Inside the Gay Video Business

By David White

Ricky's phone rang at 7:30 on a recent Saturday morning. Reaching for the phone on his bedside table, he suspected the call was from his agent. He was right. His agent, one of two gay video actor's agents in the Los Angles area told him to be at an address in the San Fernando Valley by 9:30 a.m.

Ricky doesn't ask what role he is playing, the name of the production or who he will be working with. It really doesn't matter. All that really matters to him is that today he'll earn $200 and he'll get to perform gay sex acts before cameras and his ego will inflated a little more.

He arrives at the modest home in Van Nuys at 9:15 a.m. He finds seven other men. One is setting up lights, another is adjusting white balance on the video cameras. Two men are in the kitchen making coffee; apparently the home owners. Another man is wearing a headset while talking into the mouth piece. He is giving directions to one of the cameramen.

Another gay actor, Gary is sitting on a chair in the living room sipping coffee. Ricky recognizes him from another video they both appeared in just a few weeks before.

The director takes off his headset and welcomes Ricky. He leads him into the living room and seats him beside the other actor. He tells them about their scene. Gary will deliver a pizza to Ricky. Ricky answers the door wearing only his shorts. While Ricky goes into another room to get the money to pay for the pizza, Gary spies a gay photo magazine on a nearby table. He thumbs through it and when Ricky returns he finds Gary physically aroused. They both indulge in oral sex and then Gary takes the role of the top guy for the anal sex scene.

The director tells them that they have to start the taping at once because the actors for the next scene will be there at eleven.

The taping goes well and by ten thirty Gary and Ricky are naked, exhausted and nibbling cold pizza.

Once they are dressed, one of men on the set asks the young men for their driver's license and gives them copies of model release forms to sign. While they fill out the form, the man uses a portable copier and photo-copies their license. By 10:45 a.m. Ricky is at the RTD bus stop near on Van Nuys boulevard, with two hundred dollars in his pocket. He forgot to ask the director the name of the video in which he just appeared.

Ricky isn't worried about getting AIDS. He looks at it as an occupational hazard. He is twenty-two years old and has fourteen videos under his belt. He works as a computer operator for a leading Los Angeles bank during the week and lands a gay video role about once every two months.

While most video enthused believe that the actors are well paid, the average for an actor is $200 a day and often they work for as little as $80.00. Often the actors are required to supply their own make-up and costumes. Those actors who are on an agent's roster are more likely to find work. Agents usually receive $50 a day per actor.

"I don't consider them actors," says one agent,"I consider them performers."

Performer is preferred by many of those in the industry since most of these young men are not cast for their acting ability. Those who do not have conventional jobs during the week can usually be found performing masturbation shows at bath houses and doing strip shows in dance bars.

Ricky is worried about growing older and not being as appealing to directors, therefore, not being cast in future gay videos.

But, that should not be his biggest worry. Aside from the threat of AIDS, he should be aware of the state-of-the-industry.

The gay video business is in trouble.

"Three years ago I could sell 5,000 copies of a title. Now, I am lucky if I can sell 800," says one of the leading gay distributors.

In 1980 there were about 30 gay titles available on video cassette. Today there are over 1,200.

"The only mail-order market that is left is in the bible belt and mail order was the highest profit market. Four years ago I could run a full page ad in the Advocate and receive 600-700 orders. Today I get a fraction of that," states a mail-order operator.

The market has changed. There is a glut of gay videos on the market. When video cameras came on the market a lot of amateurs entered the field. A lot of their stuff was trash but some of them produced very good quality work. There were suddenly two or three new titles every week. The competition became tough. Some of the established studios developed a certain style like now defunct NOVA. They geared themselves toward the younger models while Falcon to the direction of the more mature young man. Colt, of course, only released tapes of the most handsome, best built, muscular men. YMAC featured the youngest looking, slim eighteen year olds they could find.

Where do the models come from? Santa Monica boulevard has supplied the vast majority. Its the age-old story of young men, right out of high school, coming to Hollywood to find fame and fortune. But, what they find is that there is no way to get into the entertainment business unless they know somebody who can get them an agent and then the most they can hope for is a bit part as an extra.

There are no regular jobs for most of them. Those without a high school diploma are practically hopeless. They soon find themselves sleeping under the bushes at Waddles Park and hustling the boulevard at night. Hustling the boulevard is fierce competition. Since AIDS has come to fore front of gay consciousness, the amount of men cruising the boulevard has dwindled to very few. Tough hustlers don't allow others to hustle on their block. But AIDS is not a major concern to young men who are hungry. So, when approached with the opportunity to perform sex acts in front of a camera for money, they jump at the chance.

AIDS is of much concern to all video producers. many of them are now insisting on the use of condoms and Safe Sex videos are beginning to surface. Pan Pacific Distributors just announced the release of Pure Fantasies. This video was produced in 1986 but was not distributed nationally. Pan Pacific purchased the rights to the film and re-shot an entire sequence to improve and enhance the safe sex acts featured in the production.

Pan Pacific's Terry Legrand, producer of the hit video FRESHMAN FANTASIES,is one of the most concerned men in the gay video industry. Last week he told me,"I just won't produce anything, anymore, that I don't consider safe. I think all of us in this industry should assume the responsibility of encouraging safe sex only! It will force us to become more creative and original and I welcome that."

Legrand went on to say that he believes that responsible gay video buyers will welcome the change. "There is already such a glut on the market of oral and anal videos that the consumer is becoming bored. Moreover, oral and anal sex has become socially unacceptable behavior these days. So, those producers who want to continue will be forced to get on the safe sex band wagon and become much more creative. And, there just won't be the gay performers available because the word is out about AIDS and producers just are not going to find performers willing to risk their lives."

Ricky looks down on the boulevard types and considers himself a Professional Gay Performer. "I've done several videos for free just to get to be in a tape. It is a real thrill to see myself on the screen and knowing that thousands of viewers are getting off watching ME! I have found being in gay videos is like eating potato chips. Once you start you just can't stop yourself."

Ricky is finding that potato chips are becoming rare. Gay video producers are finding good models are harder to come by.

"I used to get ten to fifteen letters a week from men across the country wanting to be in one of our productions. Now it is rare to get one," says one of the largest producers of gay erotica.

Another source of hot models are the male muscle contest such as the Supermen contest. Last year's contest discoveries included Jeff Stryker (Powertool) and Mike Hensen (Big Guns).

The hottest property of the market today is Jeff Stryker. He starred in Matt Sterling's Bigger Than Life. He came to Los Angeles when the Oklahoma oil industry dried up. He was spotted by Sterling who helped him. He encouraged him to find a gym and tone his body. Stryker came onto the gay video scene like gang busters. Inches Video followed up Bigger than life with POWERTOOL. The jail house epic was the icing on the cake that made Stryker the heart throb of the gay video fan.

In both video productions, Stryker's image as the top macho type is preserved. He allows others to perform oral copulation on him but he doesn't indulge himself. He is anal active only in both productions. Within just one year Stryker has become the most recognizable face in the gay video industry. Catalina video, who is doing the retail distribution for INCHES VIDEO had stryker at their booth at the January Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. He posed for photos with store owners and signed autographs while Catalina's salesman wrote orders for his tapes. Stryker is the highest paid gay video actor in the business setting a record at $8,000 a day! That is the production budget for many gay tapes.

A third Jeff Stryker epic is to be released through Catalina Video April 13. It is titled IN HOT PURSUIT. Again, William Higgins is assured a hit. But, the biggest surprise is coming from Catalina and Jeff Stryker in May, 1987. THE SWITCH IS ON is Stryker's first appearance in a bi-sexual video.

Bi-sexual videos are booming in the United States. Currently, there are several successful titles on the market. Many gay video actors have found renewed careers in the Bi market. Leo Ford, a very popular blond gay video star of a few years ago can now be found in Bi videos.

Stryker's rise to gay stardom is not just due to his physical attributes. Matt Sterling's productions are the finest quality of all gay videos. Sterling's formula requires the very best lighting designer, sets and performers. While most producers are still limited to a production budget of five to seven thousand dollars, Sterling's production budgets exceed forty thousand. Sterling also has a distribution formula to get the most bang for the buck. For the first six months after release of his videos, they are only available by mail order through his company. After six months, he releases the rights to distributors for the retail sale of his tapes. Many of the more aggressive video stores such as VIDEO WEST simply will not wait the six months until they can purchase the tape for their store for $36.00. They will order twenty copies through mail order and pay the full price of $60.00 per copy.

Sterling's success in the gay video business has created havoc for many other gay producers. Some simply do not have the money or creative talent to compete successfully.

One video producer with over 60 films and videos to his credit told me that he never watches any other producer's gay videos because he is afraid that he may unintentionally imitate the works of others. In the meantime, his failure to view the works of others and to learn what the state-of-the-art is in 1987, has left his newest production with the quality that can only be equaled by 8mm loops made in the early 60's.

Even Catalina video has felt the crunch. Catalina Video, under the management of William Higgins, can be credited with creating the gay video market. While other producers were busy converting their old films to the video cassette market, Higgins was making films for the video market. Persistent production values, outstanding photography and great looking young models built Catalina into the largest supplier of gay videos. Their newest production is called BIG GUN. It was selected to be the feature which would reopen Hollywood's Century Theatre last month. BIG GUNS' title is a parody of TOP GUN. Again, Catalina is presenting the very best young men in a convincing video. BIG GUNS is certainly the best gay video available today. Higgins continuously offers the highest quality product available. Futhermore, Catalina has an outstanding reputation among its mail order customers. In a recent poll of by Jockey Club magazine, Catalina received the highest marks for delivering what they promised. Bijou Video Sales of Chicago came in a very close second.

The Meese Commission's report sent a wave of concern throughout the adult entertainment arena. The gay video producers were especially concerned for proposals suggested in the Attorney General's recommendations would outlaw many of the sexual acts found in video productions already on store shelves. Another proposal would change the minimum age for appearing in an adult video from 18 to 21. But, concern has subsided since the Attorney General and the Reagan Administration appear to have their hands full in efforts of improving morality in foreign policy.

© 2005 LINQ Communications