Lexington Steele is best known to the general porn loving public as a big time performer with a big time dick. But, when the camera is turned off, when the female recipients of his boff skills are applying moist towelettes to their goo-laced visages, Mr. Steele removes his porn stud hat and dons a lid that is something wholly other; that of adult entrepreneur at the fast-growing Mercenary Enterprises.
“I’m the sole proprietor, owner, president and CEO,” states Steele of his place in the company. “The buck stops here.”
The New Jersey-bred, Syracuse University grad (he has a BA in African-American studies and American History) says he worked for major financial house Oppenheimer in Manhattan “from ’93 until ’98. I was in equity sales. Around ’97 I had done some adult photos, I did a couple nude shots, and some photographers asked if I would consider doing video. I was like, yeah. I went to the AVN show in Las Vegas in ’98, and I moved out here that March.”
“I was lucky enough to get a shot for Anabolic,” Steele continues, “but I bombed my first scene. Back then, it was like being with the Yankees, and the fact that I failed was crushing. But I stayed and had dinner with Chris and Su Alexander, and they gave me another shot. The rest is history.”
Steele incorporated Mercenary in 2000; his first production was Balls Deep, which nabbed AVN’s Best Gonzo Video in 2002. “It was an Anabolic release, but it was a Mercenary Pictures Video,” says the director. Things moved into high gear for the company in April of 2004.
“Since then I’ve independently put out 32 movies to date, four per month. I have five directors working for me, including myself,” notes the three-time recipient of AVN’s Male Performer of the Year Award. Steele keeps his staff talent to a strict regimen, thus insuring consistent quality product. “I won’t do any more or less than four per month,” he says. “With more than that, I believe the directors are just shooting in order to meet their own deadline. You have directors operating faster than they should. You’ve got to remember, your name is on there forever.”
The company’s lines include Black Reign, Super Whores, Bush Hunter, and Lex Steele Triple X. Under the Mercenary Enterprises umbrella, Steel has branched out Mercenary Pictures, Mercenary Europe and the spanking new Mercenary Brazil, with a debut release set for October. “I just established production in Brazil with a director named Don Picone,” says Steele. “We’re going to be producing tranny, boy/girl and hermaphrodite. I like to gain insertion in all the different markets.”
The expansion is all part of the ex-equities trader’s grand vision, the one that inspired him to throw his hat into the cock ring of adult.
“I always looked at the business as a business,” he says. “That’s my pedigree; I’m a businessman first. So I looked at porno and said, ‘Maybe I can actually do well, I have the goods, I have a big dick.’ I made a five-year plan, and I’ve been on point if not early with those goals. Now I’m fully independent; I distribute everything myself. Now I know how the company owners make money, it’s just applying the proper procedures, and it’s not rocket science.”
His secret?
“The head on my shoulders is far more powerful than the one between my legs,” reveals Steele. “And I’ll make much more with the one on my shoulders. In many cases, talent may spend their better years working for everybody else. I feel that, after putting in a strong five years for other people, some of my best years are going on right now.”
As we all know, “right now” is slipping into the future on a regular basis; Mercenary’s international growth trend is part of the notion.
“You want to look beyond the domestic powerhouses,” he emphasizes. “I’d like to get to where we’re on par with a company like Private. That’s going to take time and a number of titles in the catalogue, but at some point, every company was in their first two or three years, and I think we’re doing pretty well.”
Steele is quick to point out that he couldn’t have gotten where he is alone. He learned his craft from some of the biggest talents in porn.
“As a performer I worked for the best. I had guys like Mr. Marcus, Marc Davis, Jake Steed, Sean Michaels all teaching me how to be a performer. As a director I had Vince Vouyer, Mike John, Jules Jordan — we pretty much came up together — all these great directors teaching me how to become a director. And David Joseph [owner of Red Light District], I learned from him as an owner. I kept my mouth closed and my ears wide open; now it’s time to apply what I learned.”
For more information, visit lexingtonsteele.com, or email [email protected].
