San Francisco-based CyberBears is a labor of love. Literally. Co-owners, producer Mike Zillion and director Ken Slater, met in 1999 and mated for life in 2000.
Mike, once a scriptwriter for Gino Colbert’s bi Switch Hitters series and gay titles like Johnny Hormone, had in 1996 turned his photography and his MBA into a video business called Salamander Studios, and made several unreleased experimental porn videos.
Slater, a lawyer and artist with an interest in digital media, film, and web design, came to the U.S. in 1998 to work as a video editor and web designer. He soon joined Mike to open a photography studio, CyberBears, to take pictures of the heavyset hairy men he admires.
“With Mike's help, I made my first movie, Workshop Bears. It wasn’t distributed because it was just one scene.” They made more movies, Dore Alley Bears, Bears Hauling Butt, Backyard Bears, and Bear Fluffer. Zillion says, “We created CyberBears.com in 2001 to sell our movies and access our still photos. And Ken and his buddy David De Jesus also sold the videos directly to local retailers.”
Zillion: “Bear Fluffer was our breakout title. That sold so well that Gino Colbert recommended I talk to his friends at Arena Entertainment, which immediately took on American distribution of all our titles.”
Slater: “I added more scenes to Workshop Bears because Arena wanted only full features. It was ultimately nominated for GAYVN’s 2004 Best Specialty Release — Bears award.”
All their movies, 17 so far, continue to sell well. Their best-seller? Slater: “The first one, Dore Alley Bears, but CyberBears titles sell well for a long time after their release. That’s because we're filling a niche. There's a big audience that’s been waiting for our kind of bear movies.”
What is that niche? Slater: “A lot of companies make what they call bear videos, but they feature typical porn star guys who are just hairy.” Zillion: “We show real bears who are big and heavyset and also masculine, sexual, and hairy.” Slater: “But I also like to include men of all sizes and backgrounds in my movies. I cast small guys, mainstream-attractive guys, and bear admirers, like myself, who enjoy working with the hairy, heavyset bears.”
Changing the image of bears is a prime directive for both men. Zillion: “We try to support the different aspects of the bear community. We go out to a lot of events, give away videos to different organizations.” Slater: “We donate videos and provide sponsorships to groups all over the world who have ‘runs’ where the guys compete for bear titles: any event that promotes the bear image or raises money for the clubs, like Redneck Bear, Bear Frenzy, and International Bear Rendezvous.”
Zillion: “We also sponsor live parties through BearParty.com, partnering with a local AIDS-prevention group, Safe Sex City. They do free STD testing for attendees. We're strong promoters of safe, hot sex.” Slater: “As part of the entertainment at the parties, we also have a room set aside to videotape a complete bear orgy movie, which the guests can watch over live TV while it's being shot. We release them in a very popular series called Bear Party.”
Other lines? Zillion: “Arena has begun releasing my Salamander Studios movies, such as No Angel and Spectrum, and In the Cards is coming out later this year.” Slater: “We also have plans for a muscle-bear line.”
How did they get started finding the casts for their movies? Zillion: “We had to create bear stars. We discovered new faces like JYD, Xenos, and Tank. Many of these guys have done multiple movies with us, and then gone out to work for other producers.”
CyberBears started with VHS only, but now sells DVDs of all their titles. Slater: “DVDs give us the chance to offer viewers behind-the-scenes extras like fluffing, deleted scenes, and funny outtakes. My camera is always running!”
Zillion: “Arena handles our American wholesale distribution. On our website we sell both retail and director’s cut versions of our titles. For example, the fantastic fisting shots in Bear Paws — The Director’s Cut, aren't permitted in the general release version.” Slater: “We also have a CyberBears DVD Club, whose members not only get discounts, but are first to receive every title, before it’s offered for general sale. The website is very active. There’s a free bear personals and live chat area with over five thousand members internationally, and a gallery section for paid subscribers.”
Zillion: “We post four hundred new original and exclusive pictures every week on our four specialized sites: CyberBears.com, LatinBears.com, CyberCubs.com, and HotDaddyBears.com. Members of any one get full access to all four.” Slater: “It's a lot of work! Single-handedly last year, I photographed over 180 bears.”
Zillion: “We also stream our titles now through AEBN, Maleflixxx, XonDemand, Naked Sword, HotMovies, and our own PPV Network site called BearVideos.com. And we’re interested in expanding our international distribution.”
Slater: “It’s a growing market. Magazines in countries where we don’t yet have distributors are publishing my still photos. Japan and Brazil snap up our titles as soon as we offer them on the website. The Japanese really seem to like big hairy guys!”
Zillion: “We’re actually creating our own market. People who never even thought about big, hairy, masculine bears find one of our movies, and then they buy the whole line.” Slater: “We’re also living up to my goal of one new title a month this year. Upcoming are Illusion 2, Bear Hole, and Daddy Knows Best.”
Would Zillion (who is himself Slater’s kind of bear) ever appear in the films? Zillion (carefully): “I’m not sure. You’d have to talk to Ken.” Slater (laughing): “Yeah, he could appear — if I’m his co-star, of course.”
Ordering info: Arena Entertainment, 800-800-3099, ArenaEntInc.com. Mail order and director's cut versions are available at CyberBears.com.
