TV report on porn last night, but Wicked's Steve Orenstein and Vivid Video's Steve and Marcie Hirsch did get prime soundbites [Alex Rae was also quoted] in a special aired by KABC-TV Los Angeles during its 11 o'clock hour. Aside from an almost gruesome attention paid to spelling in the industry, KABC had other fish to fry. Is there an adult video craze sweeping the nation, they wanted to know. Case in point, more women and couples are swinging over to adult film watching, according to KABC.
Sez the report: "Adult films are no longer the taboo that they once were. Sales have doubled in the last 8 years and they account for 25% of all video revenue - about 5 billion a year. Why the change? As mainstream movies crossed over the line by showing more explicit sex on the big screen, the adult industry responded by making movies that look more mainstream."
"Things are definitely moving," said Orenstein of "Wicket" Pictures. "The mainstream and the adult side of the business are meeting somewhere in the middle. It's definitely happening." Orenstein referenced certain shock value offered by the mainstream flick, Any Given Sunday; KABC doubled the ante with similar comments describing the Tom Cruise flick, Eyes Wide Shut.
The report went on to say that Vivid targets women and couples with movies that are "nasty but romantic at the same time."
Steve Hirsch: "The business has grown because women now play a major role in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Our head of production is a woman; we have several women directors on staff. And we have girls that work exclusively for us." Hirsch was also quoted as saying because women are such a driving force in the business, adult films now appeal to more women and couples than ever before.
The brief report concluded by saying that producers of adult movies realize that full acceptance of adult movies by mainstream will never come; "Most people feel its another side of moral decay, but with millions of tapes rented or sold every year, not to mention cable or on-demand in hotel rooms, those same producers say their march toward respectability is slow but its steady," the report concluded.
