LAS VEGAS—After a seven-year hiatus, the GayVN Awards are back—and they’re in Las Vegas, the perfect setting for an evening of red-hot adult entertainment this coming Sunday. Another reason to celebrate is that also for the first time in seven years, there will be a new inductee in the GayVN Hall of Fame.
At the show—sponsored by CAM4, iWantEmpire and Pornhub, and taking place Sunday, Jan. 21 inside The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas—AVN will induct one new GayVN Hall of Fame member—and it’s someone who truly spent a lifetime in the industry. The new inductee is Dirk Yates (aka Rick Ford), active since the late 1980s, when he first began shooting “straight military guys doing not-so-straight things” (as described on DirkYates.com). His series Dirk Yates’ Private Amateur Collection, released by All Worlds Video, hit volume 250 in 2007, and he’s continued to create new movies, distributed by Channel 1 Releasing.
But Yates was more than a director. Under his real name, Rick Ford, he founded All Worlds Video, which put out its first release in 1985: Sgt. Swann's Private Files.
In 1993, it became public knowledge that Marines at Camp Pendleton had been featured in All Words Video DVDs. The movie Honorable Discharge (1993, directed by Jerry Douglas) was featured on The Today Show, and all hell broke loose. In the book Bigger Than Life: The History of Gay Porn Cinema from Beefcake to Hardcore, Yates recalls a man in Fresno, California, calling to ask about the tapes—and he then ordered 500. According to the book, the resulting sales “gave All World the economic push it needed to compete with Catalina and Falcon.”
Among his other series are Barracks Glory Hole, Str8 Off the Base and The Few, The Proud, The Naked. In 2006 Channel 1 Releasing began to street a new series, Top Brass. Each volume feature five new military men in action, with bonus extras that included classic solos, groups and duos with commentary by Yates. The director pioneered the genre of filming amateur military videos, which has been copied by many other studios.
In addition to a wealth of DVD content, Yates also has been active in the online sphere. Before DirkYates.com, which is still in operation, he had Dirk Yates Live. In 2005 he added downloadable video to that site and also continued to host live shoots on the website. During the live shows, diehard fans enjoyed stopping by the chat room, where Dirk would be chatting live and commenting on the show.
"I have been lucky enough to know and work with Rick Ford since 2006," said Channel 1 Releasing's Rob Novinger. "Rick has transformed gay porn in many ways. He built All Worlds, the largest gay adult library that covered every genre from straight, trans and bi to leather, twink and daddy. His alter ego Dirk Yates invented the military genre and literally developed boy-next-door content, which is now—more than 30 years later—more popular than ever. I can't think of anyone who deserves this more! Rick you have my utmost love and respect!"
Apart from his prolific accomplishments in the adult video industry, Dirk is also a generous philanthropist, often donating anonymously to important LGBT and social causes. He also maintains many long-term friendships with some of the models he filmed, often helping them to assimilate back into civilian lives after leaving the military.
For information on the event, go to GayVNAwards.com. To purchase tickets, click here.
