LOS ANGELES - Matthew John Holdings Inc., the parent company of 1 Distribution, Tipo Sesso, Toxxxic Video, Flirt, Boiling Point Productions, Carnaval Films and Major Wood Productions, will sell its gay adult divisions, the company announced Thursday.
Vice president and co-founder Sam Manning said that although he and his business partner have decided "it is much easier to be friends than business partners," the operating units will continue to produce and distribute content as usual until a buyer is found.
"Although it is hard to say goodbye to a business I built from the ground up [and] which has become such a success, my business partner and I have agreed that the time has come for us to go our separate ways and explore other ventures on our own outside of the adult industry," he said. "But we're not closing our doors and disappearing. There's too much business going on for us to stop.
"There will be no variance in the day-to-day operations of any of these companies while seeking a suitable buyer. Customers can continue to be assured of the same high-quality service they have come to expect."
Manning noted that the Matthew John companies gross more than $1 million annually in sales, and both the production and distribution ends remain very active with a number of projects currently in the works. Among them is a membership website that is nearing completion.
"We have licensing deals with Maleflixxx and AEBN, but with our volume of content, there's a lot someone could do," Manning said, noting that only a small percentage of content the company owns is online.
The oldest of the for-sale divisions, Boiling Point Productions, was founded in 1998 by performer Sam Dixon, who produced a handful of films before moving on to partnerships in other ventures.
Tipo Sesso has seen success as one of the industry's prominent twink and jock content producers. The studio is perhaps best known for discovering Brent Everett and casting him in his first film and only bareback performance, Barebacking Across America.
1 Distribution was founded in 2004 and remains a leader in gay DVD distribution.
According to Manning, the other studios are relatively new; however, each has produced several gay adult films. The most recent release from the lesser-known divisions was Toxxxic Video's Cum Dump.
All models were at least 18 years old at the time of their performance. 18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement.
