Hard to believe, but new production company Fierce Dog actually started as a joke and a bet between friends. And after the successful debut of first feature The Bottoming Desire late last year, everyone is a winner.
"The basic idea for the company started with a friend from Seattle, with us kind of joking about making a movie," says Jesse Kiehl, who founded the company and also produces, directs, and writes. "And then it turned into an actual business plan, and we took a look at it from that perspective, as a business opportunity and creative outlet for both of us."
None of the people involved had any experience in the adult industry: Kiehl's background is in entertainment design and art direction. Others came from business consulting and technology backgrounds. After intensely studying the industry, the group was able to sign popular stars like Brad Star and Jarett Fox for the debut feature, which Kiehl co-directed and wrote with Billy Sparkles. It also marked the start of model Troy Mason's career.
"We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We had no idea how the adult industry worked, nothing," Kiehl says. "There's been lots of networking and that kind of stuff. Richard Mungia and Michael Lucas over at Lucas Distribution have been very good to us and are excellent partners to work with."
While getting name recognition is always a big challenge for a new company, Fierce Dog has made tremendous strides in a short period of time. They signed an exclusive European distribution deal with Dark Ink, and January 1 saw a new relationship with Canadian-based IMDEG Media Corporation, Inc., which bought into the company.
Also in January, Fierce Dog began to diversify by adding a stronger online presence with a new Web division. The company plans to launch a new website by April that will feature exclusive online content. "The website is going to be phenomenal. It's going to start off slow but as the full year unveils, you're going to see some new technological things on the site that you haven't seen anywhere else."
Kiehl says it's been challenging, but rewarding. His secret to success is just being himself. "The way I do business is the way I have friendships: what you see is what you get, very transparent and very up front. It's the only way I will live, it's the only way I'll do business. Otherwise it's not worth doing; it takes the fun out of it."
What bonds everyone at the company is a true love for porn. "Adult content is a huge part of society, it's very ingrained," Kiehl says. "I'm twenty-nine-years-old, and I think mine was one of the generations coming out younger, and porn is a huge part of that. It helps people young and old explore different areas, helps them find themselves, and it's not going away."
Especially if Fierce Dog has anything to say about it: Its second feature, Latin Interview Boys, debuted at the end of December. Directed by El Diablo, it is the first in a planned series of features filmed in Mexico City in Spanish with English subtitles. Vancouver Nights followed in January. Co-directed by Kiehl and former Studio 2000 star Jeremy Hall in his directing debut (he also stars), it features Pierre Fitch and Brent Everett (in a non-sexual role).
"We kind of took our own secret little fetishes, our own stories and that kind of stuff, and we're translating them to film and Web content," Kiehl says. "Where that fits in… and I know I'm going to get ridiculed for this, but the joke we have is that it's 'Abercrombie porn,' basically. We pair someone like Brad Star who's a little more built with someone like a twink. It's mainly Caucasian and Latin guys that are under twenty-five."
Fierce Dog plans to release six titles in 2007. Kiehl notes that different lines may branch off once the company is more established, including Latin and reality-based lines. He adds that he would like to have a hand in at least co-directing each entry outside of the Latin features, and figures to have a hand in writing along with Sparkles, who wrote Vancouver Nights as a poem.
"It's an interesting take on telling a story. We're kind of looking at different ways to tell stories, yet we're still shooting porn. But we want to keep it interesting," Kiehl says. "You'll see there's definitely an underwear fetish that goes throughout our films, and the type of boy is kind of our niche. But we like to keep things broad, so we touch on fetishes, but don't necessarily dive deep into them. So you'll see some foot fetish in some of the newer stuff coming out. You're going to see Pierre Fitch in some soccer gear in Vancouver Nights. And who wouldn't want to see Pierre Fitch in soccer gear?! No one's seen him in it yet. It's little things like that."
CONTACT INFO: FierceDog.com; [email protected]; Lucas Distribution 212-924-5892
