r.a.m.e. FAQ sez:
How can I become a porn star?
Hart Williams makes these observations...
First: Being a good masturbator is more important than being a stud. Why do you think so few males star for so long? It's the surest way to ruin your enjoyment of sex... and that's assuming THAT you ever get in. (Pun intended)
Second: If you REALLY still think you can do it (and I've seen so many male egos implode during 'their big shot' -- it isn't pretty! -- that I can only ask you to reread the above) your best shot right now is to find someone who's making amateur tapes. You'll have to bring your own girlfriend, and you'll both be paid peanuts, but that's the way it's done these days. There are ads in the backs of many magazines, personals, etc. But, you will have a better chance in LA than NY.
May God have mercy on your pole...
Tim Evanson tells us that:
Many gay studios and producers advertise for models and video performers in local gay newspapers such as the NEW YORK NATIVE and LA's newspaper FRONTIERS. The biweekly magazine ADVOCATE CLASSIFIED also contains many ads. Many low-budget studios and independent directors find their casts this way. Several gay porn agents often visit local clubs or special parties in their home towns and distribute their cards, which is a way in which several recent gay porn actors (Derek Cruise, Rick Bolton, Phil Bradley) were discovered. Having an agent doesn't seem to matter; gay porn stars have said in interviews in MANSHOTS magazine that sometimes just being smart is good enough, while others say agents are useful in screening out the crappy scripts and identifying bad directors/studios.
Remember: Most scenes that last 15 minutes on film take from 4 to 6 hours to film, and during that time the actor MUST remain erect. Also, most gay porn is very stop-and-go as positions change, lighting changes, and camera angles change. Performers often must have sex in front of anywhere from 4 to 15 people (many of them also masturbating or otherwise aroused). Days often begin at 6 AM and continue for 18 hours or more. Sets are filthy, cold, and location shoots in homes and outdoors hard to find and often very distant from where the star lives. Few studios pay your airfare into town, your hotel room, your rental car, or food bills and rarely provide food or drinks on a set. Pressure to use drugs and alcohol is strong on a set, and sex with your co-actors after a shoot nonexistent.
That's not very encouraging... I really want to do it. Tell me how. Hart Williams:
It is considerably easier for females. Jim South at World Modeling is one of only two licensed agencies in the business. The other one is sort of in/out of it as I write. Long ago (late 60s, I think) two licenses were issued for this sort of talent agency, and no more will ever be (at least the Powers That Be Have So Decreed). According to people in the know, the current way to get into the biz for a female (always much easier than gents) is to first: Answer that ad in the Classifieds of most LA papers sending you to WMA.
But, secondly, through amateur videos. They don't pay squat, and they now seem to comprise the "minor leagues" with the Owners looking at promising new talent. Prayer is always good. The male "stud" is the rarest of creatures. Everyone thinks that he can be one, and every producer has heard it so often that he tends to tune it right out. But, if this still does not dissuade you, let me mention the qualifications:
Dick size is not THAT important. The camera (and your imagination) makes them all look larger than life. But, underhung can truly be a disadvantage. Somebody named Dave Cannon made a career for himself by being the only gent that his girlfriend, Bridgette Monet -- a big star at the time -- would screw. This was his entrance (and exit, it's a 2-edged sword). The classic way in is by bringing a porn mega-babe with you. It worked for Ken (Seka's ex) and for Bud (Hypatia's ex, Asia's ex, someone else's current).
Also (though down the same road) through amateur shoots. But, again, the demand for males is negligible (approved plumbing is a MUST, and hard to find), and the demand for females -- while not as insatiable as in the 70's(when any girl who wanted to could) and the 80's (when any reasonably good-looking girl etc.), the business is always on the look for fresh meat.
Now, I realize that you may believe your destiny is to be a porn stud, and I don't want to dissuade you, but I offer this advice:
What is most necessary in the porn stud is the ability to jerk himself off (so as to come on cue). The ones I've known have privately bemoaned the hamburger it's made of their sex lives, and the fact that they're now trapped from here to eternity: always wondering if someone will see their movies. The social crap you'll take is quite a bit more hostile than that the ex-porn-kitten takes.
A great trick is to find a girl to bring with you. If they drool over her, they'll accept you -- if SHE insists. But watch it... she has a way of forgetting who got her into the biz in the first place.
Brandy Alexandre sez:
It pays to hang out and chat in the agent's office every few days for MONTHS until he gets to know you and knows you aren't a pervert, rapist or law enforcement. Or get to know someone in the business who may eventually recommend you.
Bill Majors concurs:
When I moved from NYC to LA 10 years ago I tried to find talent. It wasn't until a friend actually took me to several agents and vouched for me that I was able to get talent lined up. While I guess it might be possible to break through it is much easier just to find someone in the business and ask them to give you a hand. In spite of all of our competition we are basically a friendly bunch.
In the end, getting into the adult video business is really no different than going to Universal and telling them you want to star with Tom Hanks in their next feature. :) However, a new service opened up for people looking for work in all facets of the adult industry -- AdultStaffing.Com is carving a niche for itself as the jobseeker board that caters to the adult industry. Maybe you'll find what you want there...
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Posted - Apr 4 2005 : 11:39PM