Chi Chi LaRue couldn't be happier. Sales of Rascal videos and other Channel 1 Releasing lines have skyrocketed, not only in the United States but abroad. But even the queen has to stop for a second to think about it. "What's weird to me is we've got these German people selling our movies. In Germany, I consider our movies to be extremely vanilla, you know?" he says. "In Germany, they can sell pretty much anything. They're into blood sports and they're into skat… they're into everything. And a little rimming movie of ours is blowing out the door." Below the Rim is just one of many titles from the Channel 1 and Rascal Video vaults that have helped propel the once-rookie company into the big leagues as it enters just its sixth year of existence.
"The branding of our company is very important, and I think we've done a good job. When we started we were just the new guys, and now we're one of the major players," LaRue says. "We're doing toys now, we are doing a major Web business, our movies are just getting better, we've got amazing exclusives under contract. But I didn't think it would happen this fast. I really didn't. And it literally seems to have happened overnight."
Besides the Rascal line, Channel 1 is also home to Doug Jeffries' Electro Video; Unzipped Video, the Specialty Publications' magazine's hit line directed by Jeffries and LaRue; Jett Blakk's Red Devil Entertainment; and the new European line Pure PiXXX International. "They're all doing terrific, and we're planning on picking up a few more lines, possibly another one from Europe. We are releasing I think, about a movie a week, which is amazing," LaRue notes. "But I don't just want to be this mass distributor that distributes everything, because I think that would defeat the purpose of the quality of everything that's coming out of here."
The success of Channel 1 has even caught the eye of major mainstream companies. Channel 1 recently made a deal with Sony to help promote the new CD Superstars #1 Hits Remixed (featuring songs from the likes of Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, and Maroon 5) through Club Channel 1, which provides non-explicit DVDs of Channel 1 film and party clips to more than 800 bars and clubs across the country. Clubs use the hour-long DVDs to provide sexy wallpaper to music (either a deejay's or the music provided on each volume of the DVD). Channel 1 will send posters advertising the CD to each club, and the initial screen on the DVD shows a sponsored announcement also advertising the soundtrack.
"It's really good direct marketing in the clubs. We use a different CD for the soundtrack for every volume," says publicity manager Rob Reimer. "Working in the porn industry—especially gay porn—it's been especially hard to break into that mainstream market, so having them sign on with us has been the first really major mainstream company that's doing something with us, besides Gay.com, which is mainstream but is still gay. So we're really psyched about this and hopefully will develop relationships with more mainstream corporations to do some more. We'll see where it takes us."
A major partnership is also underway with Gay.com, which hired Channel 1 to produce 40 parties across the country for clubs in the Club Channel 1 network. The parties are for Gay.com's "Come Together" campaign that promotes its personal ads section. Clubs will advertise the events, and people can log on to Gay.com to see who will be attending the parties (hosted by porn stars) and to print out coupons for gift bags and door prizes.
That visibility of the Channel 1 ventures — combined with hit videos — has made the company a powerhouse in record time. Upcoming Rascal titles Master of the House, Set in Stone, and Wrong Side of the Tracks are sure to follow in the footsteps of past Rascal hits, while Men in Mallorca will hit the shelves for Unzipped.
LaRue credits the success of Bolt —last year's GAYVN Award-winning hit capped by an explosive orgy and sold in a special three-disc DVD set — as being a landmark in the company's history. "That was the time when I realized we were one of the big players. Bolt was such a huge production. It turned out better and more exciting and more crazy and fabulous than I could have imagined. Everything we're doing seems to be turning to gold. We've got no duds. We haven't shot any blanks yet."
It was LaRue's name that caught the eyes of Rob Novinger and Steven Walker, who started Channel 1 and enlisted the diva to head up production wing Rascal Video. Together, the trio and its talented staff have helped build both names into equally recognizable entities, a difficult feat in a crowded industry in which fans usually don't know the names of parent distributors.
"Chi Chi gets so much attention and press that anything you stick under the big drag queen's picture seems to just grow and blossom," says Novinger with a laugh. "People just take notice of it. And it's a lot of marketing. We've managed to do all fronts together: the video productions, the distribution and the Internet stuff, all at the same time. So it's penetrating every market all at once."
In addition to solid sales in Germany, sales of Rascal titles (distributed in Europe through Bruno Gmünder) have climbed in the United Kingdom and France. But it isn't just the videos that have the company soaring. Channel 1 has exploded in other ventures: Its video-on-demand business is booming, and its successful Live and Raw Internet feeds have just been strengthened by Live and Raw 1 On 1, which allows fans to talk to their favorite stars privately online. (Closed in February was the Live and Raw Hotel, which LaRue says was "more like a babysitting job. It was good when it first started, it was a cute idea, but now we've got this great one-on-one thing that is taking off.") And the very latest is Live and Raw On the Go, which allows LiveandRaw.com content to be accessed by mobile phones.
"The great thing about Channel 1 and Rascal Video is that Chi Chi LaRue kind of transcends the gay porn stigma, and he's a mainstream personality," Reimer says. "And the Sonys and the Gay.coms let people see our company as more mainstream than just gay porn. And attaching his name to Club Channel 1 and Live and Raw One-on-One kind of opens it up to a more broad audience. That name is just invaluable."
But LaRue insists it's a team effort. "I am very happy with the fact that I have built a reputation and built this name," LaRue says. "But you're only as good as the team that is behind you, and I couldn't do this all without everybody that works on everything. I've got the greatest people working with me, and I couldn't have asked for anything better."
Contact information: 800-997-9071; Channel1Releasing.com
