The adult industry is gonna pack up and leave California if the AB 1576 condom bill passes and they are gonna take their 2-3 billion dollars a year of taxable revenue with it. Isn’t that what we keep hearing? I’m gonna tell you all right now why that is a complete myth.
The people who are throwing around these figures are not part of the industry and have absolutely no basis in reality for these claims. There is no way you could add 2 to 3 billion dollars of money made in the production of pornography in the business as it exists today in California. If you were talking about 10-15 years ago, maybe you’d be in the ballpark. But today there is nowhere near that kind of money to be made in porn.
Most large companies that are still operating are not doing so here in California. Let me give you an example. Frank Koretsky of IVD. His operation is based in New Jersey. When you work for him, your money is coming from New Jersey. The money that is collected is going to New Jersey. Taxes are collected in New Jersey. Frank Koretsky is buying houses and other properties on the east coast. He has an outlet warehouse in Van Nuys, but his main business is based in New Jersey.
Another huge company is Adam and Eve. Adam in Eve is based in North Carolina. They are not operating out of or paying taxes in California. They do not have an office out here with a hundred employees. Everything they do is situated in North Carolina. Hotmovies is a giant VOD operation out of Philadelphia. Another giant VOD company is AEBN, who does not operate out of California. They do millions worth of business out of their offices in North Carolina.
These are a few of the companies who are still thriving today. They have nothing to do with condom legislation. The big novelty companies are based in California. Doc Johnson, Pipedreams, Cal Exotics and Topco are not going to uproot and leave the state because of a condom mandate. They aren’t going anywhere and these are the people who are putting money in the tax coffers of California. The studios who might be affected by a condom mandate are not a significant part of the porn economy. They are not the ones who are providing jobs.
All of these people who say the State of California will lose billions of dollars because of companies leaving the state will never say who these companies are. Is Hustler leaving? Is Larry Flynt moving his operation out of California? Larry Flynt, who owns several casinos, is he moving out of the state? The answer is no. Hustler doesn’t produce movies anymore. Vivid doesn’t produce movies anymore. Steve Hirsch is done producing gonzo garbage. He produces celebrity sex tapes. Whether or not the celebrity is wearing a condom doesn’t fucking matter. Is Steve Hirsch moving out of California? No. California is where most of the celebrities are. Hollywood is where the movie making business is, dummies.
Who’s moving out of California? Everybody’s answer is Peter Acworth. That’s the billion dollar industry that the state is gonna lose? Acworth’s gonna sell his little Armory and hightail it to Nevada? Is Lee Roy Myers the billion dollar industry? What company or companies worth billions of dollars have left or are moving out of state? Who?
The people who are left in the valley are not moving. The companies that are based in California have no reason to move. Even if some people go outside the state to shoot, that’s not gonna affect the people who distribute the movies and the people who distribute the movies are the ones who would contribute the most revenue to the state because they make the most money. Somebody can go to Vegas or Arizona or Timbuktu to shoot a movie, but they sell it in California.
A mass exodus out of the state isn’t happening. Billions of dollars don’t leave when people shoot in other locations. The money leaves when the companies move their entire operation out of the area. Even in the 80’s, when sets in LA started getting busted for pandering and people started shooting up north in San Francisco, most of the production companies and distribution houses still maintained their offices down in Los Angeles. The people who are talking about everyone pulling up stakes and heading east weren’t around then. They don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. When somebody shoots on location, they bring the footage back to LA and edit it and the distributor sells the movie. The actors come back to LA to spend the money they made. All of that money spent and all of the taxes made on the revenue from those movies is gonna remain in California, wherever the movies are shot.
When people say Isadore Hall is gonna make California lose billions of dollars because everyone’s gonna leave, they sound like idiots. The business had always operated like this. Harassment of the adult business has existed since its inception and the industry has always adapted. The industry will adapt to the condom mandate. Porno Dan adapted. He shoots his ass off and uses condoms. Is Porno Dan gonna move out of Chatsworth? I don’t think so. Is Wicked gonna move out of Chatsworth?
Are you people that ignorant to think that all of the studios are gonna have to move to Las Vegas and all of the talent is gonna have to move to Las Vegas because that’s where all the shooting is? There’s still gonna be movies made in the valley by companies like Wicked and Porno Dan and other companies who will get in line with the condom mandate and they will succeed like Wicked and Porno Dan do. Other companies will fly under the radar like they always have and shoot quietly in LA or shoot in other areas and bring the footage back to LA to sell. Other companies like Exquisite will distribute content from studios in Europe and still make money. Frank Koretsky’s companies put out 40-50 titles a month from compilation footage. They’re not shooting movies. Jerry Estrada’s building is worth 2 and a half million dollars. He’s not gonna pack up and move. He’s gonna sell his beautiful building and move to Vegas? For what? He doesn’t shoot movies. He hasn’t shot a movie in over a year. He’s still making money. These companies are all bringing California millions of dollars in tax revenue and they’re not moving. The people left in California who are still making money are not moving.
People who only write about the industry and go to parties and have never done business in the industry don’t know what they’re talking about. They don’t know how the industry works. You think Mike Warner from Great Western Litho is moving? All of the novelty companies get their boxes done there. Warner has hundreds of employees. You think he’s moving because of a condom law? Frank Barbarino of FB Productions also does packaging and has a hundred employees. He’s not moving either.
You people think that Evil Angel, Jules Jordan and the gonzo companies are the porn business. They’re only a small fraction of it. If they all went under tomorrow, it wouldn’t matter. The movers and shakers who know how to make money without relying soley on DVD sales are the ones who will survive and they’re not going anywhere. Frank Koretsky, Jerry at Exquisite, Scott Taylor, who has a pipeline with Lion’s Den, all of the novelty companies, lingerie companies, people who sell lotions and aphrodisiacs. They are all gonna make money and the ones who are in California are gonna stay in California and pay taxes.
Manwin is based overseas. They don’t have the hub of their business in California. Playboy is owned by Manwin and Hugh Hefner isn’t moving out of California. Penthouse is owned by AdultFriendFinder and they’re not based in California, so California isn’t losing that revenue.
None of these people are affected because Evil Angel can’t let Jay Sin have girls shit cum into Amber Rayne’s mouth anymore. And if you look at Evil Angel, a lot of their product isn’t even produced here. Rocco’s overseas, Joey shoots a lot in Brazil. What, California’s gonna lose Francesca Le and Mark Wood?
The business isn’t going anywhere. A condom on a dick isn’t gonna drive billions of dollars out of the state. The legislators aren’t stupid. You don’t think they know the history of this business? Don’t you think they know that the players who control the real money in this business aren’t going anywhere? Of course they do. They know that the real players who run this business and bring the jobs and tax revenue are staying right where they are.
That’s a fact. Beyond the fear mongering and scare tactics of the clueless chicken littles, that is a cold hard fact.
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