MONTREAL - On April 22, Montreal-based adult modeling agency-cum-content-producing-company FCF Agency, the parent company of Next Door Studios and of popular sites such as NextDoorMale, NextDoorBuddies, NextDoorHookups, TommyDXXX, and StrokeThatDick, as well as the BuddyProfits affiliate program, celebrated a milestone: five years in the business.
"It feels good," FCF founder Stephan Sirard told AVNOnline.com on Friday. "I didn’t think I would survive five years. But, I surround myself with good people—some very smart people, some very hardworking people—so it’s good to know that they’re still employed and we’re still doing good."
The company started in 2002, when Sirard—a former policeman and security officer who began working at Motorola—decided to retire as the connected home solutions company’s director of security in the broadband division and start anew. A trip around the world ended in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, where Sirard tried his hand at a little bit of amateur content by filming one of his ice hockey buddies walking around the city. "We bought this camera at Best Buy just for fun and just started filming," Sirard recalled. "Girls were flashing their titties at him, and we just had a good time. A friend of mine edited the tape for a Mardi Gras party in Montreal, and everybody was, like, ‘This is better than Girls Gone Wild!’"
Therefore, Sirard turned to his ice hockey buddies. "I said, ‘Hey guys, I think I’m going to start a porn corporation, so if anybody wants to jerk off I’ll pay you $500. And if anybody wants to do their girlfriend [on film], I’ll pay you $1,000,’" he said. "That’s how it started."
Sirard eventually had enough content to approach distributors, and wound up convincing Los Angeles-based Valley Pro Video to give him a shot at producing one film a month. Although he intended for FCF to be simply a modeling agency, Sirard reconsidered when he saw how many offers his models were getting. "The models started doing very well, and when I started seeing the potential by doing my own content, I decided to start my own production. We decided to stop selling to Valley Pro and retain ownership of the content, and then we launched Next Door Studio and it’s been very good to us."
Throughout the years, Next Door Studios has been responsible for several GAYVN-nominated titles and has introduced several models to the industry. Many have gone on to grace covers of adult magazines. While the majority of the content is shot for the gay market, FCF also shoots straight-oriented content. "Our straight clientele likes the straight-guy stuff," Sirard noted. "We bring in a male who’s good looking and we’ll film him doing a solo, then we’ll film him with a girl, and then we’ll film him with a guy, and [straight surfers] really like that. They follow the model from a straight scene to a gay scene."
Of his contribution to the gay online market, Sirard said quality is top priority. "I’ve been told by people, ‘We don’t know if you’re gay or straight or bi, but you definitely have an eye for the talent.’ There are a lot of sites out there, and some are very good, and some are very, very bad, but ours is very realistic," he said. "It’s amateur—but with a professional twist. I think we brought some very quality talent to the industry and they have become very popular."
After collaborating with Gamma Entertainment to launch BuddyProfits in 2006, FCF’s profile has continued to rise. Additionally, the company has earned a lot of mileage out of the popular Canadian reality TV series Web Dreams, which prominently featured several FCF Agency models and staff. The show, now in its second season, continues to bring attention to FCF.
With plans to include several new sites, a new adult magazine, and a social-networking site (tentatively titled XGarden) set to launch in August and targeted toward industry professionals, FCF continues to maintain a healthy presence. "I hope that we continue to grow," Sirard said. "When we started out, we had a lot of young guys—editors and camera men and models—that took a chance, and I couldn’t pay them well. I told them, ‘I’m not making money, but when I do, I will give you more.’ And they stuck around. I was able to sustain an employee and model base and keep them happy, and now I take care of them and am able to pass the wealth to my models and employees. I’m very happy to see that everybody is still employed and they’re all making very good salaries and we’re all having fun.
"After five years, I understand the business," Sirard added. "[At one point], I was questioning myself if I made the right move, but in the last year, I feel I’ve been on a wave. It’s a good atmosphere, and I hope to continue to grow."
