http://business.avn.com/articles/ en Copyright 1983-2010 AVN Media Network. All Rights Reserved. AVN is a registered trademark of AVN Media Network, Inc. webmaster@avn.com (AVN Webmaster) http://business.avn.com/articles/Stars-Shine-on-Sunset-Strip-for-FSC-Freedom-Party-410708.html The Sunset Strip is legendary across the world for sex and rock ‘n’ roll. Last night’s Freedom Party at the Whisky a Go Go, presented by Hustler Hollywood to benefit the Free Speech Coalition, added yet another chapter in the Boulevard’s debauched history. webmaster@avn.com (AVN Webmaster) http://business.avn.com/articles/Stars-Shine-on-Sunset-Strip-for-FSC-Freedom-Party-410708.html Thu, 02 September 2010 19:53:21 PDT http://business.avn.com/articles/Utherverse-Launches-Casino-for-U-S-Users-410705.html 3D virtual world platform Utherverse has opened a casino in Red Light Center for users in the United States. The Tiberius Casino launched in early August, but the company has started to promote it only recently. webmaster@avn.com (AVN Webmaster) http://business.avn.com/articles/Utherverse-Launches-Casino-for-U-S-Users-410705.html Thu, 02 September 2010 17:29:28 PDT http://business.avn.com/articles/Mr-Marcus-40th-Party-Set-for-Fri-Night-410547.html Renaissance cocksman Mr. Marcus turns 40 this Saturday, and plans to get the celebration started with a bash Friday evening at H.Wood nightclub in the center of Hollywood. webmaster@avn.com (AVN Webmaster) http://business.avn.com/articles/Mr-Marcus-40th-Party-Set-for-Fri-Night-410547.html Thu, 02 September 2010 16:16:03 PDT http://business.avn.com/articles/Let-the-Games-Begin-2011-AVN-Awards-Pre-Nom-Site-Now-Open-410309.html AVN Media Network has launched the pre-nomination site for the 2011 AVN Awards Show. webmaster@avn.com (AVN Webmaster) http://business.avn.com/articles/Let-the-Games-Begin-2011-AVN-Awards-Pre-Nom-Site-Now-Open-410309.html Thu, 02 September 2010 16:00:00 PDT http://business.avn.com/articles/Aussie-Anti-porn-Legislator-Embroiled-in-Porn-viewing-Scandal-410527.html Australia’s answer to Pat Robertson, the Reverend Fred Nile, has been accused of visiting pornography and gambling websites on his parliament computers. webmaster@avn.com (AVN Webmaster) http://business.avn.com/articles/Aussie-Anti-porn-Legislator-Embroiled-in-Porn-viewing-Scandal-410527.html Thu, 02 September 2010 14:59:41 PDT http://business.avn.com/articles/Ca-Assembly-Passes-New-Anti-Paparazzi-Law-Arnie-s-Signature-Expected-410429.html Amendments intended to curb the excesses of the paparazzi will soon become law, if, as expected, Governor Schwarzenegger signs the just-passed legislation. webmaster@avn.com (AVN Webmaster) http://business.avn.com/articles/Ca-Assembly-Passes-New-Anti-Paparazzi-Law-Arnie-s-Signature-Expected-410429.html Thu, 02 September 2010 12:25:20 PDT http://business.avn.com/articles/Pleasure-Dynasty-Inks-HD-Distro-Deal-with-Coastline-Licensing-410425.html Pleasure Dynasty has inked a deal with Coastline Licensing to distribute the studio’s high-definition catalog worldwide. Coastline will manage the company’s exclusive broadcast rights and non-exclusively across all other content delivery platforms. webmaster@avn.com (AVN Webmaster) http://business.avn.com/articles/Pleasure-Dynasty-Inks-HD-Distro-Deal-with-Coastline-Licensing-410425.html Thu, 02 September 2010 12:19:31 PDT http://business.avn.com/articles/Zero-Tolerance-Announces-Ambitious-Slate-of-Thriller-Parodies-410412.html Zero Tolerance aims to corner the thriller parody genre by releasing a slew of movies in this burgeoning niche. First up is The Official Friday the 13th Parody, streeting Oct. 25, just in time for Halloween. webmaster@avn.com (AVN Webmaster) http://business.avn.com/articles/Zero-Tolerance-Announces-Ambitious-Slate-of-Thriller-Parodies-410412.html Thu, 02 September 2010 11:55:51 PDT http://business.avn.com/articles/Topco-Sales-Introduces-Six-New-Sensual-Sets-410391.html Leading adult novelty manufacturer Topco Sales welcomes the newest additions to its Penthouse branded line of products: Penthouse Secrets Bath Bliss and the Penthouse Couples Satin & Scented Bondage Kit. webmaster@avn.com (AVN Webmaster) http://business.avn.com/articles/Topco-Sales-Introduces-Six-New-Sensual-Sets-410391.html Thu, 02 September 2010 10:58:00 PDT http://business.avn.com/articles/A-Hollywood-Film-Based-on-the-Life-of-Reuben-Sturman-410370.html A biopic on the life of legendary pornographer Rueben Sturman is reportedly in the works, according to an article in the Hollywood Reporter. webmaster@avn.com (AVN Webmaster) http://business.avn.com/articles/A-Hollywood-Film-Based-on-the-Life-of-Reuben-Sturman-410370.html Thu, 02 September 2010 08:46:03 PDT

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—An article in the Hollywood Reporter Wednesday noted the upcoming writing projects for Hollywood screenwriter Adam Mazer, who just won an Emmy for the Al Pacino vehicle You Don't KNow Jack, about Dr, Jack Kevorkian. Following a project on car-maker John DeLorean, Mazer, a Philadelphia native, is set to pen a biopic about Reuben Sturman, the legendary porn king who built an empire from the 1960s to the late 1980s, when he was finally jailed by the feds on tax charges.

The picture is currently titled Rube, and according to HR, will be "based on the late Reuben Sturman, who in the 1950s began selling 'girlie magazines' in Ohio, imported porn from Europe and brought peep shows to America. Despite legal challenges, he became a billionaire in the 1970s but got into business with the Gotti mob in New York, ended up in jail and died penniless."

Sturman died in a federal prison in Kentucky on Oct. 27, 1997, while serving a 10-year sentence for tax evasion. His status as a First Amendment hero in the adult industry is so great that AVN named its free speech award after him.

According to many accounts of the government's persecution of Sturman starting in 1964, when the FBI made its first raid on one of his warehouses in Cleveland, federal prosecutor Bruce Taylor is the man most responsible for targeting and finally getting Sturman.

But in a 2004 article in AVN on Taylor, legendary defense attorney H. Louis Sirkin said the truth lies elsewhere.

"I don't believe he was directly involved in the convictions on Reuben Sturman," Sirkin said. "The one who was responsible for convicting Reuben was Craig Morford, who was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Ohio. Bruce was not one of the prosecutors on the case."

Morford, the article states, was the prosecutor on Sturman's tax evasion case; the first time the government had managed to convict Sturman of anything. Sturman and attorney J. Michael Murray faced Taylor in a federal obscenity case in 1991, which Murray remembers well.

"What happened was, the case went to trial for almost three months, and the jury came back with a not-guilty verdict on one count, and it was a hung jury on all the other counts," Murray stated. "As I recall, the split on the jury was, there were more for acquittal than conviction, so Bruce Taylor tried that case on the other side of me and he got nothing out of it. What happened was, later on, rather than go through a retrial—and I think I negotiated this with Mary Speering, but Taylor might have been involved—at that juncture, Reuben had lost his tax case, and so we entered a plea in the obscenity case and got a concurrent sentence, which meant that he basically didn't do any punishment for that case."

Sirkin, of course, was a part of the legal team—along with Paul Cambria and Allan Gelbard—that just won an important victory against the government in Washington, D.C., in the John Stagliano/Evil Angel obscenity trial, which ended in an acquittal. And Murray is also still very much in the saddle, currently working on an appeal in the Free Speech Coalition challenge to the government's 2257 regulations.

As Mazer, who recently referred to Sturman as "a nice Jewish businessman" from Cleveland, dives into the project, apparently using Eric Schlosser's book, Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market, as one piece of source material, it will be interesting to see whether this biopic reflects the reality of Sturman's life, and not just the most sensational headlines.

Considering Mazer's love of biography—he refers to himself as a "biography kind of guy"—it may have a better than even shot.

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—New Sensations has introduced a new line aimed at fans of real lesbian sex called the Sappho Series. The new series debuts with the release of The Interns.

Directed by Eddie Powell and Chloe Sampson, The Interns chronicles the sex and struggles of a group of interns for a haute couture fashion magazine. The high-end lesbian feature stars Julia Ann, Samantha Ryan, Sara Stone, Charlie Laine, Allie Haze, Zoe Britton, Avy Scott, Zoe Voss, Violet Monroe and Michelle Lay.

To view the trailer for movie, click here.

“Since the first stages of production on The Interns, it was extremely important to us to involve consumers in the movie making process,” co-director Sampson said. “We've been active on blogs and forums immersing ourselves in what the lesbian community wants from their erotica. It's that connection which makes the outstanding reviews we've received all the more exciting, and we are moving into the production on the second Sappho Series title with great confidence."

Initial buzz on the movie is extremely positive. LezLoveVideo.com, an online authority of lesbian erotica called it a “landmark release.”

“Okay, stop the presses,” the site said in its review. “Every once in a great while, a pause is needed to observe a landmark release in the world of lesbian adult video. The release of The Interns marks just such an occasion.  I can only hope this is kicking off the first of many such releases from this production label from New Sensations.”

The movie’s plot follows Julia Ann, editor-in-chief of Haute Couture fashion magazine, as an icy woman who constantly tests the resolve and desire of her interns to succeed.  Samantha (Ryan), one of the lucky girls to land the exclusive internship, will do anything to get ahead. Ruth (Zoe Britton), Samantha’s main competition, sets out to use the naive Allie (Haze) to set Samantha up for a fall from grace. Little does Ruth know she has stepped on one too many toes, and sister interns Zoe (Voss) and Violet (Monroe) have it out for her. Who will break their heel and fall off the runway?

The Sappho Series, named after the lesbian Greek poet Sappho, from the island of Lesbos, is written for women by women.  According to New Sensations, the series offers an alternative in lesbian adult entertainment—premier, high budget, all-girl erotica.

For more information, call the company’s vice president of global sales Belle Casten at (800) 748-6767, ext. 307, or email sales@newsensations.com.

Posted Sep 1st, 2010 02:25 PM

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—AVN Media Network has launched the pre-nomination site for the 2011 AVN Awards Show. Producers, manufacturers and retailers should immediately request access to the site in order to submit their movies, products, outlets and other entities for awards consideration.

The 28th AVN Awards Show is scheduled for Jan. 8 at The Pearl Concert Theatre inside the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. This year, for the first time, the AVN Awards will include categories honoring adult retailers, distributors and novelty manufacturers.

In order to be eligible for a 2011 award nomination, a movie or product must be released by Sept. 30. To qualify for consideration, it must be in stock with either 10 wholesale distributors or 100 retail stores. The eligibility period includes any movie or product released between Oct. 1, 2009 and Sept. 30, 2010.

To access the pre-nom site, candidates must first establish a user account on AVN.com (if they do not already have one) by entering their email address at this link: https://secure.avn.com/account/register/. Once you submit the form a confirmation email will be sent to you at the address you entered. You must click the link in the confirmation email to activate your account.

Once you have an activated AVN.com user account, you must request access to the pre-nomination site by clicking this link:

http://www.avn.com/prenom-request-form/

Users will be notified of their access with an email. If approved for access, they will also be provided a link in this email to the secret pre-nom site address. The site will remain open until 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1.

AVN strongly suggests you begin submitting your nominations now and continue to do so through the month of September as there will be no extensions of the deadline. Once a password is activated, you can go to the site as many times as necessary.

“Feel free to start entering your pre-noms for all product released to this point and then just add the September material as it’s ready,” said Paul Fishbein, AVN founder. “This way you are not struggling to get everything in at the last minute."

AVN asks producers and manufacturers to be judicious in their pre-noms, submitting only those titles and items they strongly believe have a chance at being nominated rather than submitting all product released during the eligibility period.

Production companies must supply AVN with all pertinent information in their pre-nom entries, including the full stage names of all the performers in the sex scenes and the names of all the behind-the-camera professionals in the technical categories such as editing, cinematography, music and others.

By Oct. 1, AVN asks that producers send two (2) DVD copies of each movie or series it would like considered, as well as sample materials used in marketing campaigns if seeking consideration in those categories. Novelty companies should also provide two (2) samples of each product they would like considered. All items should be mailed or hand-delivered to:

AVN Media Network

9400 Penfield Ave.

Chatsworth, CA 91311

Attn: Nominations

Retailers are welcome to pre-nom any wholesale distributor they feel is worthy of being nominated. Similarly, manufacturers and distributors are free to pre-nominate retailers in the various categories for consideration.

The award categories are as follows, though they are subject to change:

Video/DVD Categories

Best 3D Release

Best Actor

Best Actress

Best All-Girl Release

Best All-Girl Series

Best All-Girl Couples Sex Scene

Best All-Girl Three-Way Sex Scene

Best All-Girl Group Sex Scene

Best All-Sex Release

Best All-Sex Series

Best Alternative Release

Best Amateur Release

Best Amateur Series

Best Anal Release

Best Anal Series

Best Anal Sex Scene

Best Animated Release

Best Art Direction

Best BDSM Release

Best Big Bust Release

Best Big Bust Series

Best Big Butt Release

Best Big Butt Series

Best Cinematography

Best Classic Release

Best Comedy

Best Couples Sex Scene

Best Director, Ethnic Video

Best Director, Feature

Best Director, Foreign Feature

Best Director, Foreign Non-Feature

Best Director, Non-Feature

Best Double Penetration Sex Scene

Best DVD Extras

Best DVD Menus

Best Educational Release

Best Editing

Best Ethnic Release, Asian

Best Ethnic Release, Black

Best Ethnic Release, Latin

Best Ethnic Series, Asian

Best Ethnic Series, Black

Best Ethnic Series, Latin

Best Feature

Best Fem-Dom Strap-On Release

Best Foot/Leg Fetish Release

Best Foreign All-Sex Release

Best Foreign All-Sex Series

Best Foreign Feature

Best Gonzo Release

Best Gonzo Series

Best Group Sex Scene

Best High-End All-Sex Release

Best Interactive DVD

Best Internal Release

Best Internal Series

Best Interracial Release

Best Interracial Series

Best Makeup

Best Male Newcomer

Best MILF Release

Best MILF Series

Best Music Soundtrack

Best New Line

Best New Series

Best New Starlet

Best New Video Production Company

Best Non-Sex Performance

Best On-Line Marketing Campaign, Company Image

Best On-Line Marketing Campaign, Individual Project

Best Oral Release

Best Oral Series

Best Oral Sex Scene

Best Orgy/Gangbang Release

Best Orgy/Gangbang Series

Best Original Song

Best Overall Marketing Campaign, Company Image

Best Overall Marketing Campaign, Individual Project

Best Packaging

Best Packaging Innovation

Best Parody

Best POV Release

Best POV Series

Best POV Sex Scene

Best Pro-Am Release

Best Pro-Am Series

Best Renting Title of the Year

Best Screenplay

Best Selling Title of the Year

Best Sex Scene in a Foreign-Shot Production

Best Solo Release

Best Solo Sex Scene

Best Spanking Release

Best Special Effects

Best Specialty Release, Other Genre

Best Specialty Series, Other Genre

Best Squirting Release

Best Squirting Series

Best Supporting Actor

Best Supporting Actress

Best Tease Performance

Best Three-Way Sex Scene

Best Transsexual Release

Best Transsexual Series

Best Vignette Release

Best Vignette Series

Best Young Girl Release

Best Young Girl Series

Clever Title of the Year

Director of the Year (Body of Work)

Female Foreign Performer of the Year

Female Performer of the Year

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame (Founders Branch)

The Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year

Male Foreign Performer of the Year

Male Performer of the Year

MILF/Cougar Performer of the Year

Most Outrageous Sex Scene

Reuben Sturman Awards

Transsexual Performer of the Year

Unsung Starlet of the Year

Unsung Male Performer of the Year

Novelty Categories

Best Fetish Product

Best Lingerie or Apparel Company

Best Overall Sex Toy Line

Best Packaging

Best Party, Game or Gag Product

Best Sex Accessory

Best Sex Toy Company

Best Sex Toy for Couples

Best Sex Toy for Men

Best Sex Toy for Women

Hall of Fame (Pleasure Product Branch)

Retail Categories

Best Adult Distributor (East)

Best Adult Distributor (West)

Best Boutique (East)

Best Boutique (West)

Best Retail Chain

Best Retail Store (East)

Best Retail Store (West)

Web Categories

Best Alternative Website

Best Dating Website

Best Live Chat Website

Best Membership Website

Best New Web Starlet

Best Porn Star Website

Best Retail Website

Best VOD Website

Hall of Fame (Internet Founders Branch)

Web Starlet of the Year

For a description of each category, click here.

Posted Sep 1st, 2010 02:24 PM

CHINO, Calif.—Summer may be drawing to a close, but California Exotic Novelties continues to turn up the heat with feature-packed new products, released this week.

The new Automatic Precision Pump is totally automatic: No more pumping, no more squeezing … just push the button and the motorized pump does the rest. With a pistol-grip controller, seamless flanged 3-inch (8 cm) oversized diameter cylinder with measures, and a flexible non-crimping hose, what more could a man ask for? Additionally, a free point-of-sale sign designed to show off this new item is available.

The new Lover's Delight Ele enhancer provides double support for him, and resonating triple-point vibrations for her. The Lover's Delight Nubby provides sturdy support for him, and tantalizing vibrating nubbies for her. Both of these new items are perfect for couple's play, and the Safe and Pure TPR/TPE is a sure bet for durability and secure use.

The new super slim, soft, and flexible Pure Silicone B.O.B. (Battery Operated Buddy) features 10 extreme functions, and a powerful motor in the tip. A state-of-the-art memory chip resumes the last function used, and the added ticklers at the base add pleasure beyond compare.

Be sure to call your CalExotics sales representative today for these, or any, California Exotic Novelties products, or visit CalExotics.com.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.—If its application is approved by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, Scores Atlantic City will become the only gentlemen’s club operating in a casino in the gaming hub, an advantage that could reap big rewards for the company. The application to open a club in the Trump-owned Taj Mahal Casino Hotel was submitted Aug. 27 by Starlight Events, which, according to the application, is operated by the same individual who owns a controlling interest in New York City gentlemen’s club Scores New York, which opened 18 months ago, and Penthouse Executive Club, which has been in existence for eight years.

As of the filing of the application, Starlight is reportedly still negotiating with the Taj Mahal, but the details of the planned club are laid out in the application, and is imagined as being similar to the Scores New York club. The physical location will be in the former Stage Deli space, on the second level of the Taj Mahal, taking up approximately 9,800 square feet of inside space with an adjacent outdoor patio area of about 5,400 square feet.

“It will be a richly furnished, first class, exceptional facility consistent with the Scores brand,” reads the application. “A significant admission fee and dress code for patrons will be enforced. However, unlike the New York facility, the Atlantic City operation will not include a restaurant, and the entertainment offered will be only as permitted by the rules and regulations of the New Jersey licensing and regulatory authorities.”

In fact, the differences will be significant. New York allows topless dancing in adult entertainment clubs, but New Jersey does not in any business dispensing alcohol. To comply with the law, the application states, “Entertainers start their performance in an evening gown, and by the end of the dance, generally will be clothed in a g-string or thong bottom and pasties.”

Lap dances will be allowed, but within clear parameters that include the same clothing restrictions as dancers on stage, and prohibit patrons from touching the dancers other than to put money in “a garter worn by the dancer. Entertainers are permitted to tastefully touch patrons as part of the table dance routine, but only with their hands, only in passing, and only on their shoulders, arms, neck and head.”

According to pressofatlanticcity.com, “Starlight expects to create 80 to 100 full-time jobs for hosts, bartenders and service staff, as well as 150 to 200 contracting jobs for entertainers and DJs.”

A timeline for a decision by the commission is unknown, but a Starlight attorney said the project would require about six months and $3 million worth of construction before the club would be ready to open.

A copy of the application can be read here.

Posted Sep 1st, 2010 01:56 PM

LOS ANGELES—SexToy.com is launching two new content series that will include top lists of everything you need to know about sex toys as well a series of correlation graphs based on the company’s adult toy sales data.

This content series provides a fun way to look at the world of sex toys while giving customers and industry analysts interesting editorial information on sex toys as well as the adult toy industry.

“I’m extremely excited by this new content series we’ve produced because they’re not only interesting, but also entertaining,” said Sex Toy Dave, CEO of SexToy.com. “The first of the content series is organized into top 10 lists based on sex toys. These lists are somewhat tongue in cheek, like our ‘Top 10 lists of sex toys you can use to accent your home.’

“The second set of content is sales data graphs from SexToy.com itself,” he continued. “We take a look at events that happen around the world and we show how they affect our sales data in a line graph. Did you know that toy cleaner sales increased in Louisiana during the BP oil spill? Correlation does not imply causation, but facts like this can be interesting.”

This content will be updated on a weekly basis and may be syndicated by affiliates as well as bloggers and news sources.

For more information about these series, email Dave@CNV.com or call (310)-358-0932.

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—For the producers of HBO's Entourage to lend a little verisimilitude to Sasha Grey's portrayal of herself on the show, it was only natural that they would eventually enlist other adult talent to appear. (Albeit any concern over accuracy apparently took a swan dive out the window when it came to the pivotal plot point of Sasha's commanding $200,000 for a gangbang movie.)

In this Sunday's season-closing episode, 2007 AVN Male Performer of the Year Tommy Gunn fills that slot, so to speak ... though unlike Sasha, he plays an altogether fictional character. The name of the character—an ex-boyfriend of Sasha's working with her in the lavishly budgeted gangbang movie—happens, coincidentally enough, to be Vince; that, of course, being the name of the show's main character, played by Adrian Grenier, with whom Sasha took up in episode five of this season.

"What's funny was, I got a call from somebody who said, 'They're looking for a Tommy Gunn-type porn star,'" Gunn told AVN. "A guy who's rough around the edges and somebody who can intimidate Vince."

Marking his first outing on a mainstream production, Gunn compared the operation to those in Porn Valley as being "tremendously organized, and a lot more people. But everybody was tremendously kind, and even expressed, 'Yo, I'm a fan!' The experience was great. I just hope it's the beginning of some other stuff, because I'm just yearning for more of a challenge."

Gunn was quick to note that in no way does he harbor any intentions of turning his back on the XXX business.

"The adult industry is wonderful, but I just don't feel like there's enough things that are challenging," he explained. "I'll always come from adult, I'll always know where I came from. I'm just going to really gear up to try to keep this momentum going and try to get well received in the mainstream. The lines are getting more and more blurred, and we're seeing it happen. I just hope mainstream does their homework, in the respect that when they do call upon somebody from the adult industry it's not some guy who just started, or a female for that matter.

"Some of the people in the industry could care less—'Yeah, I'm in porn 'cause I want to be in porn.' And that's great, and me too, but for myself, this many years later, I just see it as a natural progression for me to try and move to the next level," Gunn asserted.

Some might hastily laugh off such ambitions as so much pie-in-the-sky folly, but let's be perfectly frank here: if The Rock can do it—or Ice Cube, or, well, Sasha Grey—why in the world can't Tommy Gunn?

"People ain't even ready for what I'm capable of," he proclaimed, "in terms of, not even the acting, [but] the physicality of certain things. I want to be an action guy. I want to do the action stuff, the Jason Statham, Crank-style stuff, and I can do that. I've been real quiet about a lot of things because of a number of reasons, but I'm hooked up with top Hollywood stunt guys and a Toronto-based guy, the guy who just did Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. These are the relationships that I'm cultivating and they have told me, 'We see a mainstream appeal to you.' And the way the times are happening, it's pop culture for porn stars to be crossing over."

Again, Gunn stressed that, "I'm trying to be a spokesperson for our industry, not say, 'Oh, I hate it and want to get out.' That's certainly not how I feel. It's just, from an actor's or an artist's point of view, there's a thing called 'unfulfilled.' It's like, the day I won Male Performer, I was already like, 'What's the next thing?' Everybody else is like, 'Revel in this, enjoy this moment,' and I am, and I have, but I just hope that I continually get the opportunity. And as a guy, it's tough, because we're always fighting for recognition and some sort of acknowledgement in our industry, 'cause more often than not, we go by the wayside. But I'm still here. I'm still relevant."

Hear Gunn discuss his Entourage appearance and other projects tonight on Playboy Radio's Night Calls with Nicki Hunter and Christy Canyon, broadcast on Sirius and XM Radio.

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—New Sensations today released its latest parody offering, Sex and the City: The Original XXX Parody, a spin-off of the hit HBO show.

Directed by Lee Roy Myers—his last parody for the company—Sex and the City: The Original XXX Parody stars Kayla Paige as Carrie Bradshaw, Bobbi Starr as Charlotte York, Zoe Voss as Miranda Hobbes and AVN Hall of Famer in her comeback role Brittany Andrews as Samantha Jones.

“While the stars of the movie are Kayla, Bobbi, Zoe and Brittany, [designer labels] Cavalli, Dior and Cartier have a large supporting role,” Belle Casten, New Sensations’ vice president of global sales, said. “Sex and the City: The Original XXX Parody offers all the shoes, dresses, purses and gossip, which made the HBO show so popular with women. It also reveals we can be just as racy and sex-crazed as the boys. The mix of class and crudeness appeals to both female and male consumers—a key to our huge pre-orders.”

To view a trailer for the movie, click here, or for a safe-for-work version, click here.

“The trailer is amazing,” Andrews said. “It shows off all the sexiness and humor that motivated me to make a comeback. I couldn’t turn down the role; I was born to play Samantha!”

The plot follows Carrie, who’s asked by longtime beau Mr. Big to move away with him. Her entire sexual life flashes before her eyes. How can Carrie leave New York City? The city is where she had her first threesome … and foursome … and train. Carrie refined her oral techniques uptown and discovered the thrill of handcuffs and whips on the Lower East Side. Is existence outside of NYC even possible without Carrie’s three best friends, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha? Despite all of Carrie’s reasons to stay, she does have one big reason to leave—10 inches big.

For sales information, call Casten at (800) 748-6767, ext. 307, or email sales@newsensations.com.

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Chi Chi LaRue, Sister Roma and Jason Sechrest will vie for the first-ever Personality of the Year award during the 12th annual GAYVN Awards celebration. During the gala evening, the three seasoned entertainers will stamp the proceedings with their own personal touches, doubtless giving new dimension to the term “spectacle.”

GAYVN Hall of Fame director, DJ and drag diva LaRue possesses one of the most recognizable names and faces in the adult entertainment industry. She began her career in the late 1980s working in the publicity department at Catalina Video, a label she later acquired under the auspices of Channel 1 Releasing, which she co-founded in 1998. LaRue directed her first gay adult film for Catalina in 1988, and since then has directed more than 100 others for her own companies and straight adult studio Vivid Entertainment. In 2008, she opened an eponymous boutique on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood, Calif.

In addition to producing and directing award-winning porn, LaRue is known as an outspoken advocate for safer sex in the gay and heterosexual realms. Her larger-than-life DJ persona frequently rocks the house at events worldwide.

“I think fans should vote for me [for Personality of the Year] because I’m everywhere!” she exclaimed. “I am the party. And I want everyone everywhere to have fun. I’ve spent my entire career helping people get off and get down in the bedroom and on the dance floor.”

Sister Roma! There’s No Place Like Rome—who explains her name as a “The Wizard of Oz meets the Pope kind of thing”—has been one of the most outspoken and visible members of San Francisco’s benevolent Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence since 1987. She is an activist-fundraiser and champion of free speech, speaking publicly at demonstrations, colleges and universities, on television and radio and in print about topics including human sexuality, homophobia and the adult entertainment industry. Together with her Sisters, Roma has been on the front lines in the war against HIV and AIDS, raising awareness and funds for various HIV service and educational organizations.

Like LaRue, Roma is everywhere. Whether hosting red-carpet events at awards shows or frazzling straight-man Tim Valenti on their web-based talk show, The Tim and Roma Show, “the world’s most photographed nun” is a one-queen tour de farce. She also serves as the art director for Hot House Entertainment.

“I’m thrilled to be nominated for personality of the year...and just between you and me, I feel like I’ll probably win,” she said. “Everybody knows that I have a fantastic personality. Hell, I have five or six fantastic personalities. It’s true—I’ve been diagnosed.

“I’d like to remind everyone that I will exchange sexual favors for votes,” she added. “Which means if you vote for me I’ll do you a favor and not have sex with you. Otherwise, watch out!”

Sechrest has been called both the Oprah and the Perez Hilton of porn, depending on his mood. Published in entertainment tabloids since the age of 15, he began penning profiles and personality pieces about the men and women of gay and straight porn in 2001 when he launched one of the first adult entertainment blogs, JasonCurious.com. Unabashedly sexual, tremendously difficult to embarrass and annoyingly energetic, Sechrest has snagged half a dozen awards for his site, and Arena magazine labeled him one of the “Top 50 Most Powerful People in Porn” alongside industry luminaries like LaRue, Hugh Hefner and Larry Flynt. He parlayed that success into gigs as a web-based talk show host, nightclub emcee, director, talent agent and publicist.

 “A clown…a clown that is a nun…and me,” he said of the Personality of the Year nominees, tongue firmly in cheek. “I don’t think this should really be a very difficult choice. Clowns are scary. Clowns are evil. I don’t know if you ever saw the movie Stephen King’s IT, but I’m gonna be honest: It made me pee my pants a little when I was a child. Chi Chi LaRue and Sister Roma still make me pee my pants today. And then they lick it up. Sick, twisted, child-eating, pee-loving clowns.

“And me? I’m just a guy who started a little site called JasonCurious.com to try to show who porn stars really are behind the scenes, de-objectifying them by portraying them as human beings instead of objects so…. Your call. Vote it up.”

The Personality of the Year trophy will be awarded to the nominee who, in the eyes of fans, embodies the sexiest, zaniest, most over-the-top non-sexual performer in the gay adult industry. All three nominees will appear on stage during the GAYVN Awards gala, scheduled to take place Sept. 24 in San Francisco’s historic Castro Theatre in conjunction with the annual Folsom Street Fair.

Other events scheduled for the weekend include a bar crawl through the SoMa district, the massive Magnitude party, NakedSword’s “Lockdown” after-party and the fair itself. For a complete schedule of events, visit GAYVNAwards.com.

Industry admission is $100 (email Beth Noonan for details). General admission is $145; VIP admission—which includes priority seating and entrance to the exclusive after-party—is $175. Both general and VIP tickets are available at GAYVNAwards.com.

Posted Aug 31st, 2010 02:08 PM

WASSERBILLIG, Luxembourg—The gay and lesbian market represents a key group of customers for pjur’s core products. Right from the very beginning, the GLBTI community has chosen pjur Original as their preferred silicone lubricant and for 15 years has remained loyal to it. pjur values this relationship with the community and it has been taken into consideration when developing new products.

More than two years ago the pjur Man Series was successfully introduced to the international gay market in addition to the top-seller Original, and together with pjur Backdoor glide and spray plus pjur Power, the line has found true fans.

With such a long history it was an easy decision to support the Gay Games in Cologne. In addition to supplying the 12,000 lanyards each athlete and volunteer received at registration, more than 20,000 product samples were distributed to the local shops along with banners, posters and pjur products.

Gay star Alex Baresi from Titan Media teamed up with pjur staff to distribute pjur Original sachet cards and condoms as give-aways to passersby in Cologne. Baresi also took center stage at the wrestling competition, where he awarded the prizes to some excited recipients.

Ingo Toenges, marketing director for the VIII Gay Games Cologne 2010, said, "We are very thankful for pjur’s support of the eighth Gay Games Cologne 2010. Without the commitment and support provided by companies like pjur, we wouldn’t have been able to finance the Gay Games in Cologne. We hope that pjur will continue to show its commitment to events in the gay-lesbian community in the future and thus serve as a positive role model for other companies."

David Newnham, COO of the pjur group, added, “pjur was delighted to contribute to the experience of 10,000 participants from over 70 countries around the world. We have a long history of supporting the gay community and are very proud to be a part of this great success.”

The Gay Games—the largest sporting and cultural event of its kind worldwide—took place between July 31 and Aug. 7 in Cologne. According to the motto “Be part of it!” everybody could participate—regardless of sexual orientation, gender, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, political convictions, athletic prowess, physical capabilities, age or health status.

For more information, visit pjur.com.

Posted Aug 31st, 2010 02:00 PM

CHARLOTTE, NC.—AEBN, a leader in adult video-on-demand distribution, has obtained exclusive VOD rights to the High Definition version of Inside Little Oral Annie, a 1984 production that will be the first classic adult film to be released in HD.

The painstaking conversion of the film to HD from the original 35 mm negatives was done by Video-X-Pix, owner of an extensive collection of older "sexploitation" films. It will be available exclusively on www.aebn.net beginning in mid-September.

"The conversion to HD of this beautifully preserved master is a really remarkable achievement and AEBN is honored to have the exclusive VOD rights to one of the great adult movies from the golden age of erotic entertainment," said Jerry Anders, vice president for sales and marketing at AEBN. "The star of the movie, who was known as Little Oral Annie, was a world-class talent in lingual stimulation, as her name implies, and this movie demonstrates skills that are unsurpassed even to this day."

According to Steven Morowitz of Video-X-Pix, "The performance of LOA made Linda Lovelace look like a schoolgirl, so this remastering was a work of love. In converting the original master we even had to upgrade some of our equipment to be able to handle the large HD files, which are so big that without the proper connection, the system just chokes up. The HD re-mastering takes up 800 gigabytes of space on our hard drives. It now has a clear picture, crisp edges and true color.

“It was shot by sexploitation veteran Joseph Sarno, who made dozens of ’80s films and video features,” Morowitz continued, “so having good film stock and a talented person behind the camera certainly helps to make a successful picture. Inside Little Oral Annie is a great example of smut in the ’80s and it happens to be our all-time best-selling DVD in the adult market."

Side-by-side comparisons are available at http://distribpixblog.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/35-mm-classic-hd-the-blow-job-queen/.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.—Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem has ruled in favor of a sweeping law that would impose unprecedented restrictions on adult businesses in the state. In denying a temporary restraining order request Friday afternoon by a consortium of adult businesses, Beetem cleared the way for the law to go into effect Saturday.

Among other restrictions, the law prohibits full nudity and the serving of alcohol, forces semi-nude dancers to remain on a stage and at least six feet from patrons—rendering lap dances impossible—prohibits closed-door booths for the viewing of movies, requires that patrons remain within the clear view of employees, and mandates that adult businesses close by midnight.

According to the Associated Press, Judge Beetem said the coalition had failed to show their lawsuit is likely to ultimately succeed or that they will suffer irreparable harm by allowing the law to take effect. The operative word there would seem to be “irreparable.” Thursday, during a hearing before Beetem, lawyers for the businesses insisted that the harm could very well be irreparable, and would certainly seem that way for the employees who will now certainly lose their jobs because of the severe restrictions that are about to be imposed.

But while Beetem acknowledged in his ruling that "the law will undoubtedly change the business practices" of strip clubs, adult video and book stores and other businesses of a sexual nature, and that "they will likely suffer some economic loss,” he added that “economic loss alone does not alter the analysis of the legal issues.”

While that may be true, the economic repercussions will be immediate, according to Gene and Nellie Gruender, who own Passions adult bookstores in Colombia, Marshall Junction and Booneville. The moment the law goes into effect, they will have to lay off two employees who currently work the night shift. The reason is simple. They normally stay open 24 hours a day on Fridays and Saturdays, and will now be required to close at midnight.

Other businesses expect to be similarly impacted, or even more severely.

Rob Call, who owns Rumors Cabaret in Columbia, told the Associated Press that he may have to close on Saturdays altogether. Considering he used to remain open until 4 am, and features between six and 15 dancers a night, the new regulations make business as usual all but impossible.

"By the letter of the law, a great deal of things about the way we operate will have to change," said Call. "We can't have nude dancers anymore, we can't do lap dances anymore, we can't be open after midnight anymore—that alone is going to take a large chunk of our business away."

Despite the cutbacks and forced closures, the plaintiffs are determined to fight on.

"We're not going down without a fight," Nellie Gruender, a former board member of the Free Speech Coalition, told the Daily RFT. "We are going to aggressively fight this. We are going to file a federal appeal.”

AVN has a call into one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, and will follow this case as it develops.The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 3, during which a trial date will be set.

BERLIN—HustlaBall Berlin, scheduled to take place Oct. 21-25, has lined up a slate of top-shelf adult and musical talent to delight attendees during the weekend-long event.

“And most certainly they won’t be just standing around like statues, but deliver extreme action as it won’t be possible in any other city in the world — not just on stage,” said Stephan Müller-Bardone, chief executive officer of organizer SMB-Berlin Events GmbH.

Among the international erotic guests scheduled to appear are gay adult stars Ricky “The Hammer” Sinz, Men Magazine Man of the Year 2010 Samuel Colt, Grabby Award winner Kyle King and Adam Killian, all of whom are Americans; Lucas Entertainment founder and CEO Michael Lucas, a Russian-born naturalized citizen of both the U.S. and Israel; Jordan Fox of France and Germany’s Kriss Stahl. In addition, ethnic studio Flava Works' Breion Diamon, DeAngelo Jackson and Baby Star will attend, as will the men of BerlinStarFilm and “Stallion of the Year 2008” Tony Rosselo. The boys of YoungBastard, Spritzz and EroCreations plan to be on hand, along with Cristian Torrent, Jason Torres, Che, Paul Stagg and the go-go group Luchini Base from Zurich. Rentboy.com models plant to put on a special show.

A number of sought-after European DJ’s also have been contracted to perform during the weekend.

“For our parties the best are just what we need,” Müller-Bardone said. “This goes especially for our jubilee, so  once more we booked the best European DJs. Never before so many top DJs were in Berlin for a Cicuit Party weekend.”

Among those scheduled to appear: Steven Redant from Barcelona, resident DJ at La Demence in Brussels; Fabio White from London, resident at Rapido in Amsterdam; Phil Romano from Rome, often at CIRCUIT in Barcelona; Mike Kelly, resident at Greenkomm in Cologne and a regular at the Mardi Gras in Sydney; Chris Bekker from Berlin, resident at GMF; Ricky Sinz from Chicago, who also is taking part as an erotic star; Flash from Berlin, regular at the Piep-Shows at Kit Kat Club; Christal Coke from Ibiza; Hatem, who has filled the dancefloors of Bangaluu, Tresor and KEN, and HustlaBall’s own resident DJ Redtomcat.

A weekend pass costs 71 euros for regular admission or 151 euros for VIP admission. The passes include Thursday’s opening reception at Hotel Axel and the after-party “Testosteron”: Friday’s HustlaBall Awards show and the HustlaBall itself; Saturday’s HustlaBall after-hours party and the parties FUCT and Salvation; Sunday’s Extasy and Monday’s GMF.

For more information or to obtain tickets, visit HustlaBall.de.

LAS VEGAS—Up-and-coming adult site network DirtyHardDrive is making moves to become a major player in the porn star site realm. The program has added official sites for Andy San Dimas, Tiffany Tyler and Kayla Carrera.

San Dimas, who’s one of the industry’s most buzzed-about performers, known for both her intense sex scenes and juicy feature roles, is working on AndyXXX.com, which is currently home to her free blog and will be the future home of her paysite.

San Dimas stars in Cal Vista’s Alice, X-Play/Digital Sin’s Not Charlie’s Angels XXX and as Lois Lane in Vivid’s upcoming Superman XXX: A Porn Parody.

“I met Rick [Barcode] and his partner Katie Kox at a BBQ at Casa de Teagan in Vegas, and I knew my member site would be a great fit on their network,” San Dimas said. “I couldn’t be any more pleased with the work done for me already.”

In addition to San Dimas, Barcode and DirtyHardDrive is building out sites for starlets Tiffany Tyler and Kayla Carrera. Their two sites currently host free blogs as well, until the full members area launches.

“I want DirtyHardDrive to add the features and advantages for both fans and on the business and technology side to make us a strong competitor to any of the biggest guys, while maintaining the great personal service I give each and every client,” Barcode said. “I work day and night with my team to make each site the best it can be. The future is bright for us.”

The company also has relaunched “Blasian Porn Princess” Jayla Starr’s site.

The DirtyHardCash.com affiliate program features a slew of promo tools, galleries, banners and more. The company is running a special 70 percent revenue share program through Sept. 4.

For more information, email Josh at RockStarPRM@me.com.

Posted Aug 27th, 2010 11:43 AM

VISTA, Calif.—Paradise Marketing and Astroglide revealed today that there have already been multiple winners in the Astroglide Golden Ticket Giveaway, which debuted July 1. All products ordered before Aug. 30 could contain one of the winning tickets, which provide $100 of credit on an American Express Gift Card.

Each carton of the brand's best-selling varieties—original Astroglide, Astroglide X Premium Silicone, Astroglide Strawberry, Astroglide Glycerin and Paraben-Free, Astroglide Warming and Astroglide Natural—is labeled with a Golden Ticket sticker. If the sticker is a winner, the shopper can redeem it for the $100 card.

"We've already had several winners redeem their prizes," Paradise Marketing CEO Dennis Paradise said. "And we can say the stores that have so far sold winning tickets include some of the top adult novelty chains in the country, and we'll continue shipping winning tickets until inventory is depleted. We'll be hearing from new winners for at least the next few months."

The Astroglide Golden Ticket Giveaway was developed to entice shoppers to try a new Astroglide formula or select Astroglide over other brands.

The Astroglide Golden Ticket Giveaway applies to select product ordered until Aug. 30. For promotion details and a full list of participating stores, visit Astroglide.com/goldenticket/.

For order details email info@paradisemarketing.com.

For product details, visit ParadiseMarketing.com.

Posted Aug 27th, 2010 10:52 AM

PITTSBURGH—A “Mailing Obscene Matters” case that stretches back to 2007 was settled Thursday with a plea deal. Right Ascension Inc., operating as AdultDVDEmpire.com, agreed to the terms in federal court, and was sentenced to a two-year probation term and fined $75,000 after pleading guilty to Count One of the charges.

The charge of mailing four obscene DVDs from its Warrendale warehouse to undercover FBI agents in Erie was a mistake, said AdultDVDEmpire’s attorney, Gary Zimmerman, who told the court his client has strict procedures in place to prevent just such an occurrence.

“This isn't a company that's in the business of trying to push the envelope of the First Amendment. The films distributed in this case slipped through those guidelines,” Zimmerman said. “These films negligently went out.”

He added that the company had cooperated with investigators from the beginning of the case and has since removed the sadomasochism category that the charged films were apparently listed under.

“The way they're running the business, this should never happen again,” Zimmerman said.

The federal prosecutor in the case, Pamela Satterfield—fresh off the government’s stinging loss in the Evil Angel/John Stagliano obscenity case—countered that the videos were not your everyday “run-of-the-mill porn.”

The company faced fines of more than $500,000, but the government accepted the much lesser fine of $75,000 because of the fact that the company had made less than $500 from the sale of the DVDs.

According to court documents, Right Ascension owner John M. D'Arcangelo appeared in court yesterday morning for the hour-and-a-half hearing, to hear the terms of the sentence and agree to them.

ERIE, Pa.—Pro-am studio Maddy G Productions has partnered with online portal GameLink to provide its Inside Marie's Play Place series and other titles for full-length VoD download in high-definition.

"Our fans love shopping at GameLink.com," said Maddy G owner and performer/director Marie Madison. "The site is so easy to use, and they offer our films in all the most popular formats. Quality is always our number one priority, so when we decided to offer HD downloads, going to GameLink was the obvious choice."

Added GameLink director of online sales Jeff Dillon, "We are proud to partner with Maddy G Productions to utilize our state-of-art technology to deliver their HD content to their customers. Our platform is geared toward full movie consumption, and Maddy G Productions are movies that you definitely must see from start to finish."

Maddy G downloads are available as full-length 1080 HD downloads in the Adult VoD section of GameLink.com, priced at $24.95. Over 30 standard def titles are also available there for streaming, download, iTunes ready and pay-per-minute viewing.

Posted Aug 27th, 2010 09:36 AM

BROOMFIELD, Colo.—For college girls and party animals to stay-at-home moms and working women, corsets are the must-have fashion item of the season and Eldorado is pleased to offer the extensive and exciting lines of captivating corsets from Daisy Corsets.

“Corsets have come a long way from their humble beginnings as foundation garments,” said Larry Garland, founder and CEO of Eldorado. “No longer are they meant to be hidden away under clothing or even just confined to the bedroom. Today’s corsets are versatile, beautiful and well-crafted enough to go anywhere and do anything—from entertaining at home to dancing the night away at your favorite nightclub.”

Introduced in October of last year, Daisy Corsets was founded on the principal that all women deserve to look and feel beautiful. That is why these corsets are as affordable as they are well-made—Daisy Corsets strives to provide customers with the highest quality designs at the most reasonable prices.

“We have really tried to set ourselves apart from the competition in several ways,” said Sarah Wright, sales manager of Daisy Corsets. “We have some of the lowest prices in the industry for corsets. But our low prices don’t mean low quality. Our corsets are made from some of the highest quality fabrics and hardware you can find. And we are designing and manufacturing new styles every day.”

Another way Daisy Corsets sets itself apart is with the wide range of sizes their corsets are offered in.

“One of the most important things that we wanted to do with Daisy Corsets was to make sure to offer a wide range of our corsets to plus-size women,” said Wright. “We believe that there should be no restriction on who can wear our designs, and that is why most of our corsets are available in a size small up to a 6X. We wanted to make it not only easy for plus-size women to find something sexy to wear, but fun as well. And what’s more flattering and fun to any body shape or size than a sexy corset?”

Eldorado is committed to providing products that enhance the sensual experiences of adults everywhere. For more information about Eldorado call (800) 525-0848, email  sales@eldorado.net, or visit Eldorado.net.

It’s only by sticking to their guns and going against the grain that Keith Caggiano and Justin Ross brought their company, The Screaming O, into being.

“What most people don’t know is The Screaming O wasn’t the first and only brand name that Justin had in mind,” Caggiano told AVN. “Believe it or not, he was on the fence between that and Butterfly Kisses, and there were people telling him that Butterfly Kisses might be the better way to go. Thankfully, Justin and I soon realized that The Screaming O was a no-brainer choice, and we secured all of the domain names and trademarks we needed to found our empire.”

That empire started in 2005, when Ross called Caggiano with what seemed to many to be a crackpot idea. The pair had been friends for about 10 years when Ross suggested they go into business together, creating and selling vibrating love rings.

“From the time I hung up the phone and drove down to see him, I could picture the look, feel, color scheme—even the logo and T-shirt design—and within the first day of sitting down to discuss the project, we had the imagery, promotion, branding, attitude and positioning all mapped out. We still use these same tactics today,” said Caggiano, who was working in marketing for a mainstream company at the time. “We later met with Justin’s graphics and web development team and immediately put a game plan together for the upcoming Erotica L.A. show, which was where The Screaming O made its debut.”

Getting to the debut wasn’t always a smooth ride, however. In the beginning, the company developed rings similar to what was on the market, but only got a ho-hum response from the public. So Caggiano and Ross decided to ramp things up a bit and redevelop the entire concept of a vibrating ring.

“We redesigned the ring with a stronger motor—jumping it from 8,000 RPMs to 11,000 RPMs—and increased the motor’s battery life from 20 to 45 minutes. But before we relaunched and debuted this new design, we realized there was something more we needed to do,” Caggiano said.

That “something more” turned out to be focusing on both people in the intimate relationship.

“After some brainstorming we designed the pleasure knob, which we placed evenly around the ring to transfer the motor’s powerful vibration to him so he could enjoy the vibes just as much as his partner,” he said.

Once that prototype was created, The Screaming O partners got the response they were looking for: “Give me more!”

From there, the pair came up with products that fell right in with the new Screaming O brand: The Big O, the Vibrating Ring Condom Pack, and the Screaming O Plus cock ring. In every case, products were designed with the idea of filling a void in the market.

“We wanted to create other sexy toys that shoppers might want to try and market them in a fun and light-hearted fashion to make it clear these items are for everyone,” Caggiano said.

The formula worked, as the company and the products started to receive national and international attention. But rather than rest solely on the success of those early products, Ross and Caggiano continue to come up with new ideas, releasing new Screaming O products on a regular basis each year.

“The idea is that customers can find something new from The Screaming O to try every time they walk into a store,” Caggiano said. “We add variety often enough so that whether the customer is new or returning, he or she will see something completely different on the shelf, but packaged in the same trusted and recognizable packaging of their other Screaming O brand sex toys. And if they come to the store and see the entire product line displayed in one place, they can plan ahead and choose which item they’ll try next time.”

Additionally, the company still strives to fill voids in the pleasure products industry, crafting items that recognize no single product will work for every single person every single time.

Recognizing that need for variety, and releasing items on such a regular basis, has led to The Screaming O cultivating a dedicated fan base.

“We’ve come to a point where shoppers hear about and wait on pins and needles for the newest Screaming O sex toy to come out, and we’ve especially taken things to a new level with our new Carnal Carnival collection, which debuted in July to much acclaim,” Caggiano said. “This series of thrill-seeking vibrating cockrings were designed for those looking to add some new spice to their sex lives, possibly those who fall into the higher level of sexual interest and curiosity. The results of our research and development made it clear that the Carnal Carnival collection lets couples turn their bodies into amusement parks, and that’s just the latest way The Screaming O has reinvented the way couples have sex.”

The Carnal Carnival theme follows another of The Screaming O’s long-standing traditions: unique, fun, and original marketing campaigns. Caggiano said the game plan from the beginning was to make the merchandising and promotion of products work hand-in-hand to solidify the brand at all levels.

“We also giving retailers essential tools to entice new and repeat sales,” he said. “Our product line is available with multiple planogram options, giving buyers and store managers choices of how to display our collections. Each kit comes with separate point-of-purchase tools that also catch shoppers’ eyes even at the point when they make their final purchasing decisions—counter-top displays, coin mats, Frequent Screamer punch cards, hanging signage and posters and more.

“Though our products and their signature red packaging and recognizable O-theme speak volumes, The Screaming O’s display options and merchandising tools are what turn up the sound.”

Tying it all together, however, are the product names. Monikers such as Rock On, Woo-Hoo and OWow lend themselves well to large-scale events and parties, Caggiano said. And there are the Scream Team girls have also been a marketing success for the company.

And the fun is nowhere near ending, Caggiano said. Future plans for the company include more new products, as well as items the industry and consumers might not expect from The Screaming O.

“What we’ve released up to now is nothing compared to what we’re planning later this year and into 2011,” Caggiano said. “Being innovative and maintaining that fresh perspective isn’t something you try for—you’ve either got it or you don’t, and clearly we’ve got it down to a T. Or should I say ‘O?’”

For more information, visit TheScreamingO.com.

This article originally ran in the August 2010 issue of AVN.

Posted Aug 27th, 2010 09:00 AM

SAN FRANCISCO—Bay Area adult retailer Good Vibrations has announced its Fifth Annual Independent Erotic Film Festival, which will feature five nights of screenings and parties culminating in the premiere of the 2010 International Independent Erotic Film Competition at the Castro Theatre on Sept. 23.

Indie film and drag queen star Peaches Christ and Good Vibes staff sexologist Dr. Carol Queen host the film competition. The night kicks off with a pre-party in the mezzanine where filmgoers can warm up with a celebration featuring live mariachis, margaritas, burlesque and giveaways.

On the main stage filmmakers from around the world compete for the audience choice award and $1,500.

“There are a million different film festivals out there, but IXFF gives filmmakers a chance to challenge mainstream media’s definition of ‘sexy,’ and gives filmgoers an opportunity to watch sexy, funny, arty shorts in the company of riotous drag queens at one of the most beautiful theaters in America. What could be more fun than that?” festival producer Camilla Lombard said.

The festivities kick off Sept. 18, with a party at the El Rio that features a clip show of adult fare from Good Vibes sister company, Good Releasing. These edgy indie films and performers were recently honored at the Feminist Porn Awards in Toronto. Following the clip show, San Francisco’s own queer burlesque troupe the Diamond Daggers will delight and entertain.

"People who send us films have a chance to really mate their own creative impulses with their erotic fascinations and social messages," Dr. Queen said. "The results are always interesting and frequently very sexy and moving indeed. These short films represent sexual cinema with the artistry and diversity put back in that so frequently is absent from both porn and mainstream movies."

Sponsors for IXFF include Liberator, LELO, Stockroom, Outlaw Leather, We-Vibe, Fun Factory, Kink.com, Sliquid, Alite, Center for Sex and Culture, Carnal Nation, San Francisco Bay Guardian, East Bay Express, Swirl Radio, Red Vic Theatre, Twin Peaks Tavern, Hot Cookie, Speakeasy Beer, Escape from NY Pizza, Eros, Leather Etc., Joe’s Barbershop, Arco del Cabo Tequila, Pancho Villa Taqueria and Sports Basement.

To view the full slate of events at the five-day IXFF, click here.

HOLLYWOOD—In the end, sex always prevails, even if it’s extraterrestrial. James Cameron’s Avatar is a perfect case in point.

When Avatar was released in late 2009, to great acclaim and even greater box office success, the 3D phenomenon promised a unique vision of sex as performed by the Na’vi, the “sapient humanoid indigenous inhabitants of the fictional moon Pandora.” Ultimately, however, the scene was cut from the theatrical version, though it was still included in the DVD version.

But Friday, along with eight minutes plus change of other additional footage, the sex scene will finally be available for viewing on the big screen—all 20 seconds of it! The planned November re-release standard-def DVD and Blu-ray disc special editions will reportedly include 16 minutes of extra footage, including the sex scene.

As far as the sex scene itself goes, 20th Century Fox posted the complete script online in January, and MovieLine thoughtfully provided the excerpt of the blue scene.

At less than half a minute, it can only provide so much tentacle titillation, especially for fans of explicit alien sex (and you know who you are), but not to worry, the porn version of Avatar—Hustler Video’s This Ain't Avatar XXX 3D, directed by Axel Braun—is due out in late September.

LOS ANGELES—While the porn party scene might be slower than usual lately, it’s no secret that civilians love to party with porn stars. The Los Angeles Times picked up on this pretty obvious trend in an article published on its website today.

Titled “For some L.A. clubs, XXX marks the spot” by Charlie Amter, the article discusses the tactic numerous Hollywood clubs and party promoters use by putting a porn star or Playboy model on its flier in order to spike attendance and club cachet.

“When local DJs or the ubiquitous ‘bikini fashion show’ fail to pull in the masses, an edgy flier featuring a racy adult star can cut through the clutter on Facebook and Twitter, where the battle for club-goers' attention really takes place long before slinking past velvet ropes at night,” Amter wrote for the L.A. Times.

The adult industry has long been throwing parties for movie releases, porn star birthdays and other special events at Hollywood-area clubs. Recent events include a birthday party for CeCe Stone, Charley Chase, Claire Dames and Elizabeth Starr at Aqua Lounge in Beverly Hills, Calif.; Natasha Nice’s birthday at H.Wood; the 2010 F.A.M.E. Awards afterparty at La Vida; and Angelina Valentine’s engagement party at My House.

“Sensual models, Playboy Playmates and porn star pique interest,” Playhouse co-owner Robert Vinokur told the Times. “We know that sex sells.”

The piece points out that while some top-shelf stars like Digital Playground contract star Jesse Jane could command $5,000-10,000 per appearance, other stars agree to host parties for the networking opportunities—or even just free liquor.

"It's well worth it [to pay a porn star to host]," promoter Joshua Kerbis, who’s organized parties with Jane and Sasha Grey, told the Times. "The social media thing has taken these girls to new heights, and every event we've done has been larger and larger each year because porn has become so mainstream now.”  

To read the entire article, click here.

Posted Aug 26th, 2010 04:55 PM by Buzz Killington

SAN FRANCISCO—The releasing arm of adult retailer Good Vibrations has signed on as the exclusive distributor of Matinee, a sexually explicit drama directed by Jennifer Lyon Bell.

Named to its list of Top Five Porn Films for Women by Cosmopolitan Germany, Good Releasing will handle the film’s U.S. distribution.

Bell, a Harvard grad living in Amsterdam, “is a progressive female director with a unique vision of eroticism that bridges the gap between art film and sex film, producing erotic film for people who like film” according to Good Releasing.

“Good Releasing’s titles showcase authentic and hot adult entertainment full of lustful and unabashed sexualities, unapologetic desire, genuine pleasure, helpful information and screen burning chemistry,” Jackie Strano, Good Vibes COO, said. “Matinee is the perfect expression of that, featuring quality filmmaking, original writing, and talented acting to produce a sexy film that can be enjoyed on many levels.”

As described by the company, “Matinee tells the story of Daniel and Mariah, two actors whose performance as lovers has failed to convince the critics, and earned them bad reviews. When various attempts at making their connection authentic fail, Mariah decides to take the ultimate creative risk and hopes that Daniel will follow. In this afternoon performance, they put their careers on the line in an erotic theatrical experiment that leaves no doubt as to their chemistry.”

Director Bell will be presenting Matinee along with several other European shorts at the Good Vibes 5^th Annual Indie Erotic Film Festival on Sept. 21, at the Red Vic Theatre in San Francisco.

For more details about the film fest, visit gv-ixff.org.

For more information about Bell, visit BlueArtichokeFilms.com. She’s received accolades from the Toronto Feminist Porn Awards and Cinekink in New York.

Nominated for a 2010 AVN Award for Best New Video Production Company, Good Releasing offers various lines of edgy, alternative, and educational films that provide an option for people who may be uninspired by mainstream porn. Good Releasing recently received three Feminist Porn Awards in Toronto for its films.

Posted Aug 26th, 2010 04:15 PM

SOUTH BEND, Ind.—A tenured electrical engineering professor at the University of Notre Dame was fired in June after an investigation concluded that he had inappropriately used research grant money and university funds to purchase more than $190,000 worth of equipment, which he then used to take pornographic photos. The professor, Oliver M. Collins, sued in July for breach of contract in a case that is ongoing.

According to the South Bend Tribune, “A university investigation revealed Collins received the grant money for research and instead bought at least seven digital cameras, many lenses, surveillance cameras, an oversized printer and computer equipment he used to produce pornographic photos.”

In his suit, Collins claims the university failed to prove the dismissal was merited. “Collins claims he presented two expert witnesses at a hearing who testified that the equipment he bought might plausibly be used for valid scientific research,” the paper reported.

In its response to the complaint, filed recently in U.S. District Court in South Bend, Notre Dame claimed “Collins took many of these cameras and accessories to his home and used them extensively in pursuit of his personal hobby of photography, including taking landscape and pornographic photographs.”

Collins, who joined the Notre Dame faculty with tenure in 1995, now lives in Key West, Fla., and claims that the fallout from his dismissal has made it all but impossible for him to find teaching employment in his area of expertise.

Notre Dame counters that while the dismissal of a tenured professor is rare, in this case it was more than warranted, especially considering the fact that a campus appeals board upheld the decision, as did the Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame's president, who sent Collins the June letter notifying him he was fired.

Notre Dame is asking that the suit be dismissed and that Collins be ordered to pay the legal bills, reported the Tribune.

Posted Aug 26th, 2010 04:00 PM

MANHATTAN—James D. Gibbons, a judge for the Manhattan Criminal Court, resigned suddenly Aug. 17 after pornography was found on his courthouse computer.

Gibbons spent 14 years as a prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office before becoming a judge. Mayor Giuliani appointed him to the Brooklyn bench in 2001; he moved to Manhattan Criminal Court in 2003, where he “enjoyed a good reputation on the bench,” the paper said.

As a judge, he had presided over some high-profile cases, including a case invloving Naomi Campbell—who was accused of throwing a cell phone at a maid—and David Tarloff, who was charged with the fatal knifing of a beloved Upper East Side psychiatrist.

According to the NY Post, “Gibbons came on the radar of court officials after rumors began swirling about his socializing during non-work hours with a clique of Legal Aid lawyers—public defenders who represent many of the defendants before him.

“Gibbons, who handles misdemeanor and pre-indicted criminal cases, came under investigation after officials learned he had impregnated a Legal Aid attorney—a possible conflict of interest had she appeared before his bench, multiple sources involved in the investigation told The Post.”

The judge’s computer was seized after the unidentified woman gave birth; officials referred the matter to the District Attorney's office following the discovery of the porn. None of the articles specify how much or what sort of pornography was discovered, or even if a law had been violated.

Court spokesman David Bookstaver declined to tell the NY Daily News whether a criminal investigation was under way, saying only, “"If we become aware of possible criminal activity, we report it to the appropriate law enforcement authority."

Gibbons, who was on maternity leave during the time when his computer was seized and searched, resigned by way of a three-paragraph letter that contained no explanation for his abrupt departure.

"It has been a privilege to serve as a judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York since my appointment in December 2001," he wrote. "Please accept this letter as a statement of my resignation of that office effective today."

Posted Aug 26th, 2010 03:48 PM by Buzz Killington

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Lethal Hardcore and Stoney Curtis bring new meaning to the word spinner with the release of Spin On My Cock, a new title that uses a patent-pending, custom table in an interesting way.

“I’ve been shooting porn for 17 years,” Curtis told AVN. “We’ve all run through the motions and used the same positions—it felt stale. I needed new options; I needed to try other things and think of new ways of fucking—if that’s possible.”

Curtis’ new way of fucking comes courtesy of Stoney’s Spinning Sex Table, a patent-pending Lazy Susan-like spinning table with a hole cut in the center of it that allows a guy, laying underneath, to fuck a girl sitting on top of the 360-degree rotating tray.

Curtis said that his invention, which is kind of like a next-generation gloryhole, came to him during meditation “where I envisioned a girl spinning on a guy’s dick through a spinning table.”

Curtis has secured the services of a carpenter to make a new, clear acrylic table that will enable him to shoot through the table for even more innovative angles. Curtis has submitted an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office and has already received offers to build tables from around the world. Ideally, he’s like to see it in adult retail stores worldwide.

So how did the performers react to utilizing a new device in their scenes?

“The girls said it was a brand new feeling,” Curtis said. “They were a little hesitant; maybe thought it would hurt. But they told me that it was a totally new sensation. The table made it easier to better to hit their G-spot. It’s a totally new way to fuck a woman. Now how many porn movies can claim that?”

With it only being possible to perform two positions using the table—cowgirl and reverse cowgirl—each scene moves the action from the table to the couch or bedroom like a “standard” gonzo scene.

Spin On My Cock also features an interesting camera angle that brings the viewer even closer to all the 360-degree spinning action. The camera is mounted on the table as it spins in order to get a close-up stationary of the girl’s pussy as it spins on the dick while everything else around it moves.

Produced by Curtis and co-directed by Chucky Sleaze and Curtis, Spin On My Cock stars Tanner Mayes, Jesse Jorden, April O’Neil, Emy Reyes and Ivy Winters.

The movie ships Aug. 30, and arrives at will be available on Sept. 6. View the trailer by clicking here.

Curtis plans to launch the SpinOnMyCock.com website by the end of the year, but in the meantime, will be releasing exclusive footage on LethalHardcore.com.

To celebrate the release of the movie, Lethal Hardcore is holding a launch party on Sept. 3 at The Highlands in Hollywood, Calif. Confirmed hosts include Curtis, Sleaze, O’Neil and Mayes with Cris Strokes, Christian XXX and Billy Glide (who supply the wood in the movie) co-hosting.

The Highlands is located at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard. Red carpet starts at 10 p.m. RSVP to ryan@kingryanevents.com.  

Posted Aug 26th, 2010 03:35 PM

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—For the first time in the history of the AVN Awards, companies, products and individuals from the pleasure products industry will be recognized during the January event in Las Vegas. The new category, “Sex Toys & Pleasure Products,” will include awards for Best Sex Toy of the Year for Women, Best Sex Toy of the Year for Men and Best Overall Sex Toy Line or Company, among others. Ten awards plus a Hall of Fame entry will be given out in all.

In addition to having some of the awards presented on stage during the 2011 AVN Awards, slated for Saturday, Jan. 8, at the Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, at least one of the major categories will be included in the broadcast of the ceremony on Showtime.

“We’ve always believed that the adult industry should encompass more than content production and distribution and the sex toy business is not only a mainstay in our business, but an important component for growth,” said Paul Fishbein, AVN founder. “I think the industry is going to be excited to see an award like Sex Toy of the Year given out on our TV broadcast on Showtime, where millions of homes tune in. I think having awards for pleasure products at the AVN Awards is long overdue.”

Details regarding the online pre-nomination process, wherein companies can submit their products for consideration, will be announced soon. Final nominations and winners will be voted on by AVN staffers and independent critics, all of whom review pleasure products for the magazine and website.   

While enthusiastic about including pleasure products in the AVN Awards, AVN publisher Tony Lovett is quick to distinguish them from the AVN “O” Awards, which specifically honor the pleasure product industry, and took place earlier this month.

“The new AVN awards are not in any way a replacement of the ‘O’ Awards, which are—and will continue to be—the pre-eminent awards ceremony for the pleasure product industry,” Lovett said. “From the nominations to the final voting, the ‘O’ Awards is a private, trade-only event by and for pleasure product professionals. With almost three decades of notoriety behind it, the AVN Awards provide the perfect public venue in which to recognize an important part of our industry with mass exposure it so well deserves. Though the voting processes are completely different for the AVN Awards and ‘O’ Awards, both are prestigious honors in their own right. I mean, who wouldn't want to win a Nobel and an Oscar?" 

Listed alphabetically, the awards in the Sex Toys & Pleasure Products category for the AVN Awards are as follows:

Best Fetish Product: Any BDSM or other fetish item distinguished by exceptional quality, design, and functionality.

Best Lingerie or Apparel Company: Any lingerie or apparel company distinguished by exceptional fashion design, packaging, marketing, and customer service.

Best Overall Sex Toy Line: Any sex toy product line distinguished by exceptional quality, design, and functionality.

Best Packaging: Any packaging for any individual pleasure product or pleasure product line, distinguished by exceptional quality, design, functionality, and customer appeal.

Best Party, Game, or Gag Product: Any bachelor/bachelorette party product, game, or gag gift, distinguished by exceptional creativity, humor, and customer appeal.

Best Sex Accessory: Any lube, supplement, or other non-toy item distinguished by exceptional quality, design, and functionality.

Best Sex Toy Company: Any sex toy manufacturer distinguished by exceptional product design, packaging, marketing, and customer service.

Best Sex Toy for Couples: Any powered or non-powered pleasure product designed for use by a couple and distinguished by exceptional quality, design, and functionality.

Best Sex Toy for Men: Any powered or non-powered pleasure product designed for use by a man and distinguished by exceptional quality, design, and functionality.

Best Sex Toy for Women: Any powered or non-powered pleasure product designed for use by a woman and distinguished by exceptional quality, design, and functionality.

Hall of Fame (Pleasure Product Branch): Any professional with at least 10 years of adult industry experience who has had an enormous positive impact in the field of pleasure products. (Not a voting category.)

For more information, visit AVNAwards.com.