SAN DIEGO, Calif.—GayVN Hall of Fame inductee and multiple award-winning producer/director Dink Flamingo has returned to Amateur Straight Guys to sit in the director's chair.
After 16 years of success at his previous home, Active Duty, Flamingo sold the site to Gamma Entertainment's Buddy Profits in December of 2014 and hung up the camera. Afterwards, Flamingo bought a big farm in his native Carolina tobacco fields and led a quiet country life while learning to operate heavy equipment (the other kind).
"I traded in my Tommy Bahama leisure wear for Carhartt coveralls, climbed on the tractor and went to work. It was a return to the life I'd led growing up and it was exactly what I needed at the time" Flamingo explained. "You can easily lose yourself while feeding the monster of a successful business and I was suffering from an extreme case of burn-out. My time spent outdoors these past several years getting the farm exactly the way I wanted it was just the project I needed. You can rediscover yourself out in nature and get back to life's basics and that's exactly what I did."
Flamingo purchased the pioneering gay-for-ay website Amateur Straight Guys in 2010 and hired a few different directors to keep the content coming to ensure regular updates. He retained ownership of the site when he sold Active Duty but with his focus completely on his new farm, he eventually stopped updating the site.
"Amateur Straight Guys is an amazing brand that has stood the test of time and its share of ups and downs. Even after we stopped updating the site, many of its longtime loyal fans and followers stuck around and kept their memberships. And even without regular updates or promotion, new members still joined often to enjoy the catalog of over 500 videos," Flamingo said.
After getting the farm the way he wanted it, Flamingo grew bored and eventually decided to return to his life-long love of chasing straight guys and sharing them with fellow admirers. Amateur Straight Guys just seemed like the perfect place to share his new finds and focus his attention.
"Anyone that is even the slightest fan of straight guys crossing over and doing not-so-straight things eventually find their way to ASG. The gay-for-pay genre catches a lot of flack from some in the industry and even some fans, but it remains a popular theme. If Amateur Straight Guys is any indictation about this genre's survival and longevity, I'd say it has a pretty concrete future, regardless of its detractors."
Rather than start from scratch, Flamingo gave the site a total make-over, moved it over to the Elevated X CMS and rebranded it as Dink Flamingo's Amateur Straight Guys, thus combining the powers of two popular longstanding brands.
"It was a no-brainer," he said, adding, "Why re-invent the wheel when you already have a spare with plenty of air left in it?"
Flamingo's decision to return behind the camera was one that he toyed with for over a year, but once he'd made up his mind, he already knew that reviving Amateur Straight Guys would be part of the plan.
"ASG was one of the pioneering websites in its genre. Launching back in February of 2000, it would quickly gain popularity and a lot of fans. For many years I considered it one of Active Duty's main competitors so when the opportunity to purchase the site presented itself, I jumped on it. I had a lot of respect for the brand and was actually a fan myself. Like Active Duty, the videos had a lot of personality. When you watched the scenes you knew the guys were having fun and it was obvious that Doug and Jay loved what they were doing. The added personality and humor made the scenes stand out and gave fans and viewers a sense of getting to know the guys. The formula was often, like Active Duty, imitated but never really duplicated. I've often wondered if I hadn't sold Active Duty and would have just stopped updating it, if the fans would have continued to embrace it the way the fans of Amateur Straight Guys have. The brand may not hold much relevance within the industry at this point but that hasn't been a reflection of the relevance it's held with its loyal followers. There's a lot to be said for that. And a lot to be gained. I'm really looking forward to rebuilding the site to a closer resemblance of its former self and having a lot of fun in the process."
Flamingo has a lot of plans for the site. In addition to his tried-and-true formula that helped solidify Active Duty's success, he intends to venture into new territory and experiment with different things.
"The sky is the limit, really. I'm looking forward to no longer being locked into the military theme, which will open so many new doors to express more creativity," he stated. "I'll also be introducing a new formula with a twist that I think will be very intriguing to the fans as it will put them riding shotgun in my world, making them feel like they were right there as part of the entire process. A lot of secrets that I previously held close to the chest will become something shared with the viewers in the blog I'll be keeping on the site. We plan to give fans who've always wanted to be behind the camera the opportunity to become directors themselves through both user uploaded content and special invitations to the studio to try their hand at directing some of their favorite models among the new crew. It's a whole new journey that I'm so excited about and most of all I'm returning fully refreshed. I have shelves full of awards and accolades that I worked very hard for and am very proud of, but this time around it'll be more about having fun and keeping things fresh as opposed to feeding the monster."
Until the fully functional affiliate program is in place, active and former affiliates may reach out to either Nancy, the former manager of the Flamingo Bucks Affiliate Program who will be managing Amateur Straight Guys new program, Dink Dollars, by emailing [email protected], or directly to Dink Flamingo by emailing [email protected]. Those who were previously an affiliate through CC Bill can still promote the site through that program by using the same referral links as before.
For content and promotional material needs in the meantime, contact Nancy or Dink.
