By Skidley Rott
Special to YNOT
LOS ANGELES – As an experienced director of adult films and a porn industry veteran, people are always coming to me with questions, seeking advice on making it big in the porn world. I always tell them the same thing: If you want to make it in the adult entertainment biz, you must always move quickly to jump on new trends and make the most of every opportunity that comes your way.
Over the past couple years alone, I’ve successfully explored everything from poverty porn and celebrity TS/TV titles to parodies of mainstream movies and virtual-reality porn, making dozens (possibly even hundreds) of dollars in the process.
While I’ve mostly been wildly successful, there have been some setbacks along the way, as well — like the time I read an article about porn companies moving out of Los Angeles in droves and decided it would be a good idea to relocate to Las Vegas, then Prague, then Budapest and finally to Biloxi, Mississippi, in search of a new place for Smoking Butterfly Entertainment to call home.
The moving around wasn’t so bad, but in retrospect wasted time. Less than one year later, I’m heading back to L.A., baby.
Why am I moving Smoking Butterfly back to L.A.? You ought to know the answer by now: I’m on my way back to the City of Angels because coming home to L.A. is the latest trend in porn.
I’m not doing this because of some whim or because warrants for my arrest have been issued in six Mississippi counties. I’m doing it because industry leaders say it’s something we’re supposed to do without thinking — and I don’t mean to brag, but doing things without thinking about them first is kinda my specialty.
“The industry is moving back to L.A., unquestionably,” according to none other than the porn industry’s Visionary in Chief, Steven Hirsch. “The business has changed and has downsized. But you’ll see the vast percentage coming back to L.A.”
There’s so much good news in this statement, I’m feeling more inspired and optimistic about the porn industry’s recovery than ever before.
For starters, I’m glad to hear the industry has “downsized,” because I have a thing for petite girls, although I suppose my enthusiasm on that point may not be shared by my producer peers who focus on the BBW niche. I’m also very pleased to know Vast Percentage is coming back to L.A., because I caught those guys at the Whisky back in ’97 and they were amazing.
Mostly I’m just glad to hear about this “use condoms or get sued into oblivion by some random California resident” thing being shot down, because I assume this means I won’t have to worry about getting fined all the time — especially if I ever did things like apply for a permit, which I don’t, because I’m a nonconformist, a rebel, and something my former attorney calls an “unrepentant felon and amoral misanthrope,” whatever that pile of confusing legalese means.
It’s also true, to-date at least, my movies have never generated a single complaint to Cal/OSHA, a fact of which I’m quite proud. I have a theory as to why, too: Last I checked, the 1,100 scenes I’ve uploaded to SmutNucleus have generated a staggering 1,137 views between them, a daunting total that proves my enormous popularity and has probably signaled to the Cal/OSHA authorities that if they were to try to fine me, the global public would rise en masse to revolt in defense of my pornographic honor.
Of course, if Hirsch was the only one saying it’s all good to come back to L.A., I wouldn’t necessarily be so certain it was the right move. But Hirsch’s comments were backed up by Alec Helmy, a guy whose opinion I’ve listened to ever since he first started publishing XBIZ World, a monthly collection of approximately 187 full-page ads with occasional bits of easily skipped-over text interspersed between them.
“This is the first time in my 20-year history that I’ve seen the industry so united against a proposition,” Helmy said. “It’s reinvigorated the adult production community.”
On the one hand, it’s kinda weird to find out Helmy is only 20-years-old. Among other things, this means he was just eight when I met him in 2004, which must make him one of the most precocious pornographers in history. But on the other hand, I’m so glad to hear I’m part of a community that has been “reinvigorated,” I’m not even going to look up that word to make sure it’s a good thing.
At any rate, as a guy with a keen eye for trends (speaking of which, mark my words: Another disco comeback is on the horizon!), I’m 110-percent certain now is the time to return home to Los Angeles, like the pornographic prodigal son I am.
That’s right, look out L.A.: In the immortal words of Motley Crüe, LeBron James, Skylar Grey, J. Cole and something called a ‘Diddy,’ “I’m coming home!”
Skidley Rott is the founder, CEO and primary in-house director for Smoking Butterfly Entertainment, which was founded in L.A., but then moved to Vegas, then to Prague, then to Budapest and then to Biloxi, Mississippi, before recently beginning the process of moving back to Los Angeles for good (probably).
Image: © Navid Serrano
