Page 59 - AVN April 2018

because of testosterone: A 20-year-old has more than a 60-year-old. That’s just science, right? So
I think you need people producing the pop music, the porn, that connects with that demographic.
That’s important. … Because for us the scariest thing to be, the last thing I would want, would be
my father’s porn brand. That’s poison.”
He succinctly sums up the balancing act that an established company like Evil Angel must
master: “Trying to chase the guy who’s pulling out his credit card for the first time but at the same
time not alienating the older guys who’ve paid for this for so long and made us a viable company.”
In With the New
The recent past saw the departure of some big names from the Evil Angel roster when
Grayson began to enforce Evil Angel’s policies on not shooting with other studios. “Historically,
if somebody shot for us, they shot for us. Unbroken rule. But there was a lot of money in it. So
nobody messed around. And then it got to the point where suddenly some of our directors were
shooting for other companies under other names. And then they started pushing it where they
were doing it under their own name. … About a year and a half ago, we finally said, ‘Enough is
enough. You’ve got to pick your team.’”
Grayson elaborates, “So much of what we promote here is premium product, premium price, a
premium experience, so if suddenly you’re doing the same thing with the guy next door at a lower
price, it loses some of the charm.”
It’s all part of protecting the brand, which is another key part of Grayson’s job. “I’ve always
looked at my role here as more of a consultant. There’s this thing with brand capital, with revenue,
with a strategy and a vision, and I’m just here to nip and tuck and shape and polish and all these
modifiers—how do we make this thing better and more stable, connect with customers better,
[be] more profitable—all these things. For me it’s always about how to make it more this and less
that.”
And just as he’s proud of the P&L, he’s also happy about staff retention. “We haven’t had
anybody quit in five years. It’s a place where people are really invested in the company, where
people work harder than they might be expected to. People really own this thing. There’s a sense
of ownership of the company, and the brand and everything we do here, that’s hard to find. … The
team here is really good.”
I THINK OF PORN LIKE POP MUSIC. IT’S ALWAYS
GOING TO HAVE A YOUNG CROWD JUST
BECAUSE OF TESTOSTERONE: A 20-YEAR-OLD
HAS MORE THAN A 60-YEAR-OLD. THAT’S JUST
SCIENCE, RIGHT?
Team Players
One key player is Chris Gentile, also known as Evil Chris for his directing credits. “Chris was a
grunt here; I hired him off Craigslist because he was clearly a porno fan and had a vision,” Grayson
says. “Years later it was clear that he had a lot of interesting ideas that came from a younger
mindset. So we put him in a position to succeed. What’s the worst thing that’s going to happen?
He’s not going to burn the building down. So he shot the I Am Katrina movie last year. Which was
clearly a win for us. Not only on paper—it made a bunch of money for us—but in terms of brand.
It was a really strong thing. A lot of good things happened around him.”
In fact, Gentile has been flying around the country getting footage for an Evil Angel Films movie
that is “very under wraps,” Grayson says. The project has involved Jonni Darkko and a couple of
other people, and it will probably be online in May and out on DVD in June.
Despite his talk about needing to bring on younger directors, Grayson definitely sees the value
of shooters who have been with the company for more than a decade. “Guys like [Jonni] Darkko
and Jay [Sin], I genuinely think they’re among the best in the world at what they do.”
And he’s particularly fond of Joey Silvera, who is “semi-retired at this point; when he’s got
the inspiration to shoot, he does. When he doesn’t, he doesn’t.” And Silvera has earned that
privilege: “He’s made this company a lot of money. No director has put up numbers like he has
for all those years. He’s 22 years here, I think. I mean, we’re talking tens of millions of dollars that
he’s brought into this place. He’s definitely one of the founding fathers, in that sense.” Other key
players he mentions are Rocco Siffredi, Jonni Darkko and Jay Sin.
On the flip side, “There’s definitely a push here to embrace a next generation of content
creators: Proxy Paige, Jessy Jones, people like this. They’re not that young—they’re probably closer
to my age than a teenager—but they at least have a youthful perspective on things. They come
from a different place, different cultural influences, different ideas, and hopefully that clicks.”
(Continued on page 86)
Game Changer
Evil Angel signs Aubrey Kate
as porn’s first TS contract star
What’s that noise? It sounds a lot like breaking glass.
And sure enough, Evil Angel has cracked open one of
porn’s glass ceilings and signed the first TS contract
star in adult entertainment history: two-time AVN Transsexual
Performer of the Year Aubrey Kate.
“Transsexual content has been a cornerstone of who Evil
Angel is since the late ’90s,” said company CFO Adam Grayson.
“We were the first ‘mainstream’ porn studio to shoot TS
content, and it’s fitting that Evil Angel be the first studio to sign
an exclusive TS contract star. Aubrey’s scenes are bestsellers
anywhere we market Evil Angel, and the deal made clear sense
for us.”
Evil Angel reports that the 2017 showcase Aubrey Kate:
TS Superstar sold extremely well on all sales platforms, and
company analytics show Kate to be the most popular TS
performer in Evil Angel movies over recent years.
“I am beyond excited to be the first-ever TS contract star,”
said the two-time AVN Transsexual Performer of the Year. “Evil
Angel has always been one of my favorite companies, so to
be signed exclusively for them is a dream come true. Making
convention appearances with the Evil team, it honestly felt like
I became a family member in this successful empire. I am so
excited to start a new chapter in my career.”
Under her contract, the leggy blonde will appear exclusively
in Evil Angel scenes. Joey Silvera and Jay Sin are well-known
creators of top-shelf TS porn; LeWood, Toni Ribas and Nacho
Vidal are among Evil filmmakers to have contributed trans
content. And then there’s the director of Aubrey Kate: TS
Superstar, Aiden Starr, who will be helming many of Kate’s new
projects.
“I’m so excited to work with Aubrey for her contract!” Starr
exclaimed. “She is creative, passionate and perfect for our first
TS contract girl. Our showcase was a huge success, and we have
some really enormous plans in process. Aubrey and I like to
think big—if you loved the six-on-one gangbang, just wait until
you see what we have planned next! Fans of Evil Angel porn can
expect Aubrey’s new scenes to exceed our already high standard
of sophisticated hardcore content.”
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