SAN FRANCISCO – The advertisement in The Daily Bruin caught Zeb Tortorici’s [photo] eye in 1999 when he was in his fourth year at UCLA studying history.

“Male models; up to $1,000/day immediate pay; great face, nice body; nude magazine/video work,” the ad read.

It took Tortorici around three years to respond and begin his career in pornography, mostly because he was worried about the safety and comfort of performing in videos with people he didn’t know. But Tortorici, now a history graduate student, says he usually performs once a month, mostly doing solo acts for gay porn movies at a price of between $200 and $400 a night.