CANOGA PARK, CA — Rob Novinger, co-founder and partner of Channel 1 Releasing, one of the world’s largest producers of adult gay content, has joined the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) board of directors.Novinger fills a space left open when Bijou Video producer/distributor Steven Touschin stepped down.

“With Rob’s diverse background and level-headedness,” executive director Diane Duke observed in a press release on the subject, he will be an asset to the board of directors and bring a wealth of experience, as well as a fresh outlook, to the future of FSC.”

Novinger has experience in a number of areas within the industry, including public speaking, DVD distribution, mail order distribution, video production, Video-on-Demand, live internet shows, pay sites, novelties, web traffic and the procurement of a brick-and-mortar adult shop.

As the new board member sees it, “The biggest challenge facing our industry today is the need for innovation and change. The economic crisis, piracy, a shift in customer spending, etc., have all caused the industry to suffer both financially and have lead to many unethical business practices that, in my opinion, will lead to harsher regulation.”

The solution? Novinger believes that “We, as an industry, need to come up with fresh, new ways to market and sell our products, rather than try to overly exploit what we are accustomed to.”

According to an earlier interview with Novinger, an important part of that solution is participation with the FSC, which “legitimizes the adult industry in the eyes of the outside world by demonstrating the industry’s desire to conduct business ethically, yet profitably.”