When the fans talk, XY-Studios listens.
"Over the years, we got lots of requests for some special fetish movies. According to the wishes of our fans, we released the movie Piss Me Up, Taste My Sperm from Street Boys last year," says René Bolinski, CEO for the European-based company with production offices in the Czech Republic and distribution offices in Germany.
"After the big success and more requests for piss movies, our director Marcel Bruckmann released the movie Pissing, a high-class piss movie. And now he has directed the movie Piss & Sperm, which will have the same big success. Also the feet and socks theme will have a place in our portfolio, so our director Marek Bruckner will do a special foot fetish movie within the next month."
XY-Studios - which picked up the David Award for Best European studio last year - has five labels, led by two main lines: Man's-Art, the high-quality line; and Street Boys, which has edgy fetish material focusing on sperm. The company also has a skater fetish line with Skater-Boys, the Turkish-Boys line with its Turkish Cum Guns series, and Euro-Stallions, a series with European muscle studs.
"We started with the first title, Ludwig 1, from our label Man's-Art, and very fast we got lots of positive response...later we did Cumfaces, the first title from our series Street Boys," Bolinski says. "Already at that time we saw the high importance of the Internet, and we started to create an easy-working website with lots of information and free pictures for our customers."
XY-Studios releases about four new Man's-Art titles and eight Street Boys titles a year. Three times per year it does a special interest theme like watersports. The studio also recently started to release older titles that were new to DVD for the U.S. market, and had a successful start with The Farm. Plans call for four a year.
"We had the idea to do high-quality gay movies for the customers. We realize the wishes and dreams of the customers in our movies. We do movies in which the customer is the director," Bolinski says.
"Brand building was very important for us in the past and is important also in our future. With Man's-Art and Street Boys, we have built up two strong lines. Lots of promotions have helped our websites also.... We provide around 85,000 pictures to our more than 15,000 free members, and around 2,500 daily visitors."
XY-Studios works with two exclusive directors: Bruckmann, who won Best European Director at the David Awards in 2006, heads main line Man's-Art; and Bruckner, who won last year, directs the Street Boys line. "They have both worked very successfully for a long time for XY-Studios. For us it is very important to have directors that provide a constant quality. We really enjoy the trustful and solid work of both."
Bolinski adds that the studio's models come from all over Europe: "They are mostly non-professional actors and are often brand-new in the movie business, and it's their first time in front of a camera. But very fast the nervousness is gone, because they can live their sexual fantasies in our movies under instruction of our directors."
Bolinski notes that the keys to success in the gay porn landscape aren't that different in Europe as compared to the United States. "To be successful you need to do hot movies with a good running time, sweet models, an attractive cover and for sure a fair price for the customers. That is the same for each market...there is no difference. In each market we work together with successful wholesalers. We provide the same promotional materials like posters, catalogs and pictures for Internet shops in North America and in Europe."
XY has two U.S. distributors: "Same like in Europe, we do only non-exclusive distribution. At the moment we are represented in the U.S. by 1 Distribution and New Barbary Coast Distribution. But non-exclusive for us doesn't mean lower support. We provide to all of our partners the best aid. Our pricing policy gives everyone the chance to earn good money with our products."
Up next for XY will be a new online store (XY-Gay.com), and development of its new streaming portal (XY-Studios.tv), which opened earlier this year. The company also plans to attend the Venus Berlin show in October. Bolinski also promises more excitement, including an additional label and work with new producers.
"We grow in the right tempo," he says. "We are a very effective small team and have built up very trustful teamwork with all our partners. We can lean on every one of them. That is the only secret."
CONTACT: XY-Studios.de; [email protected]; 1 Distribution, (323) 468-0122; New Barbary Coast, (415) 553-4073.
