BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Jesse Santana has signed an exclusive contract with CockyBoys. Santana said he has left the DVD space and will appear only online going forward.
"All of my DVD options were requiring me to give up my Web deal, so I really gave it a lot of thought," Santana said. "The real turning point for me was a discussion with a bunch of my friends over what to do. A friend of mine said, ‘When's the last time anyone of our generation bought a DVD?'
"I know it's a major career decision, but CockyBoys is very forward-thinking, and they are very good to their models," he continued. "They also have a bunch of new ideas and new ways of doing things. It just feels right. It feels like my future professional home."
CockyBoys owner Kyle Majors said he was surprised by Santana's decision.
"I'm speechless," he said. "Jesse is a major star and a truly wonderful person. He was under a lot of pressure from a lot of different angles. He chose Cockyboys. In my opinion, it's the single most important endorsement we've received. To have Jesse shooting only for us says a lot about how we treat our models and where we are headed."
Santana, who began his career in 2006 by shooting for a website specializing in the amateur-straight-jock niche, signed contracts with CockyBoys and Jet Set Men in May 2007, allowing the two studios exclusive rights to his appearances in two different milieus. The contract with Jet Set expired June 20, according to Jet Set Men partner and director Chris Steele.
"In general, Jet Set prefers not to keep models under contract for longer than one year," Steele said. "We rarely re-sign an exclusive beyond that. We do so because we like to find new faces ... to keep our movies fresh and to have a varied array of hot guys in each of them.
"That being said, Jesse Santana is a true professional and an excellent performer, and Jet Set wishes him the best in all his future endeavors," Steele said.
Majors said he expects Santana to be the first in a series of gay male talent to leave the DVD world for online exclusivity.
"We are talking to other guys that are going to be following suit down the road, but nothing we can talk about right now," he said. "I'm also open to Jesse doing DVD work here and there going forward if it's the right project and something he feels strongly about. We try to work with models to achieve their career goals."
According to Santana, "[CockyBoys is] the future of the online porn, from the way they shoot to the way they treat their models and the way they brand the site, anyone who works with us comments on how unique and different CockyBoys is. There is nothing typical about the way we do things, and that's part of what's great about it."
In addition to CockyBoys and Jet Set, Santana has worked for Channel 1 Releasing, Falcon Entertainment and Men of Odyssey. In 2008, he was nominated for eight GAYVN Awards including Best Performer, Best Newcomer and Best Supporting Actor.
"We are thrilled that Jesse is putting his career in our hands," Majors said. "We will undoubtedly take his career to the next level by continually growing his fan base, and he will do the same for us as an anchor star on CockyBoys.com."
