CHATSWORTH, Calif. – A precautionary hold placed on adult film producers Oct. 15 was discontinued late Monday.
“The production hold from last week has been lifted and production can continue, effective immediately,” said a notice from adult industry trade organization Free Speech Coalition, which requested the brief moratorium. “All precautionary testing has been completed and there is a medical determination that the performer pool has not been compromised.”
FSC requested the halt after a public health department reported a performer might have been exposed to HIV in late September during off-set contact with another performer who did not observe the industry’s voluntary health-protection protocols.
On Oct. 17, the hold was extended by two days in order to complete a thorough evaluation of the potential situation.
“We know that production holds and moratoriums are difficult for performers and producers, but they are integral to the safety of the [Performer Availability Screening Services] performer pool,” said FSC chief Diane Duke. “We also realize that the lack of information in these situations can be frustrating; however, it’s crucial that we maintain medical privacy for the performers involved.”
The FSC’s PASS program a nonprofit performer welfare organization and health watchdog. The program maintains a confidential database of health test results provided by approved facilities, helps studios determine which performers are available to shoot explicit scenes and serves as an industry-wide notification system during outbreaks of sexually transmitted infections. The system also promotes rigorous industry best practices for health testing and defines medical and safety protocols for participating testing facilities.
“The PASS database and protocols are crucial to protecting performers,” Duke said. “This is why we are working so doggedly on regulations that will encourage full compliance with PASS no matter where they shoot. All indications are that full compliance with the PASS system continues to protect performers and prevent on-set transmissions. In addition, our moratorium protocols effectively provided testing and prevented any compromise to the performer pool.”
