Apparently Philadelphia Magazine has decided to write the Paul Fishbein article as a puff piece after all. I thought as much and had grave reservations about being interviewed when contacted several months ago. I said I would talk on the condition that a number of other people in this drama be contacted. I gave a list. I seriously doubt whether these people had ever been spoken to. I have not seen the article in question although Philadelphia Magazine previews it on its website.

www.lukeisback.com writes: Overall, the article paints Paul in a positive light. There are six factual errors. Paul must’ve received many congratulatory calls from family, friends and relatives in Philadelphia. While Adult Video News has been written about many times in the mainstream media, I believe this is the first Paul Fishbein profile. There’s no mention of the article on AVN.com.

Gene sez: If six errors are counted, I guarantee you there’s maybe double that amount. But even one factual error in a magazine at this level is unacceptable. The article’s author Richard Rys never spoke to me.

However, three years ago another writer arrempting to do a similar piece, which was subsequently killed, called me. This is how the chat went, although the writer’s name escapes me.

PM: Were you from Philadelphia?

Gene: Sure

PM: I’m doing a story for Philadelphia Magazine about the history of AVN and the mainstreaming of porn.

Gene: Hmmm.

PM: Your name is well wrapped up in that history.

Gene: Absolutely.

PM: It’s pretty well buried there with Fishbein and everybody else. I guess I want to get your side of the story from the beginning days and the move out to L.A.

Gene: I’m going to tell you some frank stuff.

PM: That’s fine.

Gene: If you’re looking for a puff piece you’re talking to the wrong guy.

PM: I’m not looking for a puff piece. I don’t think anybody denies that there’s some controversy over the last couple of years. And controversy about what even AVN does and what they say they do and how they go about doing it.

Gene: I’ll answer as truthfully as I know it to be. Go ahead. Fire away.

PM: You are originally from Philadelphia?

Gene: Oh yeah.

PM: What part.

Gene: I grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Lower Bucks, Bensalem area.

PM: And then at some point when AVN was off the ground you had gone to work there as a reporter.

Gene: No, actually, what had happened was this. I was asked first to do some freelance writing. I would say within a couple of months I started doing assistant editing work and then the then-editor John Paone elected to leave because his wife didn’t want him to be in the business. I was the Johnny-on-the-spot. Right place, tight time.

PM: You were one of two people who came west with Paul?

Gene: Me and Mark Kernes

PM: Do you remember making that move?

Gene: Sure.

PM: How did you think about the move back then? What happened?

Gene: The reason – and this is where it starts the controversy. We made the move in 1991. At that time we were working out of Upper Darby. We had an office on West Chester Pike. Paul came out of the clear blue on this and said he was seriously contemplating a move and taking the magazine to California. And he said, well, I’m not going to make the move unless you say yes. That’s how he pretty much put it. I had some established ties in the area. I had some things going on and it was a tough decision to make. Especially the fact that I was 44 years old at the time. Making a move like that isn’t one of these things where you just do it. To sweeten the pot he said, look, I’ll give you ownership in the magazine. He’ll have his attorney Steve Levin put together the papers, blah-blah-blah. Plus there were other concessions I needed. My Philadelphia salary would not have worked out here. The cost of living out here is obscene.

PM: I agree.

Gene: So he went along with this, he went along with that. Like a company car and the whole thing. He pretty much lived up to that end of the bargain except for the fact that I never got a piece of the business as he had promised.

PM: Did he promise that?

Gene: Yes. And finally when we came out here and I sat him down…I waited for awhile for us to get situated, everything, get the office going. As we grew a little bit, I said, hey listen, by the way, I want to talk to you about that other thing. All of a sudden he looked at me blankly and said I don’t recall having had that conversation. I go to myself ooookay. from that point on I bided my time and waited for my opening. I had spent most of the years out here with AVN already looking for the exit door. I thought to myself I’m the guy who put you where you are. And if you can’t live up to that there’s other things you’re subsequently going to screw me on, too.

PM: Were you editor?

Gene: Yeah, I ran the whole thing. When we were back in Philadelphia we were a two-man staff. It was him and me. I ran the editorial content. The thing that really disturbed me about the whole situation was this: at the time I came aboard AVN full time it was 1987. They had already committed themselves to trying to go on newstand. With the product they had in hand at the time and the design, I told them right then and there, this is not going to work. You’re not going to be able to sell the magazine with it looking like this. My advice went only so far. And I think they went several issues- I don’t know whether it was three, whether it was four, but they had to commit to X-number of issues to print. I think they had to print 100,000 per issue. Long story short, it was an abysmal failure and Paul was left with a massive printing bill that pretty much threatened to put him out of business.

PM: Is this when he had that falling out with Barry [Rosenblatt]?

Gene: Exactly. He squeezed Barry out the door to bring in Stewart Franks. I don’t know how it all happened. One minute Barry’s gone. Next minute Stuart Franks is his partner.

[there’s much more]