John Knowles and Nelson Blanton once played together in the country band “Billy Tulsa.” Their musical bond has turned into another partnership — one that has placed them in the heart of Porn Valley with a growing library of interracial product.
They are the co-owners of NJ Films Inc., which celebrated its one-year anniversary on March 16, and has adopted the slogan “Blurring the Boundaries of Color.” At press time, NJ had released 17 titles under its own banner, and it is also distributing several other lines.
NJ Films’ first title was Interracial Addiction, which is up to its sixth volume. Now their library also includes series such as Interracial Anal Teens N Toys 1-3, Interracial Coxxx and Soxxx 1-5, Interracial Tag Team Ballerina 1-2, Nice Juggs and the all-black best-seller that was released in March called Hit Dat Shit.
For Knowles, the one-year milestone “means less stress and less gray hairs happening as quickly.”
“I’m just excited that it’s working,” he said. “I’m working very hard to succeed, and I’m constantly pushing it.”
Knowles, who has 18 years of industry experience, said that he and Blanton decided to focus on interracial product because “in my personal opinion it has the broadest appeal.”
“You can reach more people immediately with that title,” he said, referring to using “interracial” in the name.
Knowles worked for Devil’s Films for 11 years, starting in the shipping department and moving into a leadership role. He moved into the ownership of NJ with several years of general manager experience, as well as a background in payables, receivables and human resources. After moving on from Devil’s Films, Knowles did sales at New Sensations for about four months before launching NJ. He has known Blanton since 1987.
“We’ve been in different bands together. We had a record deal together. We toured together. We’re good friends,” Knowles said. The two conceived NJ Films at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Jan. ’04 after not seeing each other in some time.
Blanton is a former Playboy and fashion photographer with several years of lighting and photography experience.
“We’re actually doing pretty well,” Blanton said. “Though I had no experience on the adult side — the Playboy stuff I had done had nothing to do with this industry — it’s been great having John as my guiding light. I’ve been just learning the business, and I caught on pretty fast. There is a different way of doing things. It’s been a challenge just getting the product out there and having people support us. But everyone has been really cool. We really had no expectations. We’re doing better than we thought.”
Blanton shot for Playboy for two years. He had pictures published in the magazine three times in one year and also shot for the Website and Playboy’s variety of TV shows.
“They’d send me on assignments. That’s why I was in Vegas. They sent me out there to cover the show for Playboy TV,” Blanton said. “We were down on the floor, after the [AVN Awards] show, and we were just talking. I really didn’t have any plans of getting involved, and we said, ‘Fuck it, why don’t we start our own company?’ By the end of January, we were incorporated, and in early March we had our first title out, that fast. We basically made the decision that night. I didn’t have any doubts about quitting the other stuff. We had a focus.”
Blanton now shoots just about all of NJ Films stills in addition to running production, whileKnowles oversees all of the company’s sales.
Blanton moved to Los Angeles from Maryland in ’87, and shortly after he met Knowles after answering an ad in Music Connection magazine. He joined “Billy Tulsa” in 1996 and played with Knowles in the band until 2001.
“We are building a foundation,” Knowles said. “We’re not a subsidiary that came out with millions of dollars behind us to advertise. We struggled to get here and we’re building as we go.”
NJ Films also distributes 10 titles from Insanity Pictures, three titles from Alex DeRenzy, three titles from Jost Productions, one from Mata Productions and two European titles Double the Fun 2 on 1and Dirty Girl Gangbang under its NJ Films Europe banner. The company recently picked up Jon Dough’s first 10 titles, and Dough will have a new title at the beginning of May called Ukranian Cocksuckers, from his Doughboy Video line.
Knowles said that Billy Banks and Julian St. Jox were instrumental in helping NJ Films get going as their go-to guys for male talent.
Contact NJ Films at 9728 Variel Ave., Chatsworth, CA 91311. P: 888.578.6888. F: 818.718.8074; e-mail [email protected]. njfilmsinc.com.
