If wishes were horses, beggars would be jockeys. And Chris English would be riding next year's Kentucky Derby winner. Sitting at his home in the south of Sweden, English is pondering the events of the last couple of days. English, who wants to be a full time director in the adult biz, emailed John Bowen several days ago, essentially seeking either employment advice or business opportunities in that area. What happened over the next 48 hours would have you thinking English was the anti-Christ. The way the story developed, English, who shot four volumes in the Sperma Diat series for Zane Entertainment might as well have been Lou Costello with Sperma Diat translating as, 'Who's On First?' Many issues have become muddled. English holds firm in saying all he wants is a job. But then there's the emails and the flurry of obfuscation that followed.
You might ask how does a guy with a British accent wind up in Sweden? English, a former yellow pages directory ad salesman, fell in love with a Danish girl who was with the nursing exchange, doing studies in London. "I wasn't happy where I was, so I moved to Denmark while she finished her studies. But it didn't work out," English says.
English got involved in the adult business in a roundabout way. He found an Oriental-Swedish girl named Mai Lee and brought her to the attention of Pierre Woodman for one of his features. Determined to get into the business, English said he spent the last cash he had on a digital camera. "Just a one-chip camera, but enough to get started," he recalls.
English said he started shooting for Chuck Zane in March. "I met him at the Venus Awards in Berlin last November," English recalls. "I was talking with Shayla [LaVeaux] and James [her husband]. They're very friendly, very nice people. They invited me to dinner several times. I didn't have any money. I told them some of my video ideas, and they said you should talk to Chuck. They introduced me to him. Chuck thought I had some good ideas. He said keep in contact. I think he had a feeling he could do something with this guy. After a few telephone conversations, he thought he'd take a chance and I wound up shooting two scenes for him at the Brussels Show. After he was satisfied with those, I went to finish the movie in Prague."
English says Zane liked his ideas and concepts. "It was something he thought to be unique," English says. "He knew instinctively, straight-away that it would sell. It was nothing terribly different from normal gonzo shoots, except for the end of the scene. The girl gets up, and walks out the door and walks in public locations with cum all over her face."
Thus was born the concept for the Sperma Diat series which is the basis of all the ballyhoo that's been getting posted on the Internet. English shot four tapes in the series, financed by Zane, according to him; three of which were lensed in Europe, the fourth in the states. English said he had a very good relationship with Chuck Zane at the time. "I really like Chuck," he says. "He can be a very nice guy. But it's all hype with Chuck."
English is simply saying a full scale business agreement never materialized. "I shot a movie [Sperma Diat 4 with American girls] in the states in June. I was supposed to move to Prague and shoot exclusively for Chuck and Chuck's partner, Dick Miller. But the deal was very unspecific."
G. Ross: "Why didn't you make it specific?"
English: "I thought that was Chuck's job. I'm relatively inexperienced in this business as far as that goes. I wanted an exclusive deal. I thought it was up to Chuck if he proposed it to me. There was an understanding."
English said when he got back to Sweden he emailed his disappointment. "Things deteriorated rapidly," English says. "I decided to contact Chris Mann because Chuck said he was no longer interested in the concept of Sperma Diat. First he was over-the-moon about it, then he changed his mind."
"All I did was make an intelligent solicitation to Chris Mann," said English. "Obviously he was interested in it. Chuck's exact words were I don't mind you taking it to another company. Nothing specific was discussed with Chris Mann other than him saying I think you have an interesting talent. He said he was going to first call Chuck because it was not honest to do anything like that, and that he would call me back on his dime. The rest was history."
English said the story's now exploded totally out of proportion. "I just want a job and get to work," he says. English also states emphatically that he never told a story about seeing Paul Fishbein in compromising pictures with girls of questionable social breeding. "I just saw pictures of him in Prague. That's all. I regret that his name was ever brought into this."
The issue that remains to be resolved is condom, condom, who's got the condom? English claims he never brought up the issue to begin with, that an outside agitator did, but maintains that there are scenes in Sperma Diat without condoms. "There were two movies with condoms and two without. The first scene in the first movie was shot without condoms; from then on the other scenes in the first and second movie were with condoms. The last two were without condoms."
Chuck Zane said officially earlier this week, "When Video Team releases them [Sperma Diat], the evidence will be there." Zane also said that English knew the Sperma Diats were to be condom shoots.
