Jason Sechrest, president of newly formed DV8 Entertainment, told GAYVN today that his company policy is to give every performer a percentage of his or her movie's net profits in addition to receiving their day rates.
"It's unheard of, but it's something I believe in very strongly," Sechrest said about DV8's groundbreaking policy. "The performers are the ones who sell the videos. They put their reputations, their total lives, on the line when they get in front of that camera. The filmmakers in this business don't want their work to be seen as exploitation, and they love to say that we're a family and look out for our own, but in practice that often only exists to the extent that it doesn't cut into their pockets."
Sechrest actually hinted at his novel decision when he announced the formation of his company in September. At the time, he said, "I don't want to give anything away too quickly, but I will say that it's far past time for the power and the money to be put into the hands of the performers…."
A seven-year porn journalist and emcee, Sechrest, 25, is most known for his popular straight and gay porn megasite, JasonCurious.com. He started DV8 Entertainment last month to produce gay and straight XXX movies. DV8's first production, the gay-XXX Bully, begins filming this weekend in Los Angeles. Sechrest wrote it and will also direct.
"Obviously, with our first productions, the percentages are going to be extremely small," he said, "we can't give away the farm. But even so, if these performers received an extremely small percentage from every movie they ever did in their entire careers, it would add up. And that is the ultimate goal."
Sechrest says he believes the payoff will come in the performers' promotion of DV8 titles. "It seems to me that it's just an incentive for them to give me a better performance than they've ever given anyone else, and to actively promote my movies above all other titles. The better the movie is, the more the movie sells, the more they ultimately make. I look forward to a day when there's a healthy competition between companies, even bidding percentage wars for our industry's stars.What can I say? I'm young and hopeful."
Photo courtesy of JasonCurious.com.
