LOS ANGELES—If Sal Genoa makes podcasting look easy, that’s because he doesn’t consider it work.
That much is evident during any given episode of the “Porn Director Podcast,” which Genoa has hosted every week for two-and-a-half years.
“The secret is to show up,” Genoa jokes. “It’s fucking murderous to get talent. We get a flake a week, but the show posts every Thursday at 11 p.m Pacific time. We’ve never missed an episode.”
It’s a remarkable feat of reliability for the longest running podcast in porn, which will hit its 124th episode this week hosting some of the biggest names in adult entertainment. The 16-year veteran director and videographer says one of the reasons it has endured is he keeps the show in perspective.
“I think many have tried and many have failed,” Genoa said. “Con, who is my producer, and I are athletes. We do jiu-jitsu, and compared to getting your ass kicked four or five times a week in jiu-jitsu class, hosting a podcast once a week for us is fucking nothing.”
Indeed, since the show’s debut on Sept. 3, 2013, Genoa has gone deep with scores of porn stars of varying degrees of fame in addition to interviewing dozens more industry professionals who make their living behind the camera or somewhere else in Porn Valley. And for the record, both he and Con hold jiu-jitsu black belts.
“I love talking to people,” Genoa said. “I love getting intimate stories. I want to know why, how and where? Anybody can shoot them having sex…”
He’s done plenty of that. The former BMX bike racer’s day job is as busy as ever—at last count he was doing regular camerawork for five different directors at Evil Angel as well as production services for Metro. He has personally directed 87 movies—he was one of Anabolic’s most prolific shot-callers in the mid-2000s—as well as handled videography for hundreds of others.
It’s those years grinding in the industry’s trenches that have given him the street cred to always have an interesting guest or three lined up.
“I have this trust with people with my years in the business and I think I get really great stories,” Genoa said. “We’ve interviewed Greg Dark, that’s my mentor—the godfather of porn. We had Nina Hartley on, people that blow me the fuck away.”
Genoa said the “Porn Director Podcast” has built an audience that is approaching 50,000 listeners per week. During the recent AVN Adult Entertainment Expo he had people flying in to Las Vegas from all over the country just for the show.
“Last year it was two people, now it’s nine,” he said. “The dream is to have a whole room at AVN for the ‘Porn Director Podcast.’ We’re making friendships through pornography and that blows me away. I’m getting emails from Australia, Finland, Russia… We’re bringing people together through porn. That’s the fucking greatest gift ever.”
Genoa has received support from some of the most unexpected places. In addition to a few regular sponsors such as Adam & Eve Toys, Jonni Darkko and Tommy’s Funhouse locations, adult star Adriana Chechik sprung for microphones and headphones for the show; agent Mark Spiegler has helped the cause, too.
Meanwhile, interest has only grown. He receives 15-plus texts per week from industry types wanting to be on the show, but he’s become more selective in recent months.
“I want the best quality people,” Genoa said. “I want people to know how powerful the show is for the girls. I tell them to check your Twitter tonight [before the show] and then check it in two weeks and let us know how many more followers you’ve got. … I hope that one day it’s just common knowledge that if you have a brand new girl that you put her on the podcast to get her name out there.”
Interestingly, Genoa said the analytics indicate that while his audience may be larger for porn girls that people actually listen for a longer period when male performers come on the show. He’s welcomed all-time studs such as Ron Jeremy, Lexington Steele, Erik Everhard, Tommy Pistol and Brandon Iron, who banged a girl during the broadcast. Gina Valentina is scheduled for tomorrow’s update.
One of the most popular episodes, which debuted on Jan. 14, entailed an encounter with brand new girl Zoey Laine and male talent hopeful Jack Brasil, who Genoa met in jiu-jitsu class. Brasil actually “tried out for porn” during the broadcast with Laine’s assistance.
“That’s been one of the most listened to shows,” Genoa revealed, adding that he recently launched a video format of the show at a cost of $5 per month.
He noted jokingly, “I’m profiting nothing. We have a donations button on the site and we’ve gotten maybe a few hundred dollars in three years."
Through it all, Genoa has kept the vibe decidedly positive. He doesn’t allow guests to disparage companies; they can talk about a bad experience but not name names.
“It’s an industry-positive podcast with a mix of the latest talent and icons and legends,” Genoa continued.
“Let’s show a positive light to the industry. I’m sick of mainstream media taking over and saying this is what porno is about. We have 124 episodes of people having a great time in the industry.”
