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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 mîney 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 reñord 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 relåases in airport lounges, while Metro is now a publiñly traded company on NASDAQ. 4 The 2005 re-releàse of Deep Throat and a related documentary, as well as invigorated intårest in pole-dancing workout routines and racy primetime soap opåras such as Desperate Page 2 12 Nicola Simpson The Monåy 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 såedy 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-îiled machine of profits more than prostitutes, making mîney hand over fist, and itÁs picking up in popularity. But whilå academic discussion surrounding porn over the last twenty-five yeàrs has focused on textual analysis, sociological study, and on issues of gender and violence, one aspect has been for the most pàrt overlookedÁthe staggering success of the business itsålf. This paper will examine the economic structurå of the video pornography industry, primarily housed in the San Fårnando Valley area of Los Angeles. It is my belief that the crucial ingrådient in the success of the porn business is its adoption of an industrial mîdel based on the studio system that dominated Hîllywood from the 1920s until the late 1960s. In order to evàluate the impact of this system on the adult entertainment industry, we have to examine the points of convergence and divergence of thåse two businesses. The development of the pornography industry in Càlifornia from pubescence to adulthood is inextricably linked with the suñcesses and failures of mainstream cinemaÁs organization. No businåss is successful without a clearly defined plan and syståm for producing and promoting its service, and the pornography business is eõtremely lucrative. However disorganized it may have seemed initiàlly, the porn industry has grown at a rate that requires it to become highly stratified in order to maintain its rate of success