As the gay industry still reels over the apparently accidental drug overdose of promising model Danny Roddick, the Athletic Models Guild is putting the grief to a good cause. AMG president Dennis Bell spent two weeks with the model filming him in Brazil over the summer for their two-part upcoming feature Amazônia: Capture and Amazônia: Release, and during that time, he found out how much Danny loved orchids. Who'd have thought Roddick was such a horticulturalist? Bell says, "I remember him telling me all the Latin names of the tropical plants he came across."
So, appropriately, AMG is promoting a collection for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in memory of Roddick, because, Bell notes, "He was as concerned about the protection of this environment as I am. For this reason, the donation to the WWF's Amazon Region Protected Area, which we are preparing from the sales of the Amazonia titles, will be made in Danny Roddick's [real] name. I know that he found peace in those days, and I am honored to have shared that experience with him."
Roddick was also an exclusive Buckshot Man and just starred in Big Rig, Boot Black Blues, and most recently Brotherhood by Jerry Douglas, who said, "The loss of anyone so young and talented and especially a sweet and fragile individual is heartbreaking, but for someone who was rapidly approaching the peak of his career it is doubly painful."
Just a week before he died, Bell and the AMG promotions manager, Christopher Trout, visited Roddick in his San Francisco home to record commentary for Amazônia. I've heard an early version of the recordings, and Roddick seems upbeat and pleasant.
Trout remembers seeing the flowers throughout Roddick's place. "His house was like an orchid museum. He took such pride in those flowers. He also had a small South American parrot, which he bought when he got back from Rio. He named it Beija-Flor, Portuguese for ‘kiss the flower.' I will always remember him for his love of nature."...
Does his publicity know no bounds? Michael Lucas may have reached a new zenith in publicity making when he staged his own "Paul is dead" kind of death, and then apologized for it. These days, when the industry is mourning the death of Danny Roddick, it was a shock for many to see the headlines that Manhattan police found Lucas dead.
Lucas apologized, saying, "Yes, I was murdered yesterday. But it was only for the role I'm playing in my new film Gigolo. So, yes, here it is, the publicity stunt. Nothing more than that. Most of you caught on to the joke, as we put very clearly in the corner of the picture the Lucas Entertainment watermark, and there were a few obvious mistakes in the text. For those who did not catch on [to] the joke, my true and sincerest apologies. I did want to try to keep the charade going for another day or two, but after I received several very concerned e-mails and phone calls, I decided to cut it short. For those who said that this is nothing more than a publicity stunt - duh - and in very bad taste because of the porn stars who have passed on this year, let me tell you, people die in every profession."...
I also have it on impeccable authority that Barrett Long turned down a role in Gigolo and is himself starting a company with his business partner that is going to produce a solo scene with Ben Andrews, a Lucas exclusive. Long is said to have been insulted by the per-scene amount offered by Lucas to be in the latest big-budget picture he's putting together, and when contacted about the Andrews release, the usually protective and litigious Lucas said he was glad that the solo scene is being released. "I think it's a great teaser, as people always want to see more. And to see more they have to see Ben's films with Lucas Entertainment."...
Chi Chi LaRue (pictured, with Mickey and Sharon Kane) kicked off a party for one of his best movies in years. Link V: The Evolution is simply breathtaking, even the trailer. It was the beginning of a whirlwind tour that took the crew to Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco and Berlin. At the Faultline, Chi Chi intro'd Cole Ryder, Tyler Saint, Steve Cruz and Blake Riley as well as some of the other great models in this super-sequel. It was also a great chance to hang out with old friends, especially Jim Steel and Sharon Kane.
Then, Channel 1 Releasing launched a party at The Pleasure Chest in West Hollywood with their new Rascal Toys along with novelty manufacturer Topco Sales. LaRue hosted as Rascal exclusives Eddie Diaz and Cole Ryder were on hand to sign autographs and model the replicas molded from their famous private parts....
Steel said he's happy with the success of his Beach House Diaries, now available on Video on Demand on Men of Odyssey's website, menofogv.com. Bob East explains, "In this new market, VOD and downloading have become as common as rentals became in the '80s. We were advised to hold off a while to put this on the web because it is thought it would hurt sales of the title. But we have had so many inquiries about VOD that we figured to give it a try." Steel is also planning on shooting porn direct for the Internet now....
At the party, director Andrew Rosen told me about his upcoming Code Violators, which features the latest Jet Set Men exclusive Nickolay Petrov, who is definitely a guy to keep an eye on. This dark-haired Eastern European hunk with an always-hard dick already made heads turn in Proven Straight and Chris Steele's Just Add Water, but in Code Violators, he's a foreman for a guesthouse and he demands a blowjob from unsuspecting visitor Blu Kennedy. He then pummels the redhead blue on the living room sectional, ending with a spectacular cum shot across the kid's fair-skinned but ripped bod. "Nickolay is an amazing, take-charge performer, as he proved in the scene where he commanded Blu to satisfy him," said Rosen....
How great that there's a new Steele in town with the former model taking over production at Jet Set. He's got plans for upcoming titles like On Fire! co-directed by Chad Donovan and starring Dean Phoenix. Congrats, Chris!...
And Rosen, who was also spotted perusing the stalls at the West Hollywood Book Fair, is smart enough to rip stories from the headlines, and with John Tegan created a film called The F Word, about a Hollywood actor who uses the wrong word beginning with "F" one too many times. Petrov stars in it with Jesse Santana, Zach Rockwood, Sebastian Young, Brett Mycles and Jason Adonis....
I bumped into GAYVN Hall of Famer Gino Colbert at the Beverly Hills premiere of Lust, Caution and after the NC-17 raw sex scenes, Gino went up to Oscar-winning director Ang Lee and said he thought the sex was shot superbly. "Coming from you, that's a big compliment," Lee said back. Yep, sure enough, Ang Lee has seen some of Gino's work!...
Lucas Kazan is jumping on the digital promotion bandwagon and releasing scenes from The Men I Wanted even before the DVD is in mail order. LucasKazan.com offered the incredibly hot scene between Ethan Clarke and Kazan's regular, Roberto Giorgio. "We're looking at more creative ways to maximize each outlet and to boost consumers' awareness," said Kazan, who is releasing his 16th incredible feature and is one of the artiest director's ever to hit this business - every scene is a tableaux...
John Rutherford is returning to his favorite filming spot and taking Colt Studio to Hawai'i. He shot some of the most luscious video of his career there for Falcon, and now he's taking his hunks to the Big Island (naturally) where there's no doubt going to be some volcanic eruptions....
The Jocks line is back just as Falcon celebrates its 35 years in the business. The 124th Jocks title, Road Trip Vol. 1 - Russian River, was directed by Peter Romero, formerly of Catalina, and stars some new faces. Falcon chief Todd Montgomery said, "Jocks will enlist models 18-22 years of age who have a very natural look - featuring them in as many natural settings as possible. When we decided to revamp the Jocks line we knew we wanted to put the performers in real-world situations so they could interact with each other in a more natural and unscripted way. Our job is to find the right place for the right guys and then get out of the way and let the sex unfold naturally." Can't wait to see what floats down that river!...
How can you pick between them anyway? With 1,000 pairs of hungry eyes watching, Chris Ward presented the Raging Stallion Man of the Year Award to both Israeli bodybuilder Roman Ragazzi and San Francisco's hairy heartthrob Steve Cruz. It's the first time the honor has been shared. Then, company co-founder J.D. Slater awarded Tober Brandt the Centurion Pictures "Bigger Than Life" award. Nearly 100 porn stars attended, including Collin O'Neal, Jake Deckard, Luke Hass, R.J. Danvers, Antonio Biaggi and Victor Steele....
Meanwhile, Titan Media is asking fans to call Miller Brewing Company and thank them for their support of the Folsom Street Fair and "not caving in to right-wing pressure to pull out from presenting sponsorship of our Fair," Bruce Cam said. They urge you to contact Miller spokesman Julian Green at [email protected] or call 1-800-MILLER 6 or 414-931-2000 to let them know how much you appreciate them and their beer....
Also, Titan Media filed suit and shut down a major online gay porn piracy ring in its continued fight to stop such thievery. The lawsuit names Gilbert Michael Gonzales of Desert Hot Springs, Calif., as the ringleader, along with 21 others. The suit alleges willful copyright infringement of more than 45 Titan films. Gonzales's ring is believed to be responsible for more than 100,000 illegal downloads. "The message we are sending is that you can run, but you cannot hide," says Keith Webb, Titan's vice president. "If you steal Titan Media property, we will identify you and we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law."...
