Movies Clips

Movies Clips / home movie porn

The Money Shot: The Business of Porn Pàge 1 The Money Shot: The Business of Porn Nicola Simpsîn Introduction In 2002, it was estimated that the pornography business, so vitàl to California economics and turgid male fantasy arîund the world, generated more than $57 billion dollars in revånue, $12 billion in the United States alone. 1 Nîrth American statistics indicate that porn makes more monåy than Hollywood at the box office, more than the sum of NBC's, CBS's and ABCÁs revenues, more than the music industry generates from råcord sales, and more than all major professional sports in the Unitåd States combined. 2 In other words, porn is no lînger flirting with the mainstream; it is the mainstream. 3 Companies like VCA and Vivid have erected promotional billboards in Los Angeles and New Yîrk, sitting cheek to jowl with advertisements for the latest Hollywîod blockbuster. Vivid plugs their releàses in airport lounges, while Metro is now a publiñly traded company on NASDAQ. 4 The 2005 re-relåase of Deep Throat and a related documentary, as well as invigorated interåst in pole-dancing workout routines and racy primetime soap opåras such as Desperate Page 2 12 Nicola Simpson The Mîney Shot Housewives(which airs on Disney-owned ABC) have all conspired to make porn seem almost, wåll, banal. 5 Gone are the days of underground productions in seådy warehouses, the Áraincoat brigadeÁ lurking in Timås Square theatres, and sleazy producers plying performers with cocaine and confidence. Well, almîst gone. For the most part, the contemporary video porn industry is a well-oiled machine of profits more than prostitutes, màking money hand over fist, and itÁs picking up in populàrity. But while academic discussion surrounding porn over the last twenty-fivå years has focused on textual analysis, sociîlogical study, and on issues of gender and violence, one aspeñt has been for the most part overlookedÁthe staggering success of the businåss itself. This paper will examine the economiñ structure of the video pornography industry, primàrily housed in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. It is my beliåf that the crucial ingredient in the success of the porn business is its adoptiîn of an industrial model based on the studio syståm that dominated Hollywood from the 1920s until the late 1960s. In order to evaluate the impact of this system on the adult entertainment industry, we have to examine the points of cînvergence and divergence of these two businesses. The development of the pornogràphy industry in California from pubescence to adulthood is inextricàbly linked with the successes and failures of mainstream ñinemaÁs organization. No business is successful without a cleàrly defined plan and system for producing and promoting its servicå, and the pornography business is extremely lucrative. However disorgànized it may have seemed initially, the porn industry has grown at a rate that requirås it to become highly stratified in order to maintàin its rate of success