CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Sometimes you can go home again—or at least sort of.
That’s what veteran adult industry salesman David Peskin found to be true this month, when he ended up working for Exquisite Multimedia founder Jerry E., who had offered him a job 14 years ago. And to make it an even bigger blast from the past, Peskin is now working under the same roof as Exile Distribution chief Howard Levine, with whom he spent years in the sales trenches at Vivid Entertainment.
But Peskin’s journey in adult began even before that. “I started in ’96, selling Snatch Productions,” he recalled, handling David Christopher’s top-selling Pussyman series. He also hawked product for Samurai Video, selling “the very first Japanese hardcore, uncensored, to be brought into the United States. No mosaic,” he explained.
Five years later, he found himself at a crossroads. He was poised to start working at Exquisite, where he was coming on to sell a new studio. Then, Peskin got a call. The call. On the other end of the line was Vivid honcho Steven Hirsch, offering him a job.
“I had literally just shook hands with Jerry E., owner of Exquisite; he was going to hire me. We shook hands, did the deal. I walked outside Jerry’s old building, and the phone rang and it was Steven Hirsch, asking if I could start tomorrow with Vivid.”
He walked right back in and talked to Jerry, who said, “Bro, you have to go work for Vivid.”
This was back in the day when Vivid was distributed through LFP, and business was booming. “We used to do $18 million to $24 million in sales. All the Jenna Jameson stuff, Kim Kardashian,” Peskin said. He recalled when Hirsch came to break the news about the Kardashian sex tape. “Who the hell’s Kim Kardashian?” he said at the time.
Now, with Levine in the same offices, running Exile Distribution, he's back with his old Vivid coworker. “We were side by side selling Club Jenna and Teravision. It was eight years of creating magic,” Peskin recalled. “We were Felix and Oscar—I was Felix and he was Oscar. They also called us Marty and Ed—we were the younger version of [veteran sales reps] Marty Turkel and Ed Kail. I’m thrilled to be under the same roof and working closely with Howard again.”
But there have been a lot of DVDs under the bridge since then, and Peskin’s focused on the future now. And he couldn’t be happier.
“I’m thrilled to be working with Jerry, with the team that he’s assembled. It’s a salesman’s dream to have this type of team and the support that’s already in place here. It’s set up for any salesman to come in to be successful immediately.”
Peskin outlined his new responsibilities as sales manager for Exquisite. First off are products under the Exquisite imprint that the company owns and distributes. One line that he’s particularly looking forward to selling is Sex Ed Films, which has a new title coming out in October: A Couples Guide to Female Ejaculation. “I’m really excited,” he said. “It brings me back to the days when we launched the Vivid Ed line, with Tristan Taormino, which became one of Vivid’s most successful divisions.”
And there are also many studios distributed by Exquisite. “I’m responsible for all of the Rodney Moore product—new releases and catalog. Our latest that we just shipped this week is Daddy Likes ’Em Fatty—a new series—and I Survived a Rodney Blast 11.
“We also have exclusive distribution rights for Naughty Sinner, XXX Factory, DD Busty and Ultimate TGirl Productions,” he continued. “I’ll be responsible for all these lines.”
And there is more to come. “Starting in October we’ll be distributing the Men Are Slaves line, and I’ll also be selling that. The first new release will be titled Men Are Slaves Presents Female Worship. It focuses on femdom and lesbian fetish content.”
Peskin’s also pumped up about another studio. “We’ll be introducing four new titles from X-Rated Films. I’m really excited about that. What X-Rated Films produces is high-end, high-quality gonzo and it encompasses the MILF, teen, black, interracial, lesbian and anal genres.”
Exquisite founder Jerry E. is also looking forward to working with his new team member. “I think it’s great to have Howard and David reunited and under our roof here, and I think it will benefit everybody, the two of them together. I’ve always had a close working relationship with David back from my days as a distributor, purchasing all of the Vivid line. David has always been ahead of the curve in the industy—what I call a real insider. He brings a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and energy to everything he does.”
Some of Peskin’s energy will be devoted to providing a bigger social media presence for Exquisite. “I’d like to do more social media promotion for all the Exquisite product lines, all of our studios.” In addition to working in more of a presence on Twitter and Facebook, he also sees a value in blogs as a way to keep fans and industry folk informed.
In the meantime, Peskin said, he’s available via phone and email for any queries regarding domestic and foreign sales, and licensing—“or just call to say hello.”
Email Peskin at [email protected] or call (818) 576-9464 (toll free 866-629-4273). For more information on Exquisite, go to ExpXXX.com.
