Porn Valley- Besides John Bowen telling me a little bit more about the identical Brazilian sisters that he has under contract- he’s thinking of calling them the Bush twins- Bowen, who shoots exclusively in Brazil, tells me that the Brazilian government is moving towards a mandated condom policy and may have one in effect by the end of the year.
If you listen to some of the shooting requirements, you get the impression that American porn companies, which tend to shoot on the fly as it is, aren’t exactly following Roberts Rules of Order.
Currently, to be able to shoot in Brazil, says Bowen, your shoot has to be organized by a registered company recognized by the Brazilian government. On the shoot you have to have documents of the company including the company’s registration number. “That way they know who you’re working for and they know who to make a claim against if there’s any problem with the shoot,” Bowen states. “If the federal police turn up, they want to know who is responsible. That way they protect all of their workers and everybody else. When we go on location to shoot we have to give our documents to the person that we’re renting the location from so that they know who they’re renting to. So if we steal from them, they know they can go to the federal police and say this is the company.”
Other than that, Bowen says it’s illegal to shoot in Brazil without it being done through a registered company. “Every movie that is made- there has to be a person from this company who becomes the signatory on the movie,” he says. For that movie to be sold or distributed, the signatory on the company has to sign documents releasing it to be distributed. “Because that person becomes the owner.” Whether or not American porn companies going to Brazil are working through corporations, Bowen can’t say. “I only know how it has to be.” As far as himself and people like Joey Silvera are concerned, Bowen says they shoot through registered corporations and the paper work is impeccable.
“To be able to pay the people you have to have money in Brazil,” Bowen goes on to state. “You cannot wire money to yourself in Brazil. Chances are that producers are entering the company with large sums of cash. Illegally. If you bring more than $3,000 in cash, you have to declare it in customs and you have to fill out all the appropriate paperwork saying why you’re bringing it to Brazil and you have to have a work permit to be able to shoot in Brazil.”
Bowen said all these issues have come to the fore since the HIV crisis earlier this year. “The Brazilian government is very, very involved in what’s going on,” he said. “The Brazilian companies have been informed by the government that if they have any information on any Americans shooting in Brazil, they have to give that information to the federal police. Believe me, the Brazilian companies would be only to glad to give that information to the police because they are not happy with what’s going on with the Americans going down there, particularly with the health issues and the fuck you attitude towards the Brazilians.
This finger-pointing by the Americans towards the Brazilians on the AIDS issue angered the companies down there,” Bowen states. “They don’t like to be treated like second-class citizens or sub-human because they’re not Americans. They are running their companies in the way that they see fit and they don’t like to be criticized by Americans for what they’re doing. They don’t necessarily believe that Americans are smarter, cleverer, and make better movies; or that they have the right to criticize what they’re doing. Americans, on the other hand, can, in fifteen minutes, find enough reason to send a batallion of the Fifth Cavalry down there and invade the fucking country just because they don’t agree with us.
“This whole redneck fuck the foreigner attitude doesn’t work,” Bowen feels. “Unless we respect the people that we want to be our work force and respect their values and culture, all we’re doing is jackbooting our way through their country, putting their health at risk, treating them like fucking morons. And, every step of the way, we are illegal. We are not complying with the rules of the country.. And it’s a very short span until one of these guys ends up in jail. The federal police don’t want them.
“The government doesn’t want them and the Brazilian companies don’t want them,” Bowen continues. “When you have the country insistent that the companies give up their information to the federal police, that’s going to happen. And if the guys going down there don’t think that everybody doesn’t know everything, they’re insane. There’s a smaller work force than there is in the Valley. A smaller society than there is here in the Valley. There are less agents, less actors, less cameramen, less lighting people. And if the guys that go down there think that everybody doesn’t know the day they got off an airplane and know where they’re shooting, they’re kidding themselves.”
Bowen said he knows the steps of every one of his contract girls even when he’s not down there. “The agents tell me. Because the other actors and actresses tell me.” Bowen said he got wind of the fact that one of his contract girls worked for two other companies last month behind his back. “I knew within 15 minutes of getting off the airplane. I had flyers put in my hands with her picture on them. She was fired within the hour.”