One has an accounting background, and the other dealt with corporate production, including a stint as a subcontractor with Hallmark. So how the heck did Ted McIntyre and Doug Knight start one of the most successful twink video lines in the business?
"Doug and I had been friends for quite some time, and over dinner one night with other friends we were talking about the glut of twink Europorn and how no one was really doing good American twink porn," notes McIntyre. "We thought we could not only feature American twinks, but we could do it better than the other companies attempting it."
So in August of 2000, they invited three models to Knight's house in Overland Park, Kansas, to film what would become A Boi's Dream. The rest, as they say, is history. Hyde Park Productions (and website KnightBoyz.com) took flight and began to release a growing library of hits including Go West Boyz!, Twink Playground and the Lord of the Boyz films.
"From the beginning, we wanted to produce twink porn movies, not just videos. We wanted our customers to watch a story of innocence, youth and, of course, sexuality unfold before them," McIntyre says. "We didn't want to just produce a video a week shot in some cheesy motel room."
Hyde Park eventually moved its home from Kansas City to Phoenix, and as the titles kept coming, the accolades built up. Twink Playground 2 won the 2006 AEBN Best Featured Video Award, the company was nominated by XBiz for the 2007 Best GLBT Company and Twink Toy Story picked up a GAYVN Award nomination for Best Specialty Video (18-23).
"(We wanted) to challenge the notion that American twink porn couldn't sell. I think we shattered that myth a long time ago," McIntyre says. "After we came on the scene, there were maybe five or 10 companies that tried as well, and they've kind of disappeared."
Current release Twink Dreams continues the trend that Hyde Park has developed, utilizing strong location shoots by filming for a week in a mountain valley in the Pikes Peak area of Colorado. For the shoot of the upcoming Frisky Twinks, they flew their models into Las Vegas, and planned the first day with activities and no shoots.
"We give them money, and they go on roller coaster rides in Las Vegas, see the town, and we see what the chemistry is between the models. We want to see which ones hang out with each other, because they get their own groups. It's like Jane Goodall watching chimpanzees," Knight says with a laugh. "Then the chemistry in the scene shows, and that's where you get the success. You can't just take models randomly and throw them into a scene."
The success has enabled the duo to launch new line Dark Realm Productions with first feature Twink Awakening, putting the spotlight on a neglected niche: twink BDSM.
"We always wanted it, but we never had the models for it. The whole concept of Dark Realm is to allow you to visit that part of you that you don't show in public, because of taboos and everything else," McIntyre says. "And now that Hyde Park has come to the point where we can take on the extra task of doing great twink-on-twink BDSM and fetish videos, Dark Realm's time is now."
McIntyre will concentrate on shooting for Dark Realm, with Knight taking most of the directing chores on the Hyde Park titles. They plan to release 10 films a year (six Hyde Park, four Dark Realm).
"It's really refreshing to work with people like Doug and Ted...they have a passion for what they're into, and they're just genuinely nice, good people," notes Spanky, sales manager for distributor White Tiger Releasing. "They treat these models right, and that's important to me. They make sure the models have a good time when they're shooting movies - it's not just about the sex. So because of that, they come out with some pretty unique stuff."
The company also did its first full charity event this year, raising $1,500 for AIDS charities in the Albany area. "The models loved it and are begging to know when we can do it again," McIntyre says. "We are looking into different possibilities to team up with clubs and other locales to do more charity events as well."
Knight notes they also are working on developing website TwinksAtPlay.com to feature original content and outtakes, including behind-the-scenes footage. He also wants to extend the company's outreach to its fans. Hyde Park has already been inviting customers on its mailing list to free, live cam chat sessions with the models directly before and after scene shoots.
"Our customers love that because they can interact with the models and it makes them more human," he says. "I really want to focus on that a little bit more, too: more interaction with the customers, show them that they're part of the family."
CONTACT: KnightBoyz.com; (602) 218-5446; [email protected].
