When heterovid supermegastar Jenna Jameson wants to work with you, it's a good sign: a very, very good sign. Not that NakedSword.com needs the help. The gay video-on-demand service launched in 1998, in an age when streaming video was a new and untested format for content delivery. Since then, it has led the charge as fans — and studios — have not only hopped on board, but embraced the format.
"No one was doing it, and we just went out and started talking to studios and content producers about the technology, and got a bunch of the content producers on board," notes Tim Valenti, the site's president and the CEO/co-founder of parent company Cubik Media. "That was tough because they were scared about their content being stolen or their sales cannibalized. But it started to work out."
While some studios and stores were initially afraid of diverted traffic when NakedSword launched, they have quickly realized it's a benefit to everyone. "The online market is still a very different audience than the one that goes into the stores and buys and rents movies. If anything, just having the studios' content on the Internet through a VOD site, even having some previews or trailers, helps drive the rental sales and the purchase of actual physical product in the stores. It's just additional marketing, and it's an additional way for studios to get an online presence and to get their brand out there."
The first version of NakedSword was pulled down after six months to iron out the kinks and work out a solid business plan. Version 2.0 was soon launched, and current version 3.0 launched last year.
"One of my favorite moments was when I stopped having to pitch and sell so hard to get studios to come on board," Valenti says with a laugh. "That was a great milestone. It showed that we really understood what we were doing and that we had developed a reputation where people really wanted to work with us for a multitude of reasons."
That reputation brought Jet Set to NakedSword's door, and the Wet Palms phenomenon was soon born. The award-winning, hardcore gay soap opera runs on NakedSword first before hitting DVD. "We worked with Jet Set on the casting and the video production, helped hammer out the storyline and we were highly involved with the marketing and promotion of the series, including concepting and building the interactive WetPalms.com website. And we did it because it was fun and such a unique thing," Valenti says.
The site has grown from just a streaming video service into a must-visit source for industry news. In addition to videos, subscribers have access to the original The Tim & Roma Show (a sort of Entertainment Tonight for the gay porn world), the popular Gay Porn Blog as well as three gossip columns: Will Clark's "Porn Star Confidential," Mark Adams' "Vidio View," and J.C. Adams' "Adams Report."
"The core of the site will always be the movies and streaming video, but how we differentiate ourselves from our competition is that we surrounded that core with all kinds of feature content and lifestyle, community types of content," Valenti says. "We're the only membership site of its kind. We had members from day one, and that's because it's a safe place, it's a fun place, and if you get to know us, you know that you're not being ripped off. It's a world of its own."
A world so big, in fact, that other companies want in on the fun. Last year, Jenna Jameson and Club Jenna launched Club Thrust, a joint effort with NakedSword catering to Jameson's large gay following. The site highlights streamed content of Jameson as well as her choice of gay titles.
The company also recently launched NakedSwordLive.com — a live video chat site — through a partnership with Video Secrets, and is in the final stages of launching a personals site (NakedSwordPersonals.com) in partnership with FriendFinder.com.
"We've spent the last couple years developing the NakedSword brand industry-wide. Our goal will be to continue with that branding effort on a consumer level as well. To be one of the first companies to really bridge between the gay side of the industry and the straight side of the industry, I think that is a huge achievement on our end."
Also launching soon is NakedPeepShow.com, a site to help maximize international traffic. Patel notes that one of the biggest initiatives for 2006 will be launching NakedSwordStraight.com, a VOD site for straight content. Greg Lindberg, CTO of Cubik, also adds that the site is ready to lead the charge in mobile technology, soon launching a prepaid phone card for the adult market. "You're going to see more content delivered to hand-held devices. We've seen in happen already in Europe and Asia, and it's just a matter of time before it happens in the U.S. We're developing a site so people will be able to download stuff to their iPods, PSPs, and cell phones and be able to pay using their cell phone and other methods. You're going to see a lot of new products out of our site related to those special devices."
Valenti notes he is eager to produce more original content in 2006, one of many plans he has to help increase membership, which has grown every year. "We're not as huge as some of the other [VOD] players, but I think we bring a certain level of excellence, creativity, and business relationship that they don't. We've never considered ourselves a vending machine kind of service. I don't think there's a whole lot out there that tries to at least strive to our level."
Contact info: 415-538-9000; NakedSword.com.
