SEATTLE - Hellhouse Media Network is on the move. Originally started as an outgrowth of a Seattle BDSM dungeon, the company is now expanding into other niches and is doing well, according to CEO Ty Gonty.
Gonty described the company’s genesis as something of an organic process. “We’ve been in business since mid 2004, but we originally started out as a bondage dungeon here in Seattle,” explained Gonty. “I had a business partner then, and over time, people started wanting us to make movies and things like that. But, over time, my partner sort of lost interest. Last year, I bought out her share and became the sole owner. Following that, I sort of expanded into video and that kind of thing.”
Despite moving into the area of video production, Gonty hasn’t forgotten the company’s roots. Of the original dungeon operation, Gonty said, “We still have that aspect of our business.”
Like most businessmen navigating a company through an expansion, Gonty and Hellhouse Media Network have been reinventing the business. The BDSM aspect, while important, is not solely what the company’s about these days.
Gonty explained, “Right now we’re sort of in a transitional period. We kind of got pigeonholed in the BDSM genre, and I’m trying to expand from there. I want to take us out of that hole and be known for a variety of content, rather than just that one niche.”
Gonty also pointed out that his initial entry to the BDSM world wasn’t his original intention. “I never really intended to only produce content in that niche,” he said. “It was really just the best for us to get started. But being in that niche, it has an exclusive feel to it. People almost expect you to stick to BDSM-type stuff, and I never really wanted to do that to begin with. It sort of pigeonholes itself when you remain in that niche.”
As far as the expansion into other content niches, it’s a wide-open world for Hellhouse Media Network. Gonty expressed an interest in several areas. “We don’t want to mess too much in areas that have been overdone or oversaturated,” he said. “We want to look into things that are desirable but are maybe not exploited to the level we feel that they should be. I’m looking into a lot of aspects right now.”
When asked if he had anything specific in mind, Gonty was quick to mention several unique niches that Hellhouse Media Network was capitalizing upon. “The first thing that we’ve expanded beyond the BDSM thing was the lesbian niche: the strap-on stuff. And now we’re moving beyond that. We’re working on a couple of releases for next year that are a combination of music plus porn releases. We’ll have a CD along with the DVD. We have some transsexual releases coming up, some bi releases, and we have all kinds of guys-on-girls type of stuff, as well as amateur content. We’re really trying to expand on all levels.”
Of course, in today’s market, it’s imperative to hit all levels of consumer delivery, and Gonty is keeping with that philosophy.
“We like to maintain both online and DVD releases equally,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to just limit yourself to one without the other.”
In addition to all that, Hellhouse Media Network has also introduced a company-themed energy drink called Pure Pain and has launched a new mobile site at hellhousemobile.com.
Hellhouse Media Network has also recently acquired Maid2Order Video. Gonty also believes that being away from the longtime porn epicenter of the San Fernando Valley is of great benefit to Hellhouse Media Network. “I like to think that being in Seattle is what allows us to test and try out new things that might not be oversaturated in the marketplace,” explained Gonty. “We don’t necessarily have to conform to the bleached blond, California kind of porn; you know what I mean? And I think there are a lot of people out there who want to see girls who don’t necessarily look like the typical L.A. chick.”
Still, Gonty is looking to improve his company as it develops. “We’ve come a long ways from the little dungeon-themed company we were a while back,” said Gonty. “Our product is more professional, we have a much wider variety of content — especially in the coming months, and we are increasing our marketing and distribution outreach at an amazing pace — and plan to keep doing so. We are very much looking forward to our future in this business.”
Contact Hellhouse Media Network via e-mail at [email protected] or call 360.513.8348.
Entertainment
- By
