Juli Ashton re-signed with VCA Pictures - and she's going to get $25,000 per project to boot, according to VCA's Russ Hampshire, who confirmed the deal Feb. 17.
Ashton should be able to buy a lot of boots with that booty, but she says it's not exactly an exclusive deal. "I can work for other companies who are willing to pay," she says. "We don't have a set number of pictures, but as a project comes up that will all agree on with script approval and all that sort of thing, then we'll do it."
"This is for certain projects, bigger end projects," says Hampshire. "She gets paid a minimum of $25,000 per picture. And she has the right to do some better projects with some other people, but it has to be at the same rate. If they pay her $25,000 she's free to do it. But I don't think anybody is going to want to pay her that.
"We have a special project coming up in a couple of months that's geared around DVD. It's going to be big-budget and will incorporate a lot of fantasies for DVD."
Ashton says she and VCA were negotiating since well before January's Consumer Electronics Show and AVN Adult Video Awards in Las Vegas. "We were doing some soul-searching to see what we all wanted to do, what the new year was going to bring and what would be the best for everybody," she says. "We've always had that kind of relationship, and that's what I've always liked about VCA.
"We held off and waited to see if I wanted to go freelance, but the more I thought about it, it didn't appeal to me," she continues. "I like the company. I like being there. It was just the process of where do you want to be, what do you want to do, what do we want to do. I was their first contract girl; I don't think they're looking to sign a bunch of girls again, but I've always been there, so we're going to keep the relationship going."
Ashton also keeps her production company, Ashtonview Promotions hopping. "It's a lot of work," she says. "But it's doing really well and is a lot of fun." Ashton acknowledges that there tends to be some confusion with her company's name and another, named Ashtonview Productions. "I don't know who has that California business name, but it was reserved. I don't know if there's a company or not."
Ashton begins shooting Best Friends for VCA next week. "We're back to light-hearted comedy," she says. "Like I like."
