Page 46 - AVN March 2018

FEATURE | By Brady Jansen
FEATURE | GAYVN@INTERNEXT
CAMS, CLIPS AND CLICKS
GayVN panel reflects on state of industry
Keith Miller of Helix, Stephan Sirard of BuddyProfits, Toby Morris of Falcon Studios Group, director Mr. Pam, Michael Lucas of Lucas Entertainment, Jeff Wilson
of Flirt4Free, Douglas Richter of Supermen.com, director Marc MacNamara, and Erik Schut of TLAGay.com.
At the State of the Industry panel on January
present content, social media provides a necessary
22 at GayVN@Internext—the trade show within
outlet to reach them.
a trade show at Internext Expo, which took place
“From a social media perspective, it seems like
at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas—the
there is a huge audience that is engaged, that is
seminar started like so many others that the nine
active, that might even have spent money. It might
industry experts had been to before as they seemed
not be the old crowd, but this kind of newer crowd.
to nod in collective agreement: “No, we guess DVDs
If there’s a good way to market to them when you
aren’t actually dead yet.”
release these scenes—utilizing those resources,
“Every single panel I’ve gone to, everyone kind
those social media profiles, it seems like it’s the
of rings a little bit of a death knell: ‘Oh, this has
new way of marketing,” he said.
to be the year it ends!’ And it hasn’t,” said Erik
Wilson added that from the cam side of the
Schut, managing director of TLA. “It’s very easy to
business—especially on the gay side, where
stay focused on just what you do, and think that
customers can be very picky yet very loyal—it takes
everyone else must be doing that, too. I mean, we
a lot of work to bridge the gap between gay porn
still do a mail order catalog … a mail order catalog!
and gay cams.
And it does a huge amount of business. On the gay
“But if you’re able to get models that do porn
side, it brings people to the site, so people kind of
and also get them on cam, then the reward is
use it like a guide … those people are out there, and
really amazing. It’s not just about doubling your
if you don’t pay attention to them, you’re going to
revenue or whatever, it’s about creating this whole
lose them.”
environment where your fans can interact with your
Michael Lucas, founder of Lucas Entertainment,
models—and it takes a lot of work to make that
noted that while 2017 business was good overall,
successful. We’ve had some really great integrations
his DVD sales weren’t lighting up.
that I’ve felt helped us reach our potential in 2017,
“We went bareback a few years ago and they
and we’re continuing to do that now.”
jumped up by 30 percent, and now they’re down to
The conversation shifted to how to attract a gay
about 15 percent, and that’s something of course
audience over the web with a new site, promoted
everyone has experienced: DVD sales going down.
from a question by an attendee who experienced
At some point they will level … but I don’t think
difficulties building one coming from the straight
they will disappear anytime soon in the next eight
side of the cam business.
to 10 years,” he said, adding that the studio noticed
“When straight brands and products come into
an uptick in overall business from China. (“We
the gay market and they think that it’s better just
couldn’t figure out why.”)
to leave the branding the same, us gays—we’re very
Toby Morris, VP of sales and marketing for Falcon
loyal to brands,” Morris said. “Creating a lifestyle
Studios Group/NakedSword, concurred that DVD
and a way of living and community is what we’re all
sales “are very slowly trickling off.” He noted that
about. It hardly ever translates in this industry, to
his family of studios has kept focus on increasing
take a straight product and just put ‘gay’ on it. You
the quality of well-produced content and seen an
need to make a new product.”
increase in memberships, leading to the next phase
The most intense part of the conversation
of consumption.
centered on the balancing act studios face trying to
“I think we’re just getting to a place right now
compete for the time of models who also use clip
where scenes are looking like they could really start
services to supplement their income and build their
to take off. … and they might get close to DVD
following, and whether that serves to threaten the
revenue,” he said. “If you’re not preparing yourself
quality of the companies’ own content, brand and
for that, you’ll leave some money on the table.”
income.
Jeff Wilson, director of business development at
“It’s putting money in the models’ hands. In live,
Flirt4Free, noted that regardless of the way studios
we’ve been doing that for 20-some years … the
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models deserve more, give them more,” said Douglas Richter
of Supermen.com.
Wilson countered: “But the reason why it’s disruptive
is because you’re suddenly letting the model operate and
represent your brand independently, and earn revenue
without you being involved, and you’ve invested your time,
energy and resources.”
“…but then they get a bigger audience that they can
then use to promote your studio or their live cam,” Richter
replied, noting that the scenes he watches on such platforms
are not of good quality, but he does so because he is a loyal
fan of those particular performers. “I think it’s a great thing.”
The studio reps acknowledged they need to keep models
happy, but that models also need to respect the relationship
that’s been established.
“I’m in a bit of an interesting position in it in that I work
for both companies; I work for a studio, and I work for a
clip site,” said Men.com director Marc MacNamara, who
also works with iWantGayClips. “I equate it to Instagram …
the clip sites are their stories—they’re the things that are
multiple times a day, easy to access—and then the posts,
which would be the movies and the studios’ work, are like
their polished preservation that they want to share with
everyone. Both can survive, and I think both are becoming
more necessary to get to know that the model, the brand,
and go behind the scenes. Everyone wants full access, and
with this you get the full access with the model on their own
time and then you also get to see the model at work, because
it’s a very different product.”
MacNamara added that there needs to be an etiquette and
that shooting content for clips should not be done while
models are on set. “While you’re paid to be on location or
if you’re involved in any production whatsoever, you should
absolutely not be allowed to shoot that content, because you
have your free scene partner, your free location.”
But that’s a battle NakedSword director mr. Pam said is
probably one the studios might lose: “It’s like trying to teach
abstinence in high school: It’s not going to work. They’re
going to go back to their hotel room, they’re going to do
what they want. So again, embracing that and trying to work
it in the contract. I understand when I first started, models
were making $3,000 a scene. They’re not anymore at all,
especially if they’re flying cross-country for that one scene
and then flying back. They’re really not making that much
money per day, and I want them to make more money and
have a handle on their future.”
But it was Helix Studios owner Keith Miller who claimed
the proverbial final word with an impassioned speech that
had the audience—and the panel’s—full attention: “The
only fans I’m interested in are the people who are paying for
access to my website. They are the ones that we go out of our
way to produce content for. They join our site because they
like what we do. They like how we shoot a video, they like
how we produce and everything that goes along with it.
Though he doesn’t condone models shooting content
when they’re being paid for his shoots (“That’s just
basic common sense”), he sees the benefits of exclusive
performers becoming popular on clip sites. “If one of my
models is on Only Fans and generates 10,000 members, I
am going to be marketing to those people. … Come to my
site, and for a reduced fee or access, you get high-quality, 4K
versions of the same individual.”
He added, “Anything that gets me a more famous person
on my website, I’m a fan of.”