Metro Interactive is wrapping up their series of organizational changes that shook the studio for most of this year. Now armed with a new staff, new talent and a new direction, the two men that are running the company’s day-to-day operations are hoping they’ll be able to make a huge impact.
Joey Wilson, director of production for Metro, and Ric Williams, Metro’s sales and marketing director, now jointly share responsibility for the running of the studio, although owner Kenny Guarino still retains ultimate decision responsibility.
Wilson joined Metro in March. After Yuki Rosenfeld left his job as president of Metro after just three months in that position, Wilson was leading the company solo until Williams started working for Metro in June.
“Opposed to having a single policy maker, we went with a joint-management philosophy resulting in a roundtable versus having one individual with a hammer running things,” Wilson told AVN.com.
“It is proving to work rather well. Instead of things getting lost in the shuffle we’re seeing things getting taken care of,” Wilson said. “There is a whole new attitude over here.”
Gauge, AnnMarie, Kelly Erikson and Britney Foster (who has also signed an exclusive contract to direct) have joined the legendary Ron Jeremy as exclusive Metro contract-performers this year.
Directors James Avalon, Red Ezra, Mike Adams, and Pat Myne are just a handful of the directing talent the studio now has deals with.
"This is a very exciting time to be associated with Metro," Wilson said. "The potential in the team we have assembled is staggering."
The latest member of the team is Lisa Radamaker, formerly of Private North America, who has just joined Metro’s sales force.
"Lisa will make an immediate impact on our company and will be a key member of our team as we continue to develop new product lines, create new non-traditional sales opportunities, and build Metro's corporate identity,” said Ric Williams, Metro's Sales and Marketing Director. “This position is a natural fit for Lisa. She'll be able to really hit the ground running."
One of the recent changes that should benefit both production and sales is co-ordinating releases to come out at the same time Metro’s launches the titles with corresponding media and marketing campaigns.
Noting that too many adult companies “….are producing on Tuesday to release on Thursday,” Wilson suggests that by holding release of a title until reviews on it come out sales will increase. Wilson expects that by September Metro will be fully on track releasing one feature, one gonzo, some fetish, and comps. In the last seven weeks alone they have canned 17 new projects.
“The diversity is what is going to bring us back in a big way. We’ll have a lot of product, but a very diverse product,” Wilsoon suggested.
“This is for marketing purposes. So that distributors as well as consumers will have as much info about our product,” Wilson said.
