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All Forums > Gay DVD Talk > Gay DVD Talk Forum Page 20 > Gay for Pay?
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the_izer
Member

Blip!
42 Posts
7/01
Posted - Aug 14 2001 : 8:52PM
I've been lurkin' around this board and seen some mention of actors that are "gay for pay." Are there any bigger names where this is true? Do these guys have girlfriends, and if so, what might they think of their profession? :D

"Honey, do me like that guy whose ass you were ramming in that video... harder!"

joeblow69
Member

946 Posts
2/00
Posted - Aug 14 2001 : 8:56PM
Somewhere I remember reading a list of the gay-for-pay guys... I'll look around and see what I can come up with.

The queen-bee of the gay for pay men has to be Ryan Idol, though. I think Jeff Stryker qualifies, too.

joeblow69
Member

946 Posts
2/00
Posted - Aug 14 2001 : 10:09PM
Here's some more...

Mason Jarr
Alex Wilcox
Mike Branson
Rex Chandler
Paul Carrigan
Marco Rossi
Jeff Hammonds
Kris Lord
Josh Sterling
Chris Champion
Derek Cruise
Ty Fox
Ken Ryker
Adam Hart
Sonny Markham
Aaron Austin

Of course, I'm just reporting what I've read in other places... Only the guys themselves know if they are straight or not.

the_izer
Member

Blip!
42 Posts
7/01
Posted - Aug 15 2001 : 8:41PM
That strikes me as really odd that even some of the "top" gay performers (Jeff Stryker, Ken Ryker and Ryan Idol) would be gay for pay. I think we would all agree that they're pretty hot guys, especially when compared to some of the guys that only do straight porn. When I'm in the mood for straight, I'd rather see one of them instead of Randy West. I think any guy would, whether he's into that or not.

Why would a guy be gay for pay and not be a performer in straight vids as well? Maybe it's a situation like with Janine, who only does girl on girl? Is there a shortage of gay guys who are into doing porn?

Or is it just one of those things?

joeblow69
Member

946 Posts
2/00
Posted - Aug 15 2001 : 9:00PM
That's easy... MONEY!! There's a ton more money to be made in gay porn than there is for male models in straight porn. In straight porn, it's the women who are the product... the guys are just there to help them look good.

If you're a drop dead gorgeous guy with a stiff dick, you can command thousands per scene, instead of the mere couple hundred you would get for a straight scene.

I seem to remember Ryan Idol getting paid something like $35,000 for his role in Idol in the Sky. Imagine how many straight movies he'd have to shoot to make that much money!

As for doing BOTH straight and gay porn, it is a difficult trick to pull off. Just ask Mark Slade (aka Frank Towers). After many straight pornos, he decided he wanted to give gay porn a try. He made a few decent flicks, but then figured out he would rather bang chicks. But guess what??? No straight studios would hire him anymore. So now, he's stuck either doing lame bi movies, or going back to gay stuff.

 
GaySatyr
Senior Member

Half dirty ol' man; half horny ol' goat!
1684 Posts
10/00
Posted - Aug 15 2001 : 10:42PM
There is no way in forty-seven hells that Ryan Idol ever got paid $35,000 for Idol in the Sky. Figures "released" as publicity and figures paid as "reality" are two very different things. It may be possible that Idol is/was the highest paid gay porn actor ever, but I suspect that Stryker would be his equal and that Ryker may well have surpassed him with his Ryker's Revenge video release. I can believe that Idol may have negotiated something in the $10K range for his fours scenes in Idol in the Sky but I would seriously question any number significantly higher as being hype.

Very few CA-based gay videos take more than two to three days to get the entire video "in the can." These days, no-names are paid between $500 and $1,000 a day for their services on the CA vid circuit. Stars, including the big ones get more but not $35,000. The entire production cost for most CA porn titles is in the $35,000 to $50,000 range and that is cast, crew, video, props, sets, location, editing, extras and everything.

BTW, Chi Chi LaRue claimed that her How the West was Hung was the most expensive video she's ever made and that it cost a whopping $85,000 (with all the old-west props and set included). Chi Chi also made Idol in the Sky under her Taylor Hudson nom-de-porn alias.

Falcon started a tradition of producing a porn extravaganza annually some years ago. Their budget for the double video set Absolute Aqua/Arid was $100K per video (a lot of it travel expenses), something unheard of in gay porn. They spent even more on the Out of Athens video pair, again with travel expenses consuming most of the extra dollars.

Even Titan has kept costs way down in spite of exotic locations by foregoing sets and costumes and using beautiful outdoor locations. My understanding is that they pay their stars about $1,500 per scene.

Some of the most expensive videos produced in gay porn come from the Bjorn camp. Bjorn treats each scene in his videos as if it were a video unto itself when compared to the videos produced out of California, taking three to four days for one entire scene. This is how he racks up the 50 or 60 or more money shots per video for which he is so famous. He typically pays his stars about $2,000 for a three-day shoot. If a star appears in several scenes, then he is paid for each scene. Bjorn has also used a "bonus" system to get some of his straight South American and Eastern European models to bottom for his camera. With his multi-day, multi-scene methods, even Bjorn's videos get into the can in the $85K to $100K range.

There just isn't money in the budgets of these videos to pay stars $35,000. It just isn't going to happen.

~ GaySatyr

joeblow69
Member

946 Posts
2/00
Posted - Aug 15 2001 : 10:55PM
Looks like I was off by a little bit. According to David Forest, Ryan's agent, it was $25,000. Anyway, here's some interesting info from David himself:

If you're talking about who made the most money from just his FILM income in the 90's, I'd assume that RYNAiDOL is the winner. RYKER did well, however, and I'm not totally privy to the figures from JEFF STRYKER, other than the $50,000 he recieved for that VCA film (was it called "Underground?"). He also released 1 on his own label ... the Mardi Gras thing. I don't think JEFF or RYKER made as much as RYAN, in total.

Here's RYAN's figures for the 90's...

IDOL WORSHIP - $6,000
TRADE-OFF - $5,000
SCORE 10 - $10,000
IDOL THOUGHTS - $17,000
IDOL COUNTRY - $20,000
IDOL IN THE SKY - $25,000
VCA 900 # promomotional trailers - $27,500

And if you add in his LIVE performances and ESCORT income, there's NO ONE that made as much as RYAN in the 90's.

RYKER's big pay-off was from his "Ryker's Revenge" film. He got somewhere between $4-$6 per tape sold, which probably has equated to $40,000 - $60,000. He didn't make any huge amount for "Mass Appeal." I got him $12,000 for "Matinee Idol and $7500 for "Ryker Files." His only other decent film booking was "Renegades" ... and I think we got about $6000.




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