OAKLAND, CA — Intersec Interactive will be adding $20 to their model rates to help to defray the cost of testing for shoots requiring it (boy/girl and girl/girl scenes).
“Some models already have a test that was paid for by their agent or another company,” explains Matt Williams, the company’s CEO, “but others get tested specifically for a shoot. We want to encourage people to keep getting tested and now that we have moved to 14 day tests we wanted to help the models defray the costs.”
STI testing through PASS (Performer Availability Screening Services), the industry’s trade organization that oversees testing, can cost between $150 and $200 per test, depending on the facility. That means, if a performer is working consistently, they’re spending $300-$400 a month on testing.
"In most mainstream commercial businesses, the costs of safety are passed down to the consumer and paid for by businesses," says Williams. “But, for some reason, in porn we have put the responsibility on the performers (ie, the workers). If every company added $20 for testing to their rates, over the course of a month, a model could recoup their losses.”
The company was inspired to add this after two industry wide moratoriums shut down most shooting for part of August and September. When shooting started again, PASS stated that now performers must have been tested within the last 14 days to work.
Intersec Interactive is a BDSM production company with five pay sites (hardtied.com, infernalrestraints.com, realtimebondage.com, sexuallybroken.com and topgrl.com) and a Video on Demand (insexondemand.com) site. The company was founded in 2005 by the creators of the BDSM website Insex. Affiliates wishing to promote Intersec’s content can join at KinksterCash.com.
