LOS ANGELES—With cast and crew in the middle of an on-location shoot in Austria—in fact, with a performer mid-air en route to join the production—Falcon|NakedSword was forced to scramble and get its staff and talent back to the United States quickly and safely last March when a travel ban was announced to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That was just the start of the hurdles that awaited the studio—and the entire industry, which was suddenly forced to re-strategize.
“2020 created its own set of challenges from a content standpoint. As we were on lockdown with everyone else, we got really creative about how to keep our models working and keep our members entertained with new content,” says President and CEO Tim Valenti. “This is where Model Behavior content was born.”
The successful series launched last May and continued throughout the year on all four of the company’s brands (NakedSword, Falcon, Raging Stallion and Hot House). The initiative enabled the studios to thrive at a time when uncertainty was ruling the world.
“Our production staff took a look at all the tools and scenarios—virtual meeting technology, models who live together, boyfriends on lockdown together—and we came up with a number of creative and innovative ways to produce new content while keeping everyone safe, which is always our No. 1 priority,” says Toby J. Morris, VP Marketing. “The performers we worked with during this time were a joy. They embraced the challenge, and some of them even contributed to the creative process. They brought their own ideas, helped with directing, and provided the energy and motivation to develop the content when our directors couldn’t be there in person.”
The series has included virtual jackoff sessions that utilized dirty talk and toys; a naked baking segment with Josh Moore; naked workout sessions with Skyy Knox and Johnny Ford; a Jake Nicola striptease; and scenes with couples quarantined together, both at home (like Kaden and Tyler Hylls, and Riley Mitchel with his husband) and in other settings (like Nicola and Vince Parker in a restroom, or former boyfriends Sharok and Logan Stevens outside).
Falcon|NakedSword also utilized the opportunity to continue its relationship with popular Men.com director Marc MacNamara, whose first work for the studio—the acclaimed A Murdered Heart—debuted last February. The award-winning director had an idea for an adult game show that fit right in with the studio’s plans, which included the launch of “Weekends at NakedSword”—a recurring promotion that ran the rest of the year and opened up new and previously existing content to fans for free each weekend.
“Marc pitched PLAY to us as something we could use on Weekends, and we loved the idea,” Valenti says. “We planned on expanding that relationship before the pandemic hit. It was a natural step to have him work on content during this ‘in-person’ production downtime, so we couldn’t pass up this great idea he had of an X-rated game show.”
Four episodes have been released so far, each featuring popular models joining remotely to play in a series of games hosted by MacNamara—with the winner getting a virtual jackoff session with another performer. The show has also featured celebrity guest stars like Bianca Del Rio, Manilla Luzon and Latrice Royale.
“As we were discussing NakedSword's 20th anniversary during the onset of the pandemic, with so many people struggling financially, Tim wanted to find a way to give back to the fans with free X-rated content and live shows, and Weekends at NakedSword was born,” said Morris. “We created a place for gay porn fans to gather each weekend and watch Model Behavior scenes and other hot content.”
At first, Weekends was just going to span a few months. But as its success grew, Morris says they developed plans to extend it into 2021 and possibly further. NakedSword will also use it to host its virtual 20th anniversary party, and it won’t be the first special event on the platform. Weekends has also hosted the Miss Pineapple Pageant, a drag show contest with eight performers. It served as a fundraiser for Pineapple Support—a free support and therapy service for all persons working in the online adult industry (Valenti sits on its board).
“They wanted to do a fundraiser, so Tim and Sister Roma, Falcon|NakedSword Creative Director, came up with the Miss Pineapple Pageant featuring some of today's hottest porn stars who happen to also do drag. It was a stroke of genius and it was so well received,” Morris says. “We’re proud to partner with social organizations and help anyone in the industry that has a supportive message and who is doing great work to help performers.”
The same goes for special programming like Pride: Pornstar Coming Out Stories (which debuted last summer and featured 24 performers) and a #Mask4Mask campaign headlined by a porn star public service announcement featuring 24 models wearing face coverings.
“We wanted to give models a place to tell their stories and reach out to the fans in a way that was socially conscious and uplifting,” Morris says. “We know 2020 has been tough for people not being able to get out and be social, celebrate Pride, holidays and birthdays, or even protest. The models all responded in such a positive way, and that’s why we’ve kept these Weekends at NakedSword pieces available for free far after the weekends passed—we want all our fans to be able to see that for free. The other material that’s appeared on Weekends at NakedSword can be accessed with a membership.”
In addition, Falcon|NakedSword enlisted many of its exclusive and featured performers to appear in live cam shows—many who had never done it before, like 2020 GayVN Performer of the Year Cade Maddox and Steven Lee (who both enlisted their boyfriends to join). Fans could watch for free and interact through chat.
“This has been a success to introduce fans to an intimate way to meet our biggest stars,” Morris says. “Since we’re not able to get out and do in-person events that we might have done, this has been a great opportunity to have fans meet the guys and get a sexy glimpse into their worlds. We’ve only had positive feedback from the performers, and they enjoy getting to chat with the fans and put on a show for them.”
The company also kept fans engaged through giveaways that tied into NakedSword’s year-long 20th anniversary celebration, enlisting sponsors for products and creating special t-shirts (after polling the fans to pick a winning design) to serve as some of the prizes. NakedSword also created a four-disc 20th Anniversary Ultimate DVD Collection with 20 of its award-winning scenes.
“It has all been focused on giving back to the fans, and thanking everyone for their support over the last 20 years,” Morris says. “We can’t thank all our partners enough for providing gifts that we’ve been giving away each month along with our drawings for annual memberships. All of this has been focused on giving the fans new ways of experiencing NakedSword and sending a big thank you to them all.”
And it’s expected to continue into the new year. Valenti promises a new-and-improved user experience at NakedSword.com, and a huge celebration for the 50th anniversary of Falcon Studios.
“2020 brought many challenges that forced us to make major changes, including working from home to the way we produce content. Thanks to our top-notch team, our models and our amazing fans, we were able to meet those challenges head on and thrive,” he says. “But, like everyone out there, we are hoping for a much better and even bigger 2021. We have very cautiously and safely resumed production, so our fans can anticipate new smoking-hot content from all of our Falcon|NakedSword brands.”
