Tag Archives: Billy Watson

September 13, 2019 · 10:11 am

Director Billy Watson Finishes the Job

by Rich Moreland, September 2019

All photos are courtesy of FinishesTheJob.com

In order, the performers are: Emma Hix, Allie Addison, Casey Calvert, Riley Reid, and Madelyn Monroe.

*          *          *

Gun for Hire

Any fan attending the AVN trade show will tell you that today’s adult industry is a collection of innovative delivery platforms. From cam girls to sex toys, the internet drives porn these days.

Billy Watson, famed director for the online IR powerhouse DogFart (DF), is now making his individual mark in adult’s competitive cyberspace market. To be sure, he has the credentials, receiving a Best Director for Web Channel/Site nomination at this past year’s AVN awards.

After a seventeen-year partnership, Billy is now venturing out on his own, but not without gratitude for the relationship he’s had with DF. The company “allowed me to create my affiliate program, FabulousCash, as well as my website, FinishesTheJob.com,” Billy tells me in a recent interview.

“I loved working for DF. The producer is a great guy and still a great friend. It was just time to move on…for both of us. And we did so in a friendly, seamless transition. And I am proud of all the attention I got there as their director,” he adds.

Nevertheless, to grow professionally Billy had to face reality.

“I was a gun for hire; I didn’t own any of that content. And I just couldn’t do both–shoot for DF and run FabCash–so I made a big decision…the long money over the short.”

“About three years ago, my producer asked that I shoot on different locations. That effectively killed the time I had to focus on FabCash,” he says.

That meant a change in direction.

Our Niche

Before delving into his current product, Billy gives us some background on how he evolved professionally.

“I started with ManoJob in 2006. We immediately added TheDickSuckers and MrPOV, because that was the trend/business model then,” he says. But as we know, trends are unforeseeable and ten years in adult is a lifetime technology-wise. “If I could start over,” he remarks, “I would have created one site and updated it three times as much.”

I want to know if MrPOV, DickSuckers, and Mano are under the Fab Cash umbrella?

“They are, indeed,” he responds. “And we’ve created a fourth site–FinishesTheJob.com–that houses those three sites to make things easier for the end user.

“We call it that because that’s our niche. One of the most frequent e-mails I get from my members goes something like this: ‘Dear Billy, Are all the guys in Porn Valley gay? Why do they have to masturbate to finish? If I was with Madelyn Monroe, I sure wouldn’t need to jack off to cum!’

“And you know something?” Billy continues, “ninety-nine percent of the adult content produced in Porn Valley is just that–a guy finishing the job, so to speak. Not at my sites.”

A One-Man Operation

By the way, Billy Watson is hardly the outdated stereotype of the Porn Valley pornographer.

A Chicago native, he worked for a time in Arizona. A relocation to Texas “for a stockbroker gig” followed before moving to Northern California to attend graduate school. Next there was a brief return to Arizona “for more civilian work before getting into the Smut Biz in 2002,” he explains.

I visited with Billy a few years ago on a DogFart set. Considering he had an editor and make-up artist at the time, I’m wondering how have things changed since then.

“I am pretty much, at this point, a one-man operation,” Billy explains. “I have a coder/techie who’s part-time, and a business partner I answer to. I’m in the deep-end of the pool, so to speak, paddling…with full confidence that I’ll make it pay off.”

Billy’s business model is strictly online. He’s not into the DVD market and doesn’t see that in the cards he holds. “I’m planning to offer my product on the streaming services like AEBN and HotMovies. They’ll be packaged there to appear like DVD’s.”

Likewise, he is not into features. At least for now.

“Never say never, but I’m a run-and-gun gonzo guy. If I want to watch feature films, I’ll watch anything besides pornography. No disrespect to the fine folks who create features, but that ain’t my gig,” Billy declares with a smile.

Referencing a scene with Madelyn Monroe on that DF I visited, I want to know what makes the FinishesTheJob product unique?

“The experience I want my member to have,” he begins, is a personal one-on-one encounter that is everything short of sending the model to my member’s home to engage in one of the three sex acts [depicted on the sites].” Billy wants his audience to think of it this way. “Madelyn Monroe is jacking you off; Madelyn Monroe is giving you head; you’re lucky enough to bang Madelyn Monroe.

“That pretty much sums up my content. Now, whether or not I actually achieve that is purely subjective; however, one thing’s certain: our models finish what they’ve started…and objectively, that sets my sites apart from almost every single one [in the industry today].”

That basic spin on the traditional porn model is what makes Billy Watson’s FinishesTheJob.com  a go-to website.

*          *          *

We’ll let Riley Reid leave us with pure satisfaction . . .

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March 7, 2016 · 9:12 am

The Meaning of Consent: Directors

by Rich Moreland, February 2016

The series of posts on consent in the adult industry begins with the directors.

*          *          *

Directors are the captains of the porn ship, so to speak. Everyone’s job on set is smooth sailing when the weather is good. . . until a disgruntled performer stirs turbulent waves that can wash over everyone’s day.

From a director perspective, coaxing anyone to go beyond their limits invites turmoil, such as speed dialing an agent to complain. If anyone walks, kill fees are offered to keep peace and the day is lost.

Though I’ve never seen this on any set I’ve visited, I’ve often observed models interacting with each other before their scenes. It’s not idle conversation. They are taking care of business, clarifying what they are good to go with and what they are not. It calms the waters.

Girlfriends Films

gfs logoThough directors have different levels of flexibility, they review the scene with talent before shooting commences and often work a camera themselves.

I queried two award-winners, the legendary Dan O’Connell and B Skow of Girlfriends Films, and got responses corroborated by performers who have worked for them.

Here’s Dan’s view. He shoots only girl/girl scenes, by the way.

“[Consent] has never been an issue on my sets. Everyone arrives knowing what is expected of them. We talk about the sex scene beforehand and go over each girl’s ‘don’ts.’ So nobody goes into the scene not knowing what to expect.

“I tell every girl that she can, should, and is encouraged to stop the scene if she wants to use the bathroom, consume water or discuss what’s going on. Nobody has ever stopped a scene except for water, to use the bathroom or blow her nose.”

Dan O'Connell reviews the scene with Jorden Kennedy and Aidra Fox

Dan O’Connell discusses the scene with Jorden Kennedy and Aidra Fox

B Skow sends a similar message.

“I never shoot scenes that push limits like the type that Kink.com or James Deen shoot, but I can tell you if I felt either performer was uncomfortable, I would stop shooting and make sure everyone respected each other’s boundaries and start shooting again if we all agreed.”

B Skow

B Skow

Skow does mostly boy/girl work, shooting gonzo and features. In Dan’s case, his content is the vignette, a short story with a sexual theme. My reviews of their films, which are offered on DVD, can be found on this blog and my column at AINews.com.

The Feminist View

For a theater-oriented director like Jacky St. James, whose content is marketed by New Sensations/Digital Sin, her set is geared to bring out a performer’s acting ability.

Jacky says, “I don’t delve too deeply into what is required of a performer prior to a shoot unless I am tackling territory that might be challenging for them.”

She mentions The Submission of Emma Marx, an award-winning three-feature series she wrote and directed, as an example of establishing limits. Jacky wanted to make sure the star, Penny Pax, “was comfortable with each of the BDSM activities we were going to film.”

Jacky St. James

Jacky St. James

Overall,  the feminist director emphasizes, “I would never ask talent to do something that made them uncomfortable. Basically I set the precedence that they must be prepared and work hard…and I’ll help take care of the rest. I want to make their lives easy on set so that we can really focus on the most important components of the production, namely, nailing their characters.”

Gonzo on the Internet

Internet sites, natural vehicles for gonzo or all-sex shoots, aim to satisfy the sexual tastes of their online members. How does this influence limits?

To explore that question, I chatted with Billy Watson who directs for the DogFart Network, an interracial conglomerate of over twenty sites. He runs his own studio in LA and has a variety of sets available for his scenes.

dog fart logo

“Essentially, when someone walks into my studio, I always go over what’s expected and what I want and what I need,” Billy begins.

He uses licensed agents exclusively and relies on them to tell the girls what the shoot entails, “so they know what they are getting into when they come here.” He mentions gang bang and cuckholding scenes as examples.

While the girls are in the make-up chair, a feature of Billy’s studio complete with artist on hand, he reviews the scene coming up, everything from “the sex positions themselves to what names we can call them during the shoot.”

Responses that vary from “Oh, you can call me anything, I don’t care,” to “Don’t call me a bitch,” and everything in between. The same with on-screen behavior. The native Arizonan gives the following example, “Pull my hair, choke me, but don’t spit on me,” or “You can spit on me, but just don’t choke me. You can slap this part of my butt . . . whatever.”

For the DogFart people, it seems language is a sticking point. Occasionally in a gang bang scene the girl will explicitly state she does not want to be called a bitch. “Invariably somebody will actually slip,” Billy comments with a shrug.

Apologies immediately follow, “‘Oh my God, I didn’t mean to do that,'” and the shoot moves on.

A Tricky Thing

However, Billy runs into an issue most other directors don’t encounter.

Jim Talks Business Photo by Bill Knight

Billy Watson

“We show a lot of interracial porn and a lot of the members love it when the girls call the guys the n-word. This is a tricky thing because it goes both ways.”

Some male performers don’t mind. In fact it cranks up their engine. However others “won’t accept that kind of language.”

Has he had an incident that caused filming to stop?

“No, never. I’ve never had any kind of drama because we’re really careful not to violate anybody’s boundaries.”

Billy Watson checks member responses

Billy checks member responses

There are times, however, when “my boss says the members are looking for a really crazy, over-the-top scene.”

In those cases, Billy will book a girl with guys who are comfortable around the n-word. But that may not apply to all the male performers that day and the ones who don’t want such language directed at them will make their boundaries known.

In this reversal of the norm, it’s the men who feel violated.

Billy recalls a particular shoot that starred a model who was free with questionable language. It was a ten-man gang bang and getting all male talent on the same page had its issues.

“A couple of the black guys came up to me and said, ‘that girl’s not going to call me a n—‘ and she had to hold her tongue because I didn’t want the black guys to get upset with her.”

Gone Away

Performers have hinted to me in casual conversation that there are some directors who will look the other way when problems arise.

Bringing this up with Billy evokes an honest assessment.

“It depends on the producer and director and your crew. There’s still some people in this business who think the girls are kind of like chattel. Bring them in [and do what you want] because we’ll never shoot her again.”

However . . .

“A lot of those guys seemed to have gone away,” he remarks.

“The 2008 perfect storm killed a lot of those dudes. [That’s when] Brazzers perfected the tube site, basically the fine art of piracy. They all started off as search engine guys in the early 2000s and have gone on to all the things they’ve done to ruin this business.”

Or challenged it, for sure. But they may also have run off the worst of the lot when it comes to ignoring the performer.

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June 9, 2014 · 5:32 am

All the Attributes

by Rich Moreland, June, 2014

The last two weeks of May are a welcome lull, a “tweener” period. Spring semester is wrapped up and first session summer school is a few days away. This year I’m taking the time to reorganize my at home office and that means sorting through interview transcriptions, unreviewed DVDs, and collected articles on industry issues like piracy, condoms, and the decline in revenues.

Among this year’s accumulated material is a bevy of photos from the 2014 Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE). When I came across a treasured shot of Penny Pax and Casey Calvert, it reminded me that I had planned some work on Casey that has sat undone. Sometimes things slip away until rediscovery cries out for rectification.

Here’s the photo.

Penny and Casey

Penny and Casey.

Preconceived Notions
Porn girls are as varied as sexual fantasies and fetishes allow. Most are friendly, some a bit wacky, and others standoffish, but all share a common feeling: stigmatization.

Being in adult film is not a convenient path to success. Prejudicial feelings are everywhere, as I can personally attest.

Students who have inquired about my industry connections occasionally ask how I feel about keeping company with unsavory people whose universe tilts far away from what society considers the accepted norm. Not surprisingly, the word “prostitute” often comes up in the same breath with porn performers.

My response is terse. Put away the broad brush and remember that familiarity breeds acceptance, and acceptance often alters the definitions we concoct to satisfy our prejudices. In other words, it’s easy to denigrate people about whom we have preconceived notions, until you actually get to know them.

Decades ago, my first summer job was in the farming country of Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore, a region that, at the time, would fit comfortably in Faulkner’s Mississippi. The local school district was clutching the fading days of racial segregation, resisting federal law with delay after delay. As a result, my understanding of African Americans was limited to what a community preached to its young . . . until a sunny June morning when I reported for my first day of work.

Based solely on my skin color, I immediately became a teenaged foreman of impoverished black laborers who had little education and no future. By summer’s end, the racial biases programmed into me from childhood were running on vapors.

Returning to school that fall, I made two new friends and learned another lesson about differences. Myra and Tony were Jewish and practically invisible in the student body. My Bible-thumping evangelical grandfather, who never understood school integration because he was convinced black kids were happy “being with their own kind,” often made Judaism sound like a disease.

Today those memories bubble up when I encounter attitudes about social issues in our modern society, filmed pornography and those who make it being of particular concern to me now.

A Late Lunch
For the record, I regard everyone in the adult business as a professional contact. Some are more friendly and helpful than others, and I admit that I depend on them to get a story here and there.

A Rare Beauty Photo courtesy of Scott Church

A Rare Beauty.
Photo courtesy of Scott Church

Casey Calvert is one and knowing her is a privilege. Focused on what she wants, this rare beauty is intelligent, always courteous, and remarkably honest. The University of Florida grad is at the top of my “most respected” porn people list.

At this year’s AEE, Casey found some time for a late lunch after she spent most of the day greeting her fans. It was the convention’s final session and she had a long evening in front of her. Let me point out that Casey didn’t have to do this and it was evident that she was tired.

In a crowded, noisy restaurant that heightened fatigue, Casey was gracious. She loves her work, she said, and hopes to be in the industry for years to come. The dark-haired sweetheart appreciates those who support her because a perfect performance for every booking is her goal. Drugs, laziness, and irresponsibility, sometimes rumored to infect models, have no role in Casey’s professional life.

When Casey headed back to her room to prepare for the awards show, my heart went out to her. She was limping slightly. Girls sport platform heels that must wreak havoc on their feet and Casey’s were certainly feeling the “pinch” of too much floor time.

To offer assistance, I carried some of her stuff then bade farewell.

You Know What You’re Going to Get
Earlier in the day, I talked with a director who specializes in online porn. Billy Watson shoots for the Dogfart Network (twenty-plus interracial sites) out of his own studio in LA.

Over coffee, our conversation turned to Casey.

Billy Watson in LA. Photo courtesy of Bill Knight

Billy Watson in LA.
Photo courtesy of Bill Knight

Billy recalled his first meeting with the twenty-four-year old. Her agent, the famed Mark Spiegler, alerted him Casey was coming to town.

“She was a Florida based fetish model,” Billy said. “Mark spoke highly of her from the get go and he was absolutely right.”

Casey has shot for Billy several times, BlacksonBlondes and CuckholdSessions among her top performances. What impressed him from the outset was her professionalism.

“She had all the attributes you can give to a Spiegler girl. They show up early [and] ready to work. They understand that it is a show and they are there to perform at their highest level. When you book a Spiegler girl, you know what you are going to get.”

For a shooter that’s more important than it may seem.

“[A Spiegler girl] is not going to be on drugs or whacked out,” Billy continued. “They don’t have bad days. You never have to send them home. There is never drama, there is never emotion. They just come ready to work. Casey has never had a bad day on my set.”

Casey for BlacksonBlondes. Photo courtesy of Dogfart Network

Casey with Prince Yashua for BlacksonBlondes.
Photo courtesy of the Dogfart Network

“In fact,” he said, pausing in mid-thought, ” I was just thinking the other day I would love to have her on my set for another round.”

“Hold on a second,” he said.

Billy’s crew was taking a break with us and turning in the direction of one of his guys, Billy shouted over the Hard Rock Hotel din.

“Hey, Tony, I need to book Casey some more.”

Finishing our coffee, I commented I was having lunch with the 2014 New Starlet nominee later and Billy asked that I mention he wants to call her soon.

*          *          *          *          *

Las Vegas, 2014, and a story penned by a once Southern Baptist about a Jewish girl from the Old South who does interracial porn. My, hasn’t the world changed since my younger days in farm country.

And in this case, much for the better.

 

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November 8, 2013 · 6:30 pm

Maggie and the Smut Den: End of the Day

by Rich Moreland, November 2013

This is the second installment of my visit to dogfart/fabulouscash.com studio in LA.

Billy Watson has a system that gets the talent in and out quickly with everyone paid when they leave. As mentioned in Part 1, his editor Doron takes care of the green screen when the model arrives and is finished with the make-up chair.

The stills are next and run according to the scripted scene Billy composes beforehand. This photographed walk-through takes place on the set and gives the talent a chance to get to know each other and talk about what they like to do on camera. A common issue for the girls is a man’s size, Billy says. Reservations about length and thickness are sometimes voiced; consequently, a model’s degree of discomfort is something no shooter wants to dismiss out of hand.

Most girls are accommodating, though privately they sometimes remark on how the average-sized guy is more to their liking.

During the stills Big Wire stands behind a partition that passes for a wall in an adult bookstore and projects his manhood through a hole in it (nicely cushioned with duct tape to prevent unwanted abrasions). Next to him are baby wipes, paper towels, and various plastic containers with lubes and other products. On the other side, Andy is browsing the store’s DVD collection. Under Billy’s direction she begins to fantasize, strips down, and bingo, Big Wire’s endowment is right in front of her. When it’s shot the sequence will be oral and doggie. It’s quick and uncomplicated.

Doron waiting for Andy to finish Photo by Bill Knight

Doron waiting for Andy to finish the stills.
Photo by Bill Knight

Over a fifteen minute interval, Billy gets all he needs pre-pop shot. Andy gets dressed and a break is taken. She touches up her face and drifts over to the roll-up door for a cigarette and casual conversation with Big Wire.

Billy works while Doron and Andy do behind the scenes Photo courtesy of Bill Knight

Billy works while Doron and Andy do behind the scenes.
Photo courtesy of Bill Knight

Doron takes a few minutes for the behind-the-scenes segment during this down time. He emcees and films while  Andy talks to the camera.

Show time brings down the roll-up. Darkness settles in except where flood lights channel all brightness on the talent. Andy sails through the script rehearsed in the stills, self-stimulating before taking in Big Wire’s endowment.

Andy San Dimas’s professionalism shines when the action picks up. She knows how to entice the camera to produce the titillation that sells her image. Gloryhole is gonzo porn. The camera is never more than a couple of feet from Andy and within inches of her face when close-ups are needed.

Breaks are frequent. Billy repositions Andy, talking to her all the while. After stripping off her panties for the penetration segment, Andy takes a moment to fluff up and tease her pubic hair. Asked later if bush is back and she says it is for her. Shaving is abrasive and irritating.

Rear entry sex requires Andy to contort her body, then she is on her knees for the pop. With her facial still dripping, Andy slowly gets dressed and is directed to have a look of self-consciousness  and embarrassment which she pulls off flawlessly. She walks toward the camera as if to exit the store.

While the ejaculate is still fresh, the post-pop stills are taken.

Something I notice reveals that seasoned porn performers can operate on automatic pilot. When Andy is on her knees working on Big Wire, she instinctively reaches up to put her hands on his hips but is stopped by the wall. She lets her hands slide down the barrier easily and naturally just as a runway model who stumbles slightly and recovers without missing a step.

Madelyn Monroe

The scene wrapped up, Andy comes over to where I’m standing and cleans up with a baby wipe. We chat about nothing in particular and I head over to the make-up area with her. Later our community back east comes up and I promise to take her to her favorite local restaurant the next time she is in town.

Madelyn Monroe is in and needs to get into her pornie outfit and have her make-up applied. It’s an interview opportunity I can’t miss.

Madelyn in the chair awaiting make-up Photo by Bill Knight

Madelyn in the chair awaiting make-up.
Photo by Bill Knight

The bubbly blonde (color of the day) hails from Seattle. Madelyn started as a teen, dropped out of the business and now visits Billy occasionally. She’s back to shooting, but very selectively, sort of unretired without committing to work.

As I always do, I want to know who Madelyn has shot for (Brazzers and Hustler are mentioned) and if she has visited the BDSM giant, Kink.com, in San Francisco (no). What’s her preference (boy/girl) and does she do anal. “No” is the reply but a later online check reveals one anal shoot, so I assume she means not any more or perhaps she’s one and done. Girl/girl scenes are also not on her agenda.

Madelyn got into porn through modelmayhem and suicidegirls. The now twenty-one-year-old did not have sex until she was seventeen, and only then after overly imbibing. A move to California and filming for mofos.com brought her into the business. But all did not go well. She had “bad days,” Madelyn says, “that’s why I quit.” She’s now a free agent, preferring to work without agency affiliation.

Madelyn exemplifies whatever definition we give to work ethic. She’s on time and responsible, I find out from Billy. Madelyn also has an unforgettable personality, there’s not an ounce of sullenness or unhappiness in her. Who would not want her on the set?

It’s time to head over to watch this sweetheart work. Madelyn is doing conventional boy/girl: missionary and doggie with a bit of crotch rubbing thrown in, not to mention the money maker, oral. What makes it fall together? Madelyn, pure and simple, her energy sells this day.

Perfect Girl-Next-Door

Madelyn Monroe plays strictly to the camera in true gonzo fashion. She is an effortless performer, or so it seems. She actually works very hard to make her performance appear natural, spontaneous, and fluid. The well-shaped cutie seduces the viewer with conversation and when the penetrations take place (mish on the Ottoman and doggie on the floor) she turns into a screamer, punctuated with quick gasps and moans. Her volume literally bounces off the set’s partitions. The moment a break occurs, Madelyn’s demeanor shifts instantly as her male co-star withdraws from her open legs and backs away. Forever smiling, she is now relaxed and quiet, awaiting more direction. Madelyn’s telltale vocal cords are on hold and anxious to get started again. The often illusionary real orgasm is part of the porn fantasy.

After the shoot, a pensive Madelyn Photo by Bill Knight

After the shoot, a pensive Madelyn.
Photo by Bill Knight

Madelyn Monroe turns ecstasy into a slutty word. Billy understands the power of expression and focuses much attention on Madelyn’s face during the sex. Meanwhile, her male talent is the perfect example of a stunt dick. He’s virtually invisible and later says that is just how he likes it. In one position during the shoot, the camera is looking over his right shoulder directly down at Madelyn laboring away on her knees. The POV angle is to encourage the viewer to “feel” Madelyn’s performance. Her male co-star’s face is obscured by an extension from the main part of the camera while Billy’s chin is practically resting on his shoulder. His eyes are closed much of the time and I suspect, as Big Wire commented earlier, he’s in his own fantasy of sexual delight, dissociated from this moment.

The men on this day work frequently for Billy; all are local talent. Big Wire comes in a few times per month and would like more. Later when I locate Madelyn’s co-star (Billy later identifies him as Mr. POV) sitting in solitude on a darkened set away from everyone, he stresses his anonymity. He’s performed since 2001 and has been with Billy for four years. He “works around my schedule,” Mr. POV says. There is a second male in Madelyn’s shoot who steps in at the end to add to her facial. Rob Banks affirms what the other guys have said, it’s tough to find bookings and a call from Billy is always welcome.

In our brief conversation, Rob shares his thoughts on my question about his role in the shoot. Neither of us can figure it out and laugh a bit. My observation about the male talent is they are reliable, wait patiently, and do exactly what they are paid to do. They never have problems maintaining “wood” which may be natural or chemically assisted. I can’t say definitively because I don’t ask.

Billy does the behind the scenes with Madelyn immediately after her shoot. Still kneeling in front of the ottoman where Billy sits, she jokes that she didn’t want her eyes to sting (later she complains ever so slightly when she checks for redness). They discuss her ability to tell what a guy ate that day from the taste of his ejaculate and how she has no dating life. Mirroring Billy’s reaction, I find that hard to believe. Madelyn is the perfect girl-next-door with a hidden hell-bent-for-leather eagerness to please.

Back in the make-up room Madelyn’s puckish dimples continue to glow. She’s got an impishness that reminds me of the neighborhood lass who teases the boys then jumps behind the garage with one of them. Mischief is written all over her even after she changes out of her porno heels and short skirt into sweats. Oh yes, her shoot was condom-only. Let’s hear it for safer sex.

That’s My Day

The Smut Den is one of the easiest going workplaces I’ve ever experienced. Everyone is joking, Andy and Madelyn walk around in various states of undress (very common in porn), Doron continues his editing while Billy gets out the checkbook. Maggie wanders around, a cross between bored and slightly humored.

The Smut Den verifies what I have always thought about the adult business. The people who make porn are as everyday as the rest of us, perhaps more so.

Twenty-three-year-old porn veteran Gracie Glam stops by to pick up Andy and I introduce myself. After Gracie strips off some of her duds, Billy takes a few minutes to do some quick polaroids for his private collection. In the meantime I discover that I’ve missed an email from Tara Lynn Foxx about dinner. I’m sure she would have stopped by the Smut Den as she is a veteran of blacksonblondes and like everyone else, loves Billy Watson. The hour is later than the former college instructor had planned so everyone is gathering up their stuff.

“That’s my day,” he says, as we head out. Billy will join us for a few steps at least. Maggie needs a walk.

Maggie Photo by Bill Knight

Maggie
Photo by Bill Knight

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November 6, 2013 · 4:54 pm

Maggie in the Smut Den

by Rich Moreland, November 2013

This is the first installment of a two part series on my visit to the dogfart/fabulouscash.com studio in downtown LA.

*          *          *         *          *

“I’m in the back alley. When you walk to my studio, you’ll think you’re scoring crack” reads the text I just received.

A warehouse hidden within the sprawl of Los Angeles weaves images of film noire and Sam Spade. Film is an illusion, is it not? Two days ago an elderly couple showed me Humphrey Bogart’s house: dark, mysterious, imposing, and right next door in the old Hollywoodland development where they’ve lived for decades.

Visions of Sam’s toughest case, The Maltese Falcon with Bogart, Mary Astor, and Peter Lorre float in its rarefied air.

Now it’s crack alley where the illusion plays out in another film venue unknown in Bogart’s day. Might Sam Spade have visited this very street sixty years ago with a femme fatale playing hide and seek with his suspicions?

The roll up door is raised and the Smut Den breathes in the street air. Billy Watson introduces himself with a charm that is only exceeded by Maggie, his femme fatale. I was tipped off that she’d steal me away with a single look. Maggie is no illusion, she’s the real deal. If I could keep my hands off her, I might learn a little something about internet pornography.

Though Billy’s a one-man show, his editor Doron is a jack of all trades whose presence keeps the work pace running smoothly. Dorons’s theminion.com is part of the Dogfartnetwork, an internet powerhouse of twenty-two sites that explores all avenues of interracial porn. Today Billy is shooting a glory hole scene for dogfart and another boy/girl for his own site, fabulouscash.com. The websites share the studio space with dogfart’s influence its guiding force.

Deron Doing the Editing photo by Bill Knight

Doron doing the editing
Photo by Bill Knight

The physically imposing Doron (food is not foreign to him) tells me he and Billy have been together for a while, having met through the late Chico Wang. Doron’s hand is in much of what the internet world demands of a porn business: twitter updates, MGP movie galleries, and “Behind the Scenes” and trailer links.

When the girls show up, the green screen is first. That’s Doron’s baby. He writes the short script and interviews each featured girl. The green screen is the browsing fan’s intro to what’s available. The girl talks to the camera with brief inserts of her performance shown in the background. If this brief five minutes doesn’t resonate with the paying members, the shoot is a dud. The girl needs a smidgen of acting ability to sell her image because female bodies in porn proliferate. Personality is the linchpin that captures the fan.

We have some time before the first girl arrives. Billy sits down for a few minutes to chat. Maggie is never far away. There’s little doubt she’s the glue that keeps the easygoing atmosphere of the Smut Den amiable to everyone.

Jim Talks Business Photo by Bill Knight

Billy talks business
Photo by Bill Knight

Green Screen

Andy San Dimas checks in for the first shoot. It’s old home week because Andy and I are from the same metro DC community. We have connections through the college where I teach. She was a student there for a time.

A pornoland veteran, Andy San Dimas has perfected the art of sexiness. Doron’s affability says it best, “Seeing Andy is like tempting me to convert to Christianity.” Now that’s power.

Andy Joins the Conversation Photo by Bill Knight

Andy arrives
Photo by Bill Knight

Andy’s quick to the make-up chair. She’s already a bit late and, as they say, time is money. Her male talent in the scene, Big Wire, has been hanging around for a while.

Within minutes Andy heads over to the green screen where Doron, who performed in the industry from 2004-06, has the narrative ready. Andy entices the viewer with a sultry voice that could melt the ice at the Iditarod finish line. With the vaguest hint of sloe-eyed poutiness and a wellspring of pure sexuality, the twenty-seven-year-old is an expert at the art of seduction A tilt of the head here, another with the shoulder there, and the fan is ready to pay to see her play.

Out in Six Months

The Smut Den is has a handful of sets so a seat is never far away. Finding a roomy couch, my photographer Bill and I have a brief time with Billy while Doron takes care of paperwork. Blood tests have to be reviewed before shooting begins and checking off 2257 forms is the bane of the industry. Maggie gets comfortable and Billy alerts me that a single touch will get me in trouble. I remember that Casey Calvert, who loves shooting in the Smut Den, similarly forewarned me. Did Bogart feel this way about his femme fatales?

Billy and I have professorial backgrounds so conversation is easy. He shoots with condoms because it’s the law, he says, but I suspect there is a desire within him to protect the talent. He shares my opinion about age twenty-one, something I originally got from porn historian Bill Margold. Veteran talent like Tara Lynn Foxx, Dana DeArmond, and Bobbi Starr also expressed similar feelings to me.

Billy explains that girls in their late teens are “eager and dumb” and jump into the industry with no preparation. They rarely understand their own sexuality and sex on camera for pay can turn into an emotional and psychological slippery slope. They’re kids having “wacky sex too soon,” Billy says, doing every “crazy fetish” out there. Unfortunately, most are too immature to save their money. Taking in $15,000-$20,000 per month as a new hot product is overwhelming, Billy adds, and many newbies leave the biz having spent it all and then some.

“What’s the average life of a porn girl,” I ask.

“Eighty percent are out in six to seven months,” Billy says.

He mentions the specter of escorting which faces every girl if she shoots over the long haul. The “Porn Star Experience” is a powerful seducer for a sweetie who can get instant cash for minimal amount of effort. Shooting for hours is far more difficult than conversation and a few minutes of sex with a moneyed john.

A Change of Plans

Billy Watson and I compare our minimalist histories of porn watching and admit we knew little about it when we were introduced to the industry. Billy entered by happenstance through a friend who worked affiliate programs, guiding traffic to websites and getting a take from each member. The most common tactic was to steal content or lease it by licensing a DVD, then resell and resell some more. It was fast money early on.

Before the Shooting the Stills Photo by Bill Knight

Chatting about the early days in porn
Photo by Bill Knight

In the late 1990s getting the content was a breeze because the studios regarded the internet as a joke . Copy six scenes from a DVD then “burn them and turn them into digital and put them on your website,” Billy says. That was his friend’s game.

As for Billy, his professional goal was a tenured teaching position and a finished novel under his belt. But that bubble burst, leaving dream residue all over his face. The real money, it turn outs, would be a pop shot all over a girl’s face.

So he joined the internet flood. The goal was a constant money flow. “Keep ‘em happy for thirty days,” Billy explains, and use “an army of affiliates.” He maintained his site and got payment from a membership list that reached into the thousands.

By the mid-2000s the big guys caught on and copying content was more difficult. Original work moved to the front of the queue. Exclusive content was now the show.

Billy leaves his Arizona home where he was shooting amateurs and joins his friend. At the time, cyberspace cinematographers had an unexpected financial perk. The internet was cheaper when it came to hiring the models. Agencies received a grand for the girls on DVD sets; they sent them to internet shoots for thirty percent less.

The recession came and content piracy hurt the porn business in spades. Today it is tougher than ever. “People like ripping us off because we’re the bad guys,” Billy says, “exploiting and raping the girls, doing horrible things to girls. Hence we deserve to be the victims of theft.”

Of course, shooting original material has always led to infringement of some variety and will most likely plague the industry well into the future.

Fortunately today’s paying members support the industry and the models, Billy says. The problem is the “non-paying guys” who believe they have the “right” to get content for free.

In time Billy got into his present studio and dabbled in still photography along with filming. He owns his website and directs for blacksonblondes which generates much of his income. On this Monday afternoon, Andy is doing a glory hole episode. No condoms because Billy has to abide by his boss’s preferences.

Madelyn Monroe will arrive shortly to shoot for Billy’s website and safer sex will be on scene. But first a look at Andy as she gets to down and dirty.

The ever present Maggie watches it all. Like Sam Spade, weakness overcomes me. I touch and it’s cool . . .

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