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Old 05-13-2017, 07:37 AM  
Paul Markham
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Join Date: Jun 2001
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pseudonymous View Post
Most people today are using professional equipment, whether theyre producing poor content or good content. Actually you'd be surprised but almost all shooters today are using the same equipment, theres a standard, one person uses X, the other person copies and uses X, etc - the adult industry is very small and most people just copy each other and this is the same regarding production. You'd be surprised how often you see GH4s, kinos, 5ds. Perhaps you are unaware of this fact due to not having shot since the industry changed dramatically. Though finally the top companies are changing to a few new types of lighting. You can produce high quality content with almost any somewhat modern camera. Its their eye for content that is what is holding production quality back, as well as knowledge of what equipment gives them what look (type of lighting specifically), how to use that lighting to achieve certain looks, and what consumers want in 2017. It doesn't cost more to create better content, if they need a bigger budget for better equipment, you drop the cost of your producers, there is ALWAYS a way to work within a certain budget. The fat that you can trim from any production team/adult company is absurd. There is always somebody out there who will do it for cheaper, especially when its a brand like Hustler. Its why Playboy can still get away with paying models so little, models would work for them for free. You just mentioned a bunch of costs, i didn't say production was free, i said the difference between professional content and good professional content is not cost. I thought that was pretty clear but perhaps not.

I'm also shocked if you dont think Hustler scenes didn't include everything that other current companies included (make up artist, professional equipment, etc

There isn't a producer in adult who is producing high end content that couldn't take the same equipment these other companies are using and produce great content.
Once everyone else can do it, it's the norm and not special.



Quote:
Your comments are very out of touch. Im not surprised at this comment though, you are (were) a producer and not an owner. Every adult producer thinks this way, especially ones that were around when the $ was flowing and producers could earn a months salary in a day's shoot

You wouldn't have worked inhouse vs working as a freelancer because you KNEW (at the time) you can make more as a freelancer. Because of the crazy rates freelancers get paid. A fellow colleague of mine pockets 500-1000 a day because he still believes whats what he should get paid. If he works full time, well you do the math of how much that'd cost a company. No producer needs to be pocketing that type of money. Which is why hes getting less and less work. And there are producers out there who will work for cheaper. And you have a long way to keep improving their salary (keeping them motivated) before you even came close to 500/1000 a day. He gets a budget for a scene and cuts costs everywhere in order to maintain a good day rate. Producers still seek out this insane rate because they do not have the work ethic to work full time (common in adult) , as well as trying to make up for the lack of work. Do you know the costs of freelancers that are being paid today, do you know the cost of production teams? If you think theyre the same, you'd be wrong.
Once you bring it down to the common denominator, it's no longer a premium brand.

Quote:
Do you know whats easier than debating (or playing devils advocate), simply asking questions because then it doesn't make you look as silly. Do not say something is wrong when you actually don't know much on the topic other than what was occurring before (assuming its still comparable) and what you might have done then. You bring up points such as "why would one person make x amount salary when they can make x amount per day" because you think thats proof you cannot get a production team cheaper on salary and its entirely false. It's very easy to price yourself out of work, resulting in less pay per year or month/long term. Take it from somebody producing today. You need it to make sense for the company, when you know what their budget per shoot needs to be per scene in order to profit, you'd be more aware of why production teams on salary make more sense. This is a much more mainstream/corporate environment, the days of freelancers are disappearing for a reason. The oldschool people who would never work for a cheaper salary vs insane day rates are accepting a mid level salary because if not, theyll be replaced.
You're assuming porn is the only avenue that produces films and pictures. Given that for someone without the proper training, skills and experience porn is a way a person can earn a living with a camera and naked girls. I did it for years. The offline days where publishers did pay big money for content weren't as easy as you imagine. Which red-blooded male wouldn't like to earn a 6 £figure income shooting naked girls? The problem was more than getting the exposure and poses right. It was finding the right new talent, persuading her into doing things reserved for her boyfriend, getting a few other things right as well. Even then I've seen far better photographers than me screw up shooting porn. However, those days are gone.

The title of the thread is " Business What would it take for you to promote HUSTLER again?" And my poin t is with all the better ratios, better tools, more free content, etc, amount to nothing these days if when the surfer doesn't land on the samples they see something worth spending $1 a day on. And that we know is why most sites are lucky to convert 1-10,000 of surfers who see samples. They have to see something that's in their opinion is better than what every other producer can produce, at the time they're surfing. And that's not done by shooting content for the same price as everyone else.

Your approach is aimed at how little it can be shot for, mine is aimed at how great it can be shot to support a premium brand like Hustler.

Quote:
The days of internet marketers who made hundreds of thousands are being replaced by entry level mainstream marketers on cheap hourly/salary rates. It doesn't matter what you would have accepted when you were shooting
Agree. So those affiliates have to accept promoting the same old stuff that converts no better than the rest or taking less in % for something that's easier to sell.
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