produces, directs and often performs in.
It’s not uncommon for Jordan to book the talent, shoot the “pretty
girl” still photos, film the opening tease, hand off the camera, perform
with an A-list girl, edit the scene, compile the movie and then weeks
later oversee it being marketed, sold, shipped and then sent to various
broadcast channels. Jordan’s unusual daily life not only is unique in
adult entertainment, it has made him one of a kind.
“Some people think of me as just a director,” Jordan says. “They
don’t realize I have an office with 20 employees and DVD racks up
to the ceiling. And we’re shipping movies all over the world and
supplying broadcasters with content that’s on DirectTV, Time Warner,
et cetera, et cetera; or doing deals with hotel chains.”
Those deals now number in the dozens since Jordan left the
security of the Evil Angel umbrella, where he not only proved he
could compete with the industry’s heavyweights, he flourished.
“I have to thank him for
providing years of tough
competition. He has made us
all better.”
—John Stagliano
“We went from the old school guys of Caballero and VCA, VCX,
etc. in the ’80s, owners who had the balls to get into a legally
dangerous business, to company owners like me at Evil Angel, Jules,
and Christopher Alexander of Anabolic, who knew and loved porn
and made our names after most of the legal battles were won,” Evil
Angel founder John Stagliano told AVN.
“The old guys made it possible for Jules and me to set out on our
own … Jules became successful because he loves porn, knows porn
and studies how to do it better. Today major competition comes from
the tube site data geeks, who operate on just trying to produce stuff
that produces the most clicks. That is a great way to gauge porn taste,
but new ideas come from the intuitive guys like Jules who come up
with things the data can’t measure yet.
“I have to thank him for providing years of tough competition. He
has made us all better.”
Jordan, who is drug free, never been married and has no kids, says
he learns something new every day with the administrative side of
his company. Whether it’s dealing with a warehouse issue, solving a
human resources matter or approving someone’s vacation time, he
remains hands-on.
“It’s easy booking scenes to shoot; it’s a challenge to run a company
Opposite page, Jules Jordan at the 2015 AVN Adult Entetainment Expo, when he first broke the
news that he had signed top performer Jesse (this page) to be his first contract star.
and a warehouse at the same time and have to worry about all that as well,” he confesses. “I
have to worry about customers paying me. A lot of my customers, they go out of business
or they owe money. That’s a challenge too trying to collect money from people you’ve done
business with for a long time that are having troubles. You have to be firm but you still
have to approach it in a different way because you’re friendly with these people and you’re
sympathetic to their issues because they helped you get to where you were.
“But some of the true art of doing sales is collecting the money. You can sell all day long; if
you can’t collect it, it’s worthless to you.”
When it comes to managing his days, Jordan tells AVN he tries to do the things that take
the least amount of time first.
“But you have to really compartmentalize your day the best you can because I’m more of
a creative person than a business-minded person,” he says. “So I’m more driven by creative
things than numbers and all that. The real challenge is to remain creative while still dealing
with administrative stuff.”
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