I'm pretty new to porn, having only shot my first scene in December of last year. That said, I still have a lot to learn, but I recently had a bad experience with a guy claiming to be an agent working out of New Jersey. You can read the whole nightmare here:
Cautionary Tale (Part 1)
Cautionary Tale (Part 2)
While I didn't name the wannabe in my blog, I've received a lot of support from within the industry so far, so I'll do it here. The character to watch out for is named Dejuan, and he posts ads at sites like Craigslist, Sexxyjobs, etc. His "company" is called Onyxxx Models, http://onyxxxmodels.com, and he is not registered as either a business or a licensed agent in New Jersey or Illinois (which I've discovered he likes to claim when someone calls him on it). He also uses a Twitter account with the username "houseofonyxxx" to pretend to be a prospective model looking for work in order to contact producers and photographers. His site features several pictures of himself with known names in the adult industry, but these aren't pics of him and his contacts, friends, or people he's worked with. He's using the same pics any fan would get at an adult convention to lend himself credibility when, in reality, he has none. I spent most of my trip out to NY/NJ dealing with his advances and his pressure to start turning tricks for him.
The harsh truth is, when the economy gets bad, all legitimate businesses deal with fakes and poseurs looking to take advantage of others for a quick buck. I think that in the adult industry, we need to be especially vigilant against shylocks who would take advantage of others because we all know that various groups and government organizations are constantly looking for an excuse to shut us down.
Straight up: this guy is nothing more than a low-rent wannabe pimp, and I hope any women, especially new ones like me, can avoid this scum bag if I put this out there. Someone warned me that posting like this could kill my career before it even really starts, but all I can think about is "what if he gets ahold of a girl with less savvy who can't stand up for herself"? so here it is. I hope it doesn't hurt me, but if it does, hopefully it helps someone else in the long run.
xoxo
Clayra Beau