Vertigo Video made its highly anticipated entry into the hardcore gonzo market official on Friday night, hosting over 200 industry insiders at a rowdy launch party at Concorde.
The company that is preparing to release More Chicks Than Dicks in two weeks teamed up with Zero Tolerance Entertainment and Third Degree Films as co-sponsors for the invite only event that kicked off with an open bar.
Vertigo co-owners T.J. DiReda and Vic Thomas called upon Red Rum, Voodoo Rum, Extreme Vodka, Virgin Cola and Whiteboy Clothing to join the promotion that featured a midnight performance by rapper Mickey Avalon.
Several adult film stars sipped drinks until the early hours of Saturday morning with the Vertigo crew. Some of the porn girls in the crowd included Ariana Jollee, Lily Thai, Kelly Erikson, Trinity, Avena Lee and Samantha Ryan. Director/performers Jules Jordan, Craven Moorehead, Nick Manning and Rick Shameless were also spotted along with director Van Styles and AVN Awards show producer Gary Miller.
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| Click here for gallery. (courtesy: Dan Miller) |
Mickey Avalon, who is one third of The Dyslexic Speed Readers, a local rap group that is making adult tracks for Vertigo, performed a raunchy, high-energy set in the center of the club as the party continued into the wee hours. Chaos nearly erupted during the performance when friends of Avalon exchanged fighting words with another group that was throwing ice at the rapper. But club security prevented any beat-downs like the ones witnessed outside the XRCO Awards in Century City two weeks ago.
Speaking of intimidation, several members of the Boo Ya Tribe were also hanging out in the VIP area.
Partygoers received gift bags with Vertigo and Zero Tolerance sample DVDs, dildos and vibrators, ZT t-shirts, bottles of Virgin Cola and copies of the new magazine, Animal.
DiReda, who had yet to recover from Friday's party by Sunday morning, then toughed out Day 2 of shooting Vertigo's Rock Hard in the Hollywood Hills. While navigating a narrow street, Lauren Phoenix accidentally drove her sport utility vehicle into the back of DiReda's leg and barely avoided pinning him against the garage in a close call that left a mark and had DiReda limping for the next few hours.
Phoenix, who sustained minor damage to her car, gathered her composure and went on to deliver a sizzling d.p. with Anthony Hardwood and Sergio in DiReda's living room.
But the drama didn't end there for DiReda, who nearly fought his across-the-street neighbor because of his complaints about the noise during an earlier d.p. involving Nicki Hunter.
Vertigo Video will follow director Paolo Banana's More Chicks Than Dicks on Sept. 13 with Martin Del Toro's F to the A and Kevin Moore's Mad at Daddy later in the month. Del Toro's Double Vision and Rick Shameless's Outgunned will hit the streets in October.
