Page 38 - AVN August 2018

GAYVN
SHATTERING STEREOTYPES
With Noir Male, Mile High Media looks to change perceptions about
men of color in the industry
GAYVN | By Brady Jansen
age can be a scary venture fraught
with risk. That is, unless you’re Mile
Launching a new line in this day and
High Media. You see, this isn’t its first
rodeo. Bolstered by the overwhelming
success of Icon Male—the gay studio
it launched in 2014 that clocks in at
87 films and counting—the company
figures to do it again with the debut of
its upcoming Noir Male label. Success wasn’t a surprise four
years ago, and it won’t be in 2018, either.
“Not to sound arrogant, but at the time I was expecting
exactly what happened. The past success we had seen with
products we have launched with [director] Nica Noelle,
coupled with the fact that we felt there was very little
innovation happening in the gay space at the time, I knew
we were about to create something big,” says Mile High
Media Vice President Jon Blitt of the Icon launch.
“Family roleplay had already been the No. 1 genre in
straight porn for over a year at the time, and still not one
gay brand had ventured into it. So when we launched it was
like an explosion. The market was craving storyline products
that would touch on more taboo themes, and we gave it
to them. I believe that the success of that brand—and our
“WE FELT THAT WITH THE HUGE DEMAND
FOR BLACK PRODUCT THAT WE SEE FROM
MARKET TRENDS, IF WE PUT A REALLY
HIGH-END, LUXURY LOOK AND FEEL ON
THIS GENRE, WE WILL FILL A GIGANTIC
VOID IN THE MARKETPLACE.”
—JON BLITT
commitment to making great product—will pave the way for us to continue to invest in new and better
products for the gay market.”
Mile High began more than 30 years ago as a Canadian distribution company, so in a sense it has
always been in the gay adult space in one form or another. It wasn’t until 2010 when it began producing
its own brand, Male Reality.
“This was a well-shot, low-cost brand that allowed us to service our worldwide customer base with an
aggressively priced gay option. With the success we saw in Male Reality, we felt that is was time to take
the next step and invest more in this market. In 2014, we were presented with the opportunity to team
up with Nica once again—she had previously shot our Sweetheart and Sweet Sinner brands—and create a
higher-end storyline product. Based on past successes with Nica and the fact that we felt the gay market
was a little stagnant, it was a no-brainer.”
38 | AVN.com | 8.18