LOS ANGELES—It is arguably the most popular gay porn network around, and Say Uncle just keeps getting bigger. Officially launched by Charged Media in February with seven brands under its belt, Say Uncle now has eight—no surprise considering the successful 2019 its properties had, including a Favorite Niche Site win for Family Dick in the GayVN Fan Awards.
Along with Missionary Boys, the two sites have influenced equally successful spinoffs. That includes Yes Father, which “showcases altar boys and their experiences with leaders of the church” and has been building content all year (with an “official” launch with affiliates in early April); and Dad Creep, touted as “the creepiest stepdad and stepson gay porn series that you'll ever see” (it has three scenes released so far).
If history is any indication, the network will have two more hits on its hands.
“For every channel we launch on Say Uncle, we’re always trying to find hot new concepts or give a new spin to old concepts,” says Golden Kimball, chief content officer for Say Uncle. “Catholic porn is what most people think of when you say ‘religious porn.’ But even though the idea is really common and there are plenty of porn videos with priests, there wasn’t even one site serving up a Catholic gay porn fantasy. We had a strong hunch that our members would love to see the pageantry and rituals of Catholicism combined with our kinky pairings of older guys with younger men.”
And that hunch comes from the success of Missionary Boys (previously known as MormonBoyz), which has been around in some form for eight-plus years.
“We created a world that people can come back to and inhabit every week with new characters—we created it visually with the sets, costumes and props; a series of rituals all the boys go through; and in the dialogue and the copy on the site. Sometimes the interactions are sweet and sensual, sometimes they’re clinical, and sometimes it’s rough and punitive. But everything in the world underlines one single theme: powerful, experienced older men guiding innocent younger guys into sexual maturity. And I think that’s why fans return to it day after day.”
And it’s a world that Kimball knows well: He was raised Mormon, and served as a missionary for two years.
“The language and concepts in Missionary Boys came very naturally to me. The fantasies about older priesthood leaders and fellow missionaries are fantasies I experienced myself,” he says. “I’m not Catholic, but I feel like most of us have absorbed a lot of information about Catholicism from popular culture. Because we want our fantasies to feel immersive and as realistic as possible, we also did a fair amount of research as we prepare each shoot for Yes Father. We read up on Catholic boys’ schools, on confession and mass, and on the process of altar boy training. All of the set pieces on Yes Father—from training at the altar, to the confessional, to punishments in the priests’ office—came out of that research. And on our first shoot for Yes Father, two of our ‘priests’ had actually served as altar boys when they were younger, and brought some of their knowledge and experience to their performance.”
Kimball notes that the confessional scenes are very popular: “The confessional is a really private space, where you tell your deepest darkest secrets. It’s only natural that a priest would get turned on listening to these young guys confess to all their immoral sexual desires and activities. The confessional also has a huge presence in pop culture—the scenes in The Godfather and in Daredevil were guides to us on how to build the confessional and film these scenes.”
And the dedication the studios show to sets and wardrobe help sell the fantasy. Kimball says they are vital in creating a world that viewers believe in.
“Though at the same time, I always think if a viewer is criticizing a costume or a prop, you haven’t done your job in making the interaction between the performers intense enough. For Yes Father, we put the patches on the school boys’ vests ourselves, and designed and built a confessional in our studio. It’s not easy to make people believe you’re filming in a Catholic church or a Mormon temple. But we always want to go the extra mile to give our members a convincing fantasy.”
But for all the similarities Yes Father shares with Missionary Boys—including the central power dynamic on display—the sites serve different purposes when it comes to ceremony.
“For most people, Mormonism is really weird and unknown. That’s partly because Mormons have a bunch of secret rituals they perform in temples that outsiders are not supposed to know about. People who go through the ceremonies promise to keep them secret. So Missionary Boys taps into that reality and creates a fantasy of some secret sex cult with erotic rituals that outsiders don’t know about. In this fictional world, gay sex is celebrated by the church, not forbidden. The young missionaries are taught how to enjoy sex with their priesthood leaders, how to please the older men and how to find pleasure themselves,” Kimball says.
“Catholicism is much more familiar. All of the Catholic ceremonies like baptism, confession and the eucharist are public, and we’ve all known about them forever. So the fantasy isn’t about some secret cult; it’s about individual priests who seduce the young men at a Catholic school. There’s more guilt and shame, too—the sex isn’t something condoned by the church but hidden from outsiders; it’s something both priest and altar boy know they shouldn’t be doing. It’s a dirty secret.”
And yes, Kimbrall is aware that the scenarios presented on a site like Yes Father in particular may rub some people the wrong way.
“We’re not trying to court controversy, but we’re not afraid of it either. We’re more focused on delivering the fantasies our members want,” he says. “Catholic porn fantasies have been around longer than the internet. People have been getting off to stories about naughty nuns and priests for hundreds of years, if not thousands of years. Obviously, viewers’ own experiences and sensitivities differ. This site isn’t for everyone; no site is. I think our concepts are very clear at face value—if they’re something that a viewer doesn’t want to watch, it’s easy for them not to. But there are lots of people who love watching priests get it on with eager young men at church, and our fictional videos are thrilling for them.”
Faux Fucking
The same can be said of most of the sites in its network, which includes the “fauxcest” in Family Dick and its first offshoot, Brother Crush.
“These fantasies have been around forever. When you look at Joe Gage’s films, or read Handjobs magazine or Josman (comics) or Phil Andros, there’s just a huge amount of taboo erotica already in existence, lots with family themes. Then there’s stuff like the violence in Gengoroh Tagame’s erotic manga, things we’d never ever be able to get away with on a porn site—though it’s somehow fine in Hollywood movies and TV shows. The fantasies themselves are not new,” he says.
“I guess a more tame kind of porn rose to the top with the emergence of internet porn—you had all these sites that were basically hot straight guys showing off their perfect bodies and vanilla fucking. That’s almost all I was seeing when I first started looking at porn in college. But people have always been hungry for kinky, fucked-up scenarios, and I suspect they always will be.”
Look no further than Family Dick, which launched in 2017 and became an instant hit with its tackling of taboos.
“Family Dick was a big success right out of the gate. We got a lot of comments from blogs and fans that no one had seen anything like it before. We intentionally filmed it with a little less polish than Missionary Boys—we used handicams and less elaborate lighting to make it feel like you were watching real home videos. Everything in the site design and the copy fostered the illusion that you were looking at leaked, lo-fi videos of real normal guys having sex with their stepsons. Gay porn consumers hadn’t seen anything like that from a studio, and the response was very enthusiastic. And we’re staying true to that home-video vibe while making beautiful films that explore that fauxcest taboo in new ways every week,” Kimball says.
“The other thing I think people respond to is how tender the videos can be. Sometimes we have a little light BDSM play or rougher vibe, but most of the videos are about the father figures showing their young gay charges love and tenderness. It’s creepy and it’s sweet, and our fans really respond to that combination.”
Enter Dad Creep, which Kimball notes delves into the “special” relationship between a father and son.
“Whether related or not, young boys crave the attention and guidance of a mentor, and we wanted Dad Creep to be a highlight of all of the complexities behind that relationship—specifically when the road that leads to takes a dark turn. When you dive deep into the layers of a specific fauxcestual relationship and create a world where you focus on connecting your viewers with a ‘familiar’ feeling, you will find success, and that is what we wanted to do with Dad Creep,” Kimball says. “What we do best is finding those tiny moments in life that we can build on and find ways to connect those moments with our viewers. You can say that we found those moments within the father/son dynamic, and Dad Creep is the vehicle we used to bring them to life.”
Kimball notes that when looking at Family Dick and Dad Creep side by side, they could come off as completely the same. But he says there are a few major elements that make them distinct from each other.
“Family Dick usually touches on very light-hearted topics and scenarios, almost sitcom material; while Dad Creep is in a more serious tone. The new site will take you through the everyday, realistic, not-so-pretty power dynamic that comes with a strictly parental versus juvenile relationship. Family Dick regularly invites a step-uncle, stepbrother, even step-grandpa into the mix! Filming for Dad Creep is very raw, and focuses on really creating the atmosphere for the viewer to feel as if they were peeking into the life of stepfathers as they raise and discipline their young curious sons. Dad Creep is a wonderful extension of the Family Dick world, for those who love to explore the darkest corners of sex and desire.”
Pleasing Fans, Embracing Performers
Kimball says the Say Uncle members’ area makes it very easy for fans to interact with one another and leave feedback. They get lots of ideas from their members, and also comments on what’s working and what’s not. He says they keep close track of those comments to help shape content.
“A lot of times we get contradictory messages from fans—no socks during sex versus they must always wear socks during sex, for example—so we try to mix it up and give something to everyone. We’re very happy that member response to both of these sites has been really positive.”
And with content that can easily become familiar given the stories, visuals and concept, the little differences are key to keeping things fresh—along with casting.
“Every new performer and new pairing of performers is inherently interesting, so putting different people through the same procedures and watching them genuinely react to the situation—and to one another—makes familiar situations seem new,” Kimball says. “So on a site like Yes Father, what happens between the priests and the altar boys doesn’t always change a whole lot, but we tailor each altar boy’s scenes to reflect his personality and play to his preferences and kinks. On Dad Creep, the stories change every week, but the underlying math is always the same. It’s a little like a sitcom—you have a formula that you want to repeat, but at the same time you’re always trying to put a new spin on it.”
The unique spin of each site in the Say Uncle network also creates a fresh experience for the performers, who are asked to fulfill a fantasy that not all studios take on.
“Performers don’t necessarily know much about the worlds we’re asking them to inhabit—it’s great when they do, or when it’s one of their own favorite kinks. But that’s okay, they don’t really need to know much. It’s the director’s job to help them feel comfortable and give the best performance they can. I think the clearer the conversation is between performers and the director before camera rolls ensures the performers will feel safer and deliver the goods,” Kimball says.
“When you’re directing, you have lines and shots you need to get to tell the story, but I try to get performers to show us something of themselves. Viewers can tell when they’re getting a real emotion. I find performers’ individual quirks sexy and try to get them on film, whether it’s the way they laugh or how their toes curl when someone rims them, or a face they make when they’re getting railed.”
And it’s that relationship—the one between all of the creative artists on set—that is the most important of all to Kimball.
“For me, one of the best things about working in porn is the people who comprise our industry. Sex workers face a lot of stigma, but most of the performers and crew members I have worked with over the years defy the stereotypes—they’re smart, genuine, kind people. I look at every shoot as an opportunity to meet interesting people from all walks of life,” he says.
“Father Oaks (aka President Oaks) is a great example. I’ve now worked with him for years, from his very first Missionary Boys shoot to his new role as a Catholic priest with some secrets. He’s thoughtful, interesting and great to be around, as well as one of the sexiest guys alive. He’s a great performer who brings a unique charisma to his performance, really enjoys what he does and happens to have a very reliable member—which is a huge plus in a performer. We also have a couple local camera operators on our shoots who are erotic visionaries and artists in their own right. One of them I reached out to because I’d admired his photography on Instagram. He didn’t have a lot of experience with video, but now he’s a regular on every shoot.”
And with fans interacting with the new worlds Say Uncle has created, Kimball is excited to hear hot fantasies from fans and get them filmed.
“We are excited to explore the path Dad Creep will lead us down—Father's Day is right around the corner, and we’ve got just the gift in mind for dad.”
