Should I leave the adult content business? (pics and vids)

From my limited point of view, your work is great - you should hang in there and pressure on.

great pics... each and everyone was 100% hot really liked the 1st one.

AllStar... my experience has been that if you have a lower price and a higher price, 99% of the time the program owner will go for the lower price. If all your interested in is the money so you can get the utility bill paid this month...that's fine. If you want to spend all your time cutting corners, shooting with smaller budgets and dealing with the headaches that come along with producing those kinds of shoots - that's fine as well. I've shot low budget projects and I've shot big budget projects and even though the bigger budget projects take more time, energy and produce more stress....they also pay more but more importantly for me.....they allow me to produce the best stuff that I can produce. It's not always about the money - sometimes it's about doing something that makes you happy and fulfilling those creative urges! Believe it or not - not all producers are in this industry because of the money. Some are in it because they actually love what they do.

I personally know Greg and I know that he could grab a video camera and a light and shoot circles around half the porn shooters in LA but that's not what he wants to do. He wants to shoot quality material for companies that appreciate his experience and skills and will pay for his work. Believe it or not....there are still some website owners out there who actually look after their members best interest and go out of their way to make sure that they are happy and getting great wack-off material.

The challenge for Greg is to find a few programs that are looking for something that they can't find anywhere else. A program that understands that this will take more time and energy to produce and will cost more. A program that wants to go with higher quality exclusive material instead of cookie-cutter non-exclusive run-of-the-mill bullshit that can be found on hundreds of other adult sites.

As I said earlier, I could cut my rate in half and shoot 7 days a week. Why would I do that when I can shoot 2 to 3 days a week and make the same money? And...I get nice budgets to hire top-notch talent, beautiful locations, one of the best hair/makeup artist in the city and 2 photo-assistants to help me with my shoots. Not only do I make more money, but I am able to put more people to work and they also make money. More importantly for me, I get to shoot beautiful girls, in beautiful locations, experiment with my lighting and grow as a shooter. I couldn't do that if I cut my rates in half and spent all my time shooting low budget projects.

You make a great point. Thanks for taking the time to give me some advice.

Good looking work man.

nope,never leave it,porn is good

i think your content looks fucking great man. good stuff!

[QUOTE=Mutt;]you will never find a program that is willing to pay $2,900 per b/g scene on an ongoing basis. just the brutal facts of life in this industry for a content shooter. QUOTE]


I just made an agreement to do 10-12 shoots a month with one company but it is not an exclusive contract.
So Mutt, we will see if you are right about your statement. Time will tell.

[QUOTE=Expo_Vids;11908555]hey that's great $2,900 for a B/G scene/episode and how many stills sets?

guess we'll find out the mystery program soon.

yeah nice pics

[QUOTE=Mutt;11909439]I am not going to comment further on our deal or on exactly how much I am getting paid but it is safe to say I will be able to hire top talent, use a location that is decent, use professional equipment, take time setting up each scene so the lighting is just right, taking time coaching the models so they have a very sexy and seductive look in the photos, get good angles in the video part of the shoot, etc.

BTW, I would still make way more if I decided to crank out 4 or 5 mini scenes with each model but I am not in this for the money. I am in this to create powerful images that move people. I have not even begun to scratched the surface.

Mutt, thanks for your positive words and encouragement since the time I first contacted you about shooting content almost 2 years ago.

that latina is fucking hot

R

Congratulations bitch - I knew you could do it

You sure you don't want to cut your rates in half and shoot 20 to 24 scenes a month?

damn dude you are doing really hot stuff here!!

seems like you found someone to stop your whining..atleast for the time being.

you have to remember when you shoot for someone else, you have to shoot their vision, not your vision. unless you are very very lucky that someone who will invest in you have the exact same vision.
If you really want to do your own thing, you'd better start opening up some websites.
And..dont look at doing dvds.. the dvd business is hurting like you wont believe, very little money to be made and lots of expensive equipment and talent sitting around collecting dust.
the new generation are not renting or buying dvds, they are downloading from the internet...

Yup - finding someone who shares your vision is always the best situation

Yo Greg,
Congrats.

Yeah pretty good work.

This guy has talent!

He has shot for me on several projects. Always professional, reliable and has passion for what he does. Not a easy find in this biz today.

If you have that type of gear you should look at mainstream, alot more money in it. My friend does it full time and makes a shit load of money and alot less bullshit. For the record about sound I always shoot with a ATT shotgun, never mever use the built in mic

great quality, anyone should be happy to recieve this kind of quality!

Yeah a friend of mine shoots for Mtv.

He doesn't have a lot of camera skills he aint' bad but you know what I mean.
I think they get $500 to $700 depending on the day. plus travel. He travels everywhere. They supply equipment.

And it is a small crew, all great people and they interview and meet some real interesting people. And there is only way to go from where he is cause he is starting at the bottom.

He works 3-4 times a week and usually a call is about 4 hours. You can do the math, it is way better, no stress.

Yeah Adult ain't what it use to be that is for sure.

How can you think that's out of line?

1. bulbs
2. head cleaning and tape path adjusting
3. ding and dent repair
4. mic damage
5. cables
6. prop damage
etc... etc...

People pay other people to do this work to avoid these costs. Right now i'm sitting on two dead three chip cameras waiting for a budget to be able to get them repaired.

I'm all for your figures man! I have an idea... hit me up on ICQ 35805493 and let's chat.

I think this is your answer.

When price inflation start causing pressure you really have no choice. You can list all of your costs but program owners don't care about them -- they care about their end, their costs. I'm in mainstream and there are a lot of mega corporations dropping money and disrupting markets. Suddenly all the business goes to them, even though they may be losing $100 with every new customer! The guy that was intending on making $100 a customer is out of business. Thats life, you have to either figure out how to evolve or move on to new things.

Bro your stuff is fantastic. I shoot here in LA and can appreciate the ever growing rates. Seems like the $2900 well worth it.

Remember this day Joe? Nautica is too fucking cool
http://expovids.com/ama.wmv

You are 100% incorrect


They might find someone cheaper, but that doesn't mean its as good or even better quality.

It has been about one month since I posted this thread. Since then I have picked up one really great client and am very thankful for them.

I have been courted by a few of the bigger programs but when it came down to them actually wiring me some money to begin shooting they basically flaked. One guy even took me out to dinner and was all excited to get started. A few days later he became MIA.

So I still have availability if anyone is interested in having someone who is dedicated to delivering content that gets attention.

I will bust my ass for you and give you the absolute best every shoot.

[email protected]

nice stuff, nice pictures!

if you can do mature gay stuff hit me up on mickey.thomsen at gmail.com

nice pics and vids!!!!

Nice thread, you have a good equipment

Greg... This is the way of the industry .. I too went thru a dry speel or two in the past 5 years ... It's a tough bussiness and clients flake out more often then not...

The delema is that clients don't realize the expense we go thru .. and often the heart ache ... A company like ours in a fairly small city when compared to LA, Has more problems then just finding the clients, Models are a problem, during winter months it takes alot to get them out of they're warm house. Also you have equipement costs, location, make up, wardrobe, accessories .. all these expenses come to play .. Yet clients expect a certain quality and price ... The most important part of staying in bussiness for Independant contractors like ourselves is to size up your clientele .. get to know them and don't just access a job for anyone that asks .. You'll find that most are just fishing for info. Stick to you're guns, don't give your a talent away for nothing ... You do great work!

It ain't easy doing Custom exclusive that we know .. the key is to be here tomorrow and the day after.

Good luck

Regular maintance would could of saved you hundreds in the long run ...

I don't get how some of you can complain about wear and tear, cost of equipement...etc

I've been in Braodcasting for over 17 years. My first camera cost 35 000$ ... My first tripod was 8 000$ My point is it's all cost of doing bussiness ... You expect your carpender to have a saw .. should he charge you every time his saw is dull???

Part of doing bussiness ... is also maintance .. Being a cameraman or photographer isn't only about Pointing a camera in the right direction .. it's also about Maintaining your equipement .. Knowing your gear .. being able to make simple repairs ... Clean you're camera ... How many poeple hear know how to cleam a d-SLR .. How many people here carry clean solutions in they're didy bag .. How many know what a didy bag is?

Point being your price rate should not only reflect the costs of models, locations, make up etc .. but also the costs of staying in busssiness and maintaining good equipement.

thanks Vid !

didy bag ? something to do with P Didy and his junk ?
I am opposite of you guys, never gone to school for photography, worked my ass off to get there though..read books, watch lots of porn. trial and error and try again.. but i have talent and a drive/aspiration to get there and that is the most important of all..
Dont know if i am the only one, but i dont see the need for such expensive equipment..granted i dont shoot for playboy TV, but all the program owners i talk to are happy with good quality 3ccd mini dv video footage. Some are now asking for HDV, which can still be had for less than $5K.
Now a days, equipment can be had very cheap compared to 5 - 10 years ago...and there is a need to upgrade every 2 - 3 years.

Thats high quality stuff man...

Start your own pay site dude! You don't need a whole cash program, just one good site.

Content is King!

I have had several partnership offers and am shooting a website now for that very purpose. But I also would like some more paid shoots.

Thanks to everyone who is giving me compliments. I am getting a few more offers the past 24 hours. Since I am not high volume it only takes 2 or 3 clients to fill up my scedule. If you are interested please respond now so that I may fully consider all offers before I make commitments.

Hi Greg. Here is a bump for you. You already know where we stand