CHICAGO - To say Jim McBride is obsessed with female nudity is an understatement. As the founder of MrSkin.com, a website that chronicles more than 30,000 female nude scenes of more than 16,000 actresses in mainstream films and TV shows, McBride has turned a teenage fascination into a $6 million-a-year business that will be a decade old this August.
"It's humbling, amazing," said McBride, relaxed in a chair behind his desk at the MrSkin.com offices in Chicago's trendy Bucktown neighborhood. "When I launched it, I never dreamed this could be a full-time job. I remember when we flipped the switch, and the site went live August 10, 1999, at 4:45 p.m. At 4:50 p.m. we had our first sign-up. But when I went on The Howard Stern Show for the first time in March 2000, that put it through the roof."
While McBride continues to work the radio and TV circuit, including frequent visits with Howard Stern to hype his "Anatomy Awards," it was a 2007 comedy blockbuster that introduced MrSkin.com to movie audiences around the globe. In Knocked Up, Seth Rogan stars as a Mr. Skin wannabe who, after a one-night stand, impregnates the stunning Katherine Heigl.
"In June 2007, when Knocked Up came out, our traffic jumped 25 percent for the next three months," McBride said. "I went to the L.A. screening of the movie and the after-party and met Seth Rogan, Paul Rudd, Judd Apatow, and the others. They actually have passwords to my website. I was very flattered that they are fans."
The Knocked Up party, he said, was a step up from the event where he met his wife, Michelle: McBride and Cindy Crawford's mother were the two "celebrities" at that event.
"I was 40 and single with no kids when I met Michelle. Now I'm 46 and married with three kids. What the fuck happened?" laughed McBride, pointing out the numerous photos of his three children - London, 4; Beau, 3; and Lola, 1 - prominently displayed around his office, opposite a stack of vintage Playboys. "I can't wait for ‘bring your dad to school' day. ‘So, what do you do, Mr. McBride ...?'"
Back when McBride was in school, he had a one-track mind: seeing as many nude movie scenes as possible. As luck would have it, he was simultaneously gifted with cable television and a Betamax as a teenager in 1980.
"All of sudden we got HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime, which were showing these Italian sex comedies and British sex farces. I'm like, ‘Holy shit.' It was overwhelming. So, I'd go through the TV Guide, and whenever there was an ‘N' symbol, I'd circle it, tape it, and edit the scenes onto a collection of tapes.
"The difference between me and the other guys who were obsessed with nudity is I turned it into a career," said McBride. "Thank God the Internet came along, or I'd just be a creepy guy with a bunch of tapes. Now I'm a creepy guy with a website."
McBride grew up in River Forest, Ill., about 15 minutes west of Chicago. His father was a controller for a local company; his mother, a housewife. Today, you are more likely to find Mom helping out her son at the office, where she's affectionately known as the "skintern."
"Until you get an e-mail from your mom that says, ‘Is that a shadow or is that bush?' you haven't lived," laughed McBride.
After attending Indiana University and earning a business degree, McBride worked in commercial real estate and at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It was during his tenure at the Exchange that the idea for Mr. Skin was born. After impressing friends with his vast actress-nudity knowledge, a friend and local radio host invited him on his show. After a successful appearance, the radio gigs became more frequent, and a friend suggested turning his passion into a website. Today, there are roughly 90,000 to 125,000 unique visitors per day to the site.
MrSkin.com has a 33-person staff with 10 movie screeners. In the spacious scanning space, images flip through computer screens like spinning tops as the crew fast-forwards and pauses DVDs to scan hundreds of films and TV shows per day to find nude scenes and update the site's constantly changing databases. The office also houses a floor-to-ceiling library of rare DVDs with nude scenes and a rooftop sun deck for parties. Movie posters with classic nude scenes line the walls, next to photographs of McBride with random celebrities.
In conversation, McBride spurts out years, months, and days faster than a Blackberry. His head for numbers could be attributed to his savvy business sense, or his uncanny ability to name - down to the minute - when a nude scene takes place in any given movie. His favorite scenes? "Fifty-one minutes into Fast Times at Ridgemont High, when Phoebe Cates gets out of the pool. For a TV show, Charlotte Ross on the Feb. 25, 2003, episode of NYPD Blue. It was the greatest moment in the history of network-television nudity."
Visitors to McBride's site can purchase a $4.95 three-day pass or pay $29.95 per month, $79.95 quarterly or $199.95 yearly to access nude-scene grabs, videos, blogs, and reviews. Many of the site's videos are produced in-house in a cozy room with a green screen and recording booth. Comical "Skinfinitions" - for example, "Backburn: Pubic hair, viewed from behind, butt first" - is just one of the site's many musings.
When developing MrSkin.com, McBride worked closely with his tech crew to make sure the right image was being created, from the logo to the layout. "I wanted an ‘everyman' feel for the website, like a 1950's advertisement. I knew we succeeded in that when about 10 days after we launched the website, I got an e-mail from a guy in Cincinnati that said, ‘I love that you created a website that is adult but doesn't feel dirty. It's fun and campy, tongue-in-cheek (no pun intended).'"
And movie studios are recognizing the power of Mr. Skin's reach. Currently, more than 75 studios and PR companies send MrSkin.com screeners of movies. "We've become a powerful marketing arm for a lot of these companies," said McBride. "Take a movie like The Wrestler. There are a lot of people out there talking about how Mickey Rourke should get an Oscar. I'm out there promoting the fact that Marisa Tomei plays a stripper and gets very naked in the movie. Now that's a reason guys will go see a film."
Looking to the future, McBride's hard at work expanding and improving MrSkin.com. On the to-do list for 2009 are expanded affiliate work with Click Pink, co-promoting movies with Anchor Bay, translating the site into Spanish with ES Interactive ("A guy in Brazil still wants to see Angelina Jolie naked," McBride said), and the potential of a MsSkin.com. "There's a very good possibility you may see male nudity in our future, whether it's branded with us or not is to be determined," he added.
Believe it or not, McBride's interests do expand past naked celebrities. He's an American history buff and an avid White Sox fan. "I love that Barack Obama is wearing a Sox hat everywhere. I've actually seen the president naked. We go to the same health club."
And although he's a family man, don't expect to see him checking out Disney's latest feel-good comedy. Said McBride: "There aren't enough hours in the day to watch non-nude movies."
This article originally appeared in the March 2009 issue of AVN Online. To subscribe, visit AVNMediaNetwork.com/subscribe.
