Randy West and Evil Angel have ended their seven-year distribution relationship, one of the longest and most productive in the adult industry. Beginning in April, 1997, it was responsible for 124 volumes of the award-winning, top-selling pro-am line, Up and Cummers, and various spin-offs.
At issue is DVD rights to West’s product, which Evil Angel has never had. West signed them over exclusively to New Jersey-based New Machine Publishing in 1997, the same year he hooked up with John Stagliano’s company and a couple of years before digital video discs began to revolutionize the industry.
Evil Angel spokesman Jeff Marton said they can no longer afford to sell only VHS for anyone. “VHS numbers are real small,” Marton said. “DVD numbers are much bigger. All we’ve got is his VHS. It’s not good for us. It’s strictly a business decision.
West told AVN.com that in 1997 he thought DVDs were a flash in the pan, like CD-ROMs and LaserDiscs, which hadn’t done much for him in the way of sales.
“I just thought this was another throwaway item,” he said. “Get a little bit of dough every month and that would be about it. I didn’t pay much attention to it. Unfortunately, I never took the contract to lawyer, never really went over it that good myself.
“And then once DVDs started taking over I realized I was stuck with this deal.”
He said he doesn’t feel like entering into any kind of prolonged litigation. “If I was 20 years younger I might have fought it, but at this point in my career it’s like, okay, I’ll just ease out the door. As long as the guy’s paying me on time, we’ll let it be.
“I don’t need the aggravations of lawyers again. The best way for me to go out is to do compilations, because the money I’d be making now isn’t worth spending the money on talent.”
He said that his income from New Machine is “nowhere in the Evil Angel ballpark. Unfortunately, New Machine isn’t yet a big player and their distribution numbers are small compared to Evil Angel.”
His relations with New Machine, he said, were “kind of adversarial for a while, but we kind of reconciled and tried to make the best of the situation. We’re having a reasonably amicable relationship at this point.”
West hasn’t shot anything new since December. His last Up and Cummers, Vol. 124, was released in May.
His biggest adjustment, he says, has been to not performing any more. “I was gradually going to slow down and phase out, but this all happened kind of sudden. I’m probably a couple of years away from being retired anyway. I’m closer to 60 than I am to 50 now.
“Thank God I had a good run with John [Stagliano] and Evil Angel. I couldn’t have been in a better situation. The freedom of creativity there was great, the money was as good as you can get in the business, and the whole kind of family attitude over there is hard to find. That’s another thing I’m missing, not just the money.”
According to Marton, the feeling is mutual. “Randy’s great, a wonderful guy all around. We’ll never miss him more than in January when he comes to the [Adult Expo] show. He gets a bigger line than any of the girls.”
The actor-director’s last title through Evil Angel, Young Hot & Horny, a compilation, comes out next month.
For sales of Randy West’s catalog on DVD, contact David Gross at New Machine Publishing, (973) 571-2220.
