Media Darwinism
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," C.C. Colton once said. More recently, Simpsons creator Matt Groening cracked, "Massive copyright infringement is the sincerest form of flattery."
Popular entertainment has a protean penchant for mimicking the latest trend - this holds especially true of the porn industry. By the time John Singleton's Shaft (itself a remake of the 1970s "Blaxploitation" hit) was released this past summer, Video Team (www.videoteam.com) was making its own X-rated knock-off, Staff, with Lexington Steele as the titular private dick. Mainstream movies like The Truman Show and EdTV, and television programs like CBS' Big Brother, MTV's Road Rules, and PBS' 1900 House have helped to fuel the current 24/7 voyeurcam phenom in theatres and on television, while websites such as www.jennicam.com, www.voyeurdorm.com, www.geishahouse.com, and www.doria.com have popularized voyeurism on the Net.
Though pioneered by the 1992 debut of MTV's long-running The Real World (now in its tenth season), the most successful TV incarnation of the voyeurcam craze has been CBS' Survivor. The number one-rated series of the summer captured viewers' attention by extensively covering the day-to-day lives of 16 "castaways" - actually contestants - who spent three months living on a desert isle near Borneo, with $1 million in prize money for the winner. But perhaps more intriguing than the money was the drama, as these modern-day Robinson Crusoes not only had to contend with survival in a tropical environment, but also with each other; all the while competing for food and other privileges, forming and breaking alliances, and voting each other off the island one at a time in weekly "tribal councils." Survivor has been renewed and will return to the airwaves Jan. 28, with a new cast of adventurers "marooned" in Australia's Outback.
Big Brother - which confined 10 individuals vying for $500,000 to a specially-constructed "house" on the CBS lot in Hollywood - added an interactive dimension. While the "house guests" selected two of their own as candidates for expulsion every Thursday, viewers in TV-land called a 900 number to choose which nominee would get the old heave-ho.
Inspired by these shows' popularity and cost- to-profit ratio (the suits don't have to pay high-priced actors or writers, and the strong ratings mean big bucks from advertisers), at least three adult online outlets have already set up, or are about to set up, similar events set in unusual surroundings, stressing competitiveness, and offering prizes. But the adult Net versions promise to be a lot more up close and personal than any of the mainstream offerings could ever hope to be.
DungeonDorm
Mistress X, vice pres. of Millennium Media (www.fetishcinema.com), believes the voyeurcam rage is derived from adult Internet sites. "The media saw how popular these sites are and just ran with it, seeing ratings. And these TV programs have made the whole voyeur thing very mainstream, although it's always been a part of human nature. Exhibitionism, too."
For the past three years, Millennium has run live dungeon video from its Michigan studios. Its membership site costs $34.95 a month. "We do sessions, with bondage, domination, and fetish scenes, and broadcast them. It's fully interactive, with sound and chat. Members can chat with dominatrixes during sessions and make requests," Mistress X says.
"People have been with our company from the beginning, and they've wanted to do it just for the sake of doing it," Mistress X continues. "They just loved being in front of the camera, getting fan mail, being the center of attention. It's really a big high for them."
The company's newest endeavor is DungeonDorm.com (www.dungeondorm.com), which, when it launches in November, is slated to feature three doms and nine slaves in a Survivor-type atmosphere, "although nobody necessarily gets kicked out," Mistress X explains. "But there will be competitions - and with three doms in the house, you can imagine it might get a bit competitive!" Mistress X says the slaves don't live in the house, but come and go in shifts. There are live cams throughout the dungeon and private quarters, so people will be able to watch participants' day-to-day activities, such as showering. There will also be live events scheduled for webcast during the evening.
"We've got it set-up so there are teams, with the doms choosing three submissives, male and female, each from their own slave stable," she says. "The teams of three submissives are pitted against each other in different contests, such as pony races with the slaves, endurance competitions with clips, to see who could take the most - that kind of thing. The house rules are safe, sane, and consensual, and we're very careful about that.
"Points are accumulated," says Mistress X, "and each month, one dominatrix is awarded the title 'House Dom,' which entails certain privileges, such as free rent." As of this interview, the reigning House Dom was Lady Pain (www.ladypain.com), who we are told, earned the title due to her seniority and popularity.
Sometimes traditional black leather, whips, and chains are involved, but not in all of the scenes, says Mistress X. "Fetish is really a wide range of things, and leather is just a part of that. We have a staff of about 15-20 people, and we pretty much give them free reign to explore their own fantasies online. That really corresponds well, we get a good cross-section of kinky interests."
DungeonDorm is accessed for an all-inclusive membership fee of around $34.95, which includes all of the scheduled events and voyeurcams. Members also get to vote on the doms and their jousts. Millennium plans to do a DungeonDorm upsell to its FetishCinema.com members, and to feature some of the former's events on the latter's site. FetishCinema.com members are also eligible for a discount if they log onto DungeonDorm, but can only vote on the competitions if they join the site.
Mistress X confesses Millennium has been inspired by the popular 24/7 voyeurcam TV programs. "It just seemed like a natural thing, since we had a natural competition going on, to bring that idea into what we were doing," she says. However, Mistress X adds, "It also came about because we changed locations. We expanded, and moved to a renovated theatre, which was fully refurbished and included apartments. It was just a logical step to have some of our dominatrixes actually move in and live there. It's been working out really well."
Voyeur Survivor
For Voyeur Survivor (www.voyeursurvivor.com), 10 amateur men and women were scheduled to compete in sex games webcast live from Key West, Fla. during late October's annual Fantasy Fest, a sort of all-adult Mardi Gras which has in recent years been attended by as many as one million partiers.
Some of the more interesting-sounding events on the schedule were naked wave runner races, wet T-shirt and briefs contests, and striptease competitions in the island bars. In a September interview, Forest Williams, president of PFC Communications Inc., which is the sponsor for Voyeur Survivor, promised, "We'll incorporate Voyeur Survivor into what goes on at Key West, which has clothing optional restaurants, bars, and pools. There will be drinking competitions where the guys and girls will have body shots off of each other, plus erection contests: the guys will line up, and the girls will dance and work them, without touching the male contestants. Whoever stays soft the longest wins.
No one, he emphasized, would be required to have sex as part of the contests. "If I make it too hardcore, less of the mainstream public will log on. However, the house the contestants will live in is Big Brother-ish - completely wired, and whatever happens live on camera when everyone's back at the house - you just have to tune in and watch."
Events were planned not only for Key West proper, but at nearby isles in the Caribbean. Spectators were to be selected to attend the latter via lottery. At the end of each day's competition, one male and one female contestant were to be voted out of contention by the interactive online audience. The grand prize for the winner: $25,000.
The contenders were to be selected via radio promotions, including WRKR in Rochester, NY and on Key West's WIIS, during a show hosted by the Raw Girls (described by Williams as a beautiful pair of bisexual d.j.s), and also at mid-September contests in strip clubs in various cities. Contestants had to be "reasonably good looking" and exhibitionists by nature. They also had to pass health screenings, and be at least 18 years of age.
Sexual preference was not a disqualifier. "We prefer at least one homosexual or bisexual man, since Key West has such a large gay population," said Williams, who also added that lesbians and bisexual women would be welcome.
The price to view the nine-day competition online: $29.95 or 40 cents per minute, both for the live event and a planned rebroadcast, including photo galleries, bloopers, and behind-the-scenes footage. Williams is also planning versions of Voyeur Survivor to be distributed via video and satellite networks.
Voyeur Survivor evolved out of live nude chats, and was the brainchild of Williams and Webmaster Dave at Ultrapartners.com (www.ultrapartners.com). "We were brunching with a crew shooting a documentary for MSNBC, and tossing ideas around," said Williams. "Originally, the concept was a triple-X star search for amateurs who wanted to break into porn, set at Key West during Fantasy Fest. Webmaster Dave was inspired by the Survivor TV series, and put the bug in my ear."
The 34-year old Bronx-born Williams was a high school dropout, but earned his GED. He went to college for two years, then attended culinary school. After a six-year stint in Key West, Williams relocated to Sonoma Valley in Northern California, and in 1999, invested in a webcam venture. "Camgirlslive.com," said Williams, "is a Las Vegas-based company which contracts content providers like me to upload content to their site. It was so simple. I put $1,500 down and got a computer, and put an ad in the paper for a couple of girls to start talking to guys on the Internet and showing them their stuff. We ran 18 hours a day, seven days a week. The money was good, and we now have three cameras."
Williams first Internet event combined elements of the hit ABC game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, the Fox TV special Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?, and the Austin Powers spy-movie spoofs. Who Wants to Shag to Be a Millionaire? debuted July 22, 2000. "It was the first-ever live webcast of a gangbang - streamed out of a club in San Francisco - in the history of the Internet," Williams said. "We had 50-60 amateur guys, and three girls, and although we didn't break any records, we got 26 hours of videotape, thousands of pictures, and 30,000-40,000 hits. The entire nine-hour event cost $50, or you could check parts out for 99 cents per minute. The Internet site for rebroadcast is www.comwww.shag4amillion.com. The girl who won had intercourse 82 times, and at one point, took on five guys in a hardcore gangbang. She won $5,000." To win the $1 million prize, Williams said, she would have to have broken adult star Houston's record of 620 lays.
Industry veterans had scoffed at Williams, contending he couldn't do the live webcast. "But it was extremely successful, considering it took me less than $20,000 to stage, and it gave me credibility in the industry to be able put on an Internet event," he said, adding that he not only expects to make $250,000 from the exploit within a year, but has gone on to parlay his profits and newfound credentials into Voyeur Survivors.
Sexual Survivor
Also scheduled for late October, but on the opposite end of the country, was Sexual Survivor, wherein five men and 10 licensed prostitutes affiliated with a Nevada brothel were to be "marooned" off the coast of Washington State, in the San Juan Islands. Unlike their CBS counterparts, who roughed it in the South China Sea, the male and female sexual survivors were to live comfortably inside a lodge rented for the occasion. Their mission - if they accepted it - was for the working girls to mercilessly cocktease the stalwart stallions into having sex with them. Giving in to temptation meant banishment for the "offending" male. However, if a day passed without a sexual transgression, the prostitutes were to hold a tribal council and select a contestant for exile.
The winning male was to receive $5,000, publicity, and had the option of a post-game, on-island holiday with the women - at a price of $5,000. The ladies were to receive payment as well as the promotional value.
Sexual Survivor was created by the folks at KSEXRadio (www.ksexradio.com), the San Diego-based 24/7 live sex-talk radio station which began webcasting this summer. Since KSEX is not "on the air" per se, but is, rather, online, it is not subject to FCC rulings, and can therefore feature raunchier and more explicit subject matter than traditional AM and FM broadcast radio stations. Male applicants to Sexual Survivor replied to a notice at the KSEX website, explaining why they wanted to go to the island, in 100 words or less. Needless to say, the station was deluged by responses.
Interviewed in September, station manager Vito Benneducci commented, "KSEX averages 30,000 hits a day. Thanks to the publicity for Sexual Survivor, we expect 70,000 hits daily soon." At that time, Beneducci said he was undecided as to what format the five day event would take, and seemed to be weighing his options: KSEX live webcast, with blow by blow commentary from d.j.s; video streaming; cable TV; or something else.
