“The big question we all have is, how strong will the DVD market be next year? If we have a good winter sales season, then expect more big movies next year. If not, then porn is going to be dumbed down to a simpler format,” says Chris Ward of Raging Stallion Studios, which hopes to continue its trend of awardwinning “event” films. “We have a huge number of major movies already filmed for our 2011 release schedule. The biggest one is a major two-part blockbuster filmed up in California wine country. We have not given it a title, but it stars everyone who is anyone in the gay porn industry. We are also releasing ‘Brutal’ in January — it’s a major film. Our production schedule calls for three new movies per month in 2011, and one compilation film each month.”
Ward expects big things from Logan Scott (a joint Raging Stallion/Hard Friction exclusive), along with Tommy Defendi, D.O., Adam Champ and Jason Adonis — the former Jet Set star who signed with the studio in late 2010. He’s already started a transformation from his well-known “sporty frat jock” image, and fans will be eager to see an edgier Adonis in 2011. Ward also expects fetish will continue strong after its monster growth in 2010.
Titan Media’s highly successful Rough line from codirectors Tony Buff and Paul Wilde will continue, starting with ‘Invasive Procedures’ — a nasty foray into fringe fun like saline injections, fisting and fire play (is it any wonder fans eagerly eat up these titles?). Titan also expects to highlight fetish content in its other releases, with blockbusters usually coinciding with IML in May and the Folsom Street Fair in the fall. Up first on the studio’s main line in 2011 is ‘Hellions’ from director Brian Mills, which Titan will be releasing in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack (a marketing trend gaining ground in the mainstream market). Up next is ‘Thrill Ride,’ highlighted by exclusive performers David Anthony (one of the industry’s most popular faces, bodies and cocks), Dario Beck, Aymeric DeVille and Philippe Ferro.
Over at Lucas Entertainment, the hit Raunch line will continue to explore filthy ways to get guys off with titles like ‘Piss & Boots’ and ‘Pissed On.’ In addition, Lucas notes: “We just released our big blockbuster movie of the year, ‘Trapped in the Game.’ It is a suspense sex thriller shot entirely on location in Berlin. It has garnered huge amounts of press and is the biggest film to hit the industry in years.”
Also planned for 2011 is the “stylized New York action movie” ‘Assassin.’ It debuts in February and stars Lucas, Wilfried Knight, Junior Stellano, Jeremy Bilding and many other industry Alisters. Lucas adds he is planning a trip to Rome in the spring to film another international epic with a huge budget. “We are also just launching a new film line called Men in Suits, as an overwhelming amount of gay men fantasize about having sex with men dressed in formal suits.”
For EuroMedia Distribution, Director of Development Hugo Harley notes that the focus for 2011 will be quality over quantity. “We’ll be distributing only the most unique content and producers. For example, after our success with ‘Taboo’ from Bel Ami’s Lukas Ridgeston — with over 10k units sold worldwide — we will be distributing more than you can handle from the studio. This features the largest group scene ever shot —and in South Africa, no less. We’ve also signed up several new studios in the past few months.”
That includes PitBull Productions, the world’s premier black/thug-porn line; Maverick Men, featuring “the most popular X-Tube couple;” UK Naked Men and Butch Dixon, hot up-and-coming studios from across the Atlantic; and the resurrected Cobra Video, soon to be re-branded with new content. New DVDs for all lines are coming in 2011, with the company expected to release eight to 12 titles a month. Perhaps the biggest news is that the Lukas Ridgeston label will be going completely condom-free next year, while Harley notes they will be pushing the envelope with CockyBoys.
The focus at producer/distributor Pacific Sun will be expanding its global reach as the goal becomes “different and unusual porn from around the globe.” CEO Pritam Sinha says that with so many untapped niches still out there, making something different and unusual is what will be crucial in 2011 — and ethnic is the rule of the day. Given the enormous success of Entertainment West, Pacific Sun is looking to add more black studios to its stable (announcements will be coming soon).
The AsianBoys line from Thailand is the company’s first entry into the Asian market. “We are also launching the line called Pacific Sun Japan that — as far as we know — will be the first true gay Japanese line in the United States and Europe that will have uncensored Japanese porn,” says Sinha, adding that censored porn with pixels is still mandated by law in Japan. “We also have plans to have our own production in Beijing, which is something very new and unusual. We have developed contacts for that and production is expected to start in January.”
Pacific Sun is also signing a distribution agreement with a company in Africa that produces porn in Nigeria and Ghana, and is in talks with a studio that specializes in Middle Eastern porn (thoughts of India-based films are also dancing through the company’s head). In addition, given the success of ‘Just Fuck’ and ‘Dream Fuckers,’ Pacific Sun is planning more productions in Argentina from director Wolfgang Bang.
