Thinking of Getting into the Adult Industry?

[erobert]

This is a personal post but JUB is the right place for this question, I hope.

I've been considering for the past couple of years dabbling in the adult industry... probably not trying out for a big studio like Colt or anything (I don't have "the look" they want anyway I 'm sure) but maybe on the part time amateur side of the business. Possibly starting a blog or XTube channel part time... idk. I'm still playing with the idea of it.

But I've thought about why exactly I want to get into the adult industry as well. I'm unfulfilled by my non starter career and my current position seems to be coming to an end, I'm thinking about taking a bit of a career break or changing directions completely, moving somewhere outside NYC due to that (the Big Apple is a very expensive city to live in and rough starting out here aside from certain high paying industries). I'd like to do some traveling for a while, and honestly I'm really really kinky. So much in fact it's made me wonder if I'll be able to find a sexually compatible BF. My ex couldn't keep up but he tried.

Might be a good way of, if not meeting other like minded guys, serving as a calling card of sorts. IDK, I feel I should be "doing" something with it other than just hoping to "somehow" meet like minded guys into the same things I am by chance and it might be a good way of getting my foot in the door with the fetish community.

I have some very conflicting feelings about it though and a ton of questions swirling around in my head. For one my biggest worry is, whether it be a simple blog or especially becoming a model for an amateur site, it getting dug up if I had to apply for a job. Or even family- that would be embarrassing. That kind of stuff can follow you for a long time.

Part of this fear I believe though comes from a puritanical Western beliefs about sex, shaming those in the industry and other knee jerk judgements surrounding anyone associated with the business. There was another post on here I was read through where someone listed real estate agents, architects, a mechanical engineer and even a NASA scientist as former porn stars.

I'm up for relocating but the industry, at least in the US is based in LA and San Franc mostly, other high COL metro areas. In Europe, based on what I've read, at least Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe interestingly.

Though, even relocating to a low cost of living area I've heard people in the business don't make very much, especially on the amateur side. Starting a blog I'm sure I'd be barely scraping by. I've dipped my toe in that as an off and on hobby but didn't really give it consideration like I am now. Getting involved with a large studio you can make more but that's all dependent on your ability to preform. And what about healthcare and such? That essential for anyone performing.

Finally there's the issue of turning something fun and pleasurable into "work". Whether it's working out the kinks of a server going down or having to do a re-shoot for a scene. Maybe even a bored desensitization about it sometimes. It's one thing to be a viewer but probably totally different once you're on the other side.

 

[spooky]

Sounds like a very big decision... for me I would but then I don't feel comfortable enough with my body to go there.

Anyway, If you really do want to go there... then talk to your friends and family about it. Get their input and maybe explain why you are interested.
Additionally, you could and would want to plan out a reasonable backup plan if it ultimately doesn't work out. Something to fall back on, research other interests and places you would work in and how they view someone having that kind of past.

You could also use a specific look when in the porn world and have a different look and style in your normal life.
From all that I've gleaned from former actors/actresses, you almost have to make a different personality to survive.

Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

What exactly are you asking erobert?

 

[-Kane-]

Have you considered becoming a Male Escort instead? You can travel to cities where events like conventions are taking place and book lots of men with money to burn. Doing porn will live forever on the Internet even years after you leave the business. Do you really want your sexuality memorialized forever on the Internet?

 

[G-Lexington]

Soil probably is the best person to answer your questions, but it sounds like you've hit most of the main problems. For a performer, porn is usually best considered a decent-to-good side gig rather than a career in and of itself. And I think that's where the mindset really should be.

I don't do porn*, but I've recently turned a hobby into a modest side gig. I may make $5K from it this year, if I'm lucky. That's nowhere near enough to live on, of course, but it's a nice additional paycheck for doing something I enjoy. Sometimes I think about pushing it harder, and seeing if I can make it a real career. But then I look at an acquaintance of mine who HAS turned it into a career. He works six days a week doing it. He basically takes any gig he can, including quite a few that make me think "Ugh - I'd hate having to do that". He has to spend much of his free time promoting his business. He's always online announcing his gigs and availability (or lack thereof). There are photo shoots and shopping for equipment and keeping his "brand" valuable and all that. And that's...well, to be frank, it's a lot harder than I want to work. I like the checks, but I like doing the gig most of all. And doing what he does would probably erode that enjoyment.

Lex

* - I know. Huge shock.

 

[-Kane-]

Soil probably is the best person to answer your questions.

Only if he wants bias answers to his questions. If I'm ambivalent about purchasing a new car, I doubt I'd find objectivity in the office of a car salesman.

 

[88Jockstraps]

Have you considered becoming a Male Escort instead? You can travel to cities where events like conventions are taking place and book lots of men with money to burn. Doing porn will live forever on the Internet even years after you leave the business. Do you really want your sexuality memorialized forever on the Internet?

I like this idea. Not sure how realistic it is though.

 

[Soilwork]

As someone who's worked in porn for nearly 15 years, I'm more than happy to chat with you, but I did a post about it here..

Porn can be a lot of fun but it does come with a lot of negatives and you have to be ready for those.

Someone above suggested escorting... if you want to just get paid to have sex with guys you're not attracted to... that's an option.

If you want to get into porn for other reasons... The fun, the travel, the exhibitionism, the experience, and the having sex with HOT guys... well that's part of it.

Don't forget that porn is forever on the internet and you can never take the piss out of the pool. Your family and friends will probably find out. There's always some bitter nattering queen who works with your mom and watches porn and will tell her just to cause shit. I have no doubt a few people who post here would do the same.

anyway... once you accept the above and have read MY POST ABOUT IT HERE,

Let's get to some of your comments...

Possibly starting a blog or XTube channel part time... idk. I'm still playing with the idea of it.

That's a great way to start, be your own boss, make money and stop when you want (and delete the videos when you want). That's how the Maverick Men started.

But I've thought about why exactly I want to get into the adult industry as well. I'm unfulfilled by my non starter career and my current position seems to be coming to an end, I'm thinking about taking a bit of a career break or changing directions completely, moving somewhere outside NYC due to that (the Big Apple is a very expensive city to live in and rough starting out here aside from certain high paying industries). I'd like to do some traveling for a while, and honestly I'm really really kinky.

OK so... I also hit a wall in my last career and left as the industry I was working in (music and video retail) started to disappear and go Online. Traveling and being kinky... good start.

So much in fact it's made me wonder if I'll be able to find a sexually compatible BF. My ex couldn't keep up but he tried.

this is NOT a good reason to get into porn.

Might be a good way of, if not meeting other like minded guys, serving as a calling card of sorts. IDK, I feel I should be "doing" something with it other than just hoping to "somehow" meet like minded guys into the same things I am by chance and it might be a good way of getting my foot in the door with the fetish community.

Ok yes, it's a way to meet people... so is just going to kink events like IML and ECL. Rubber events... there are a lot. You don't have to make porn to meet other guys in the BDSM community, you just have to... show up.

I have some very conflicting feelings about it though and a ton of questions swirling around in my head. For one my biggest worry is, whether it be a simple blog or especially becoming a model for an amateur site, it getting dug up if I had to apply for a job. Or even family- that would be embarrassing. That kind of stuff can follow you for a long time.

I'm leaning towards "not a good idea" after reading this sentence.

There was another post on here I was read through where someone listed real estate agents, architects, a mechanical engineer and even a NASA scientist as former porn stars.

that was me. And my doctor, too. He was a Colt model, ironically.

I'm up for relocating but the industry,

there is no need to do that. A good studio worth working for will fly you in for a shoot, pay your food and hotel.

Though, even relocating to a low cost of living area I've heard people in the business don't make very much, especially on the amateur side. Starting a blog I'm sure I'd be barely scraping by

Well... a good blog with high traffic and good sales can make a fortune. But that's a lot of work. At the peak of my blog Gay daily Hot (which I sold a couple years ago), I was pulling in over $50K per year. That was writing part time on top of my day job, although most of my exclusive content CAME from my day job... so... couldn't have one without the other.

And what about healthcare and such? That essential for anyone performing.

that's essential for everyone sexually active. You're less likely to be infected on set where condoms are changed regularly and the conditions are controlled than you are hooking up with people you don't know.

Finally there's the issue of turning something fun and pleasurable into "work". Whether it's working out the kinks of a server going down or having to do a re-shoot for a scene. Maybe even a bored desensitization about it sometimes. It's one thing to be a viewer but probably totally different once you're on the other side.

BINGO.

Making porn is NOT "having sex." They're very different.

I'm thinking that porn... not a good choice for you. There are other outlets for your wants that are better and the negatives outweigh the good for you.

 

[Soilwork]

I like this idea. Not sure how realistic it is though.

It's exactly the opposite of what he wants. Just reading his post makes it pretty clear that he doesn't want to "have sex for money with ugly guys."

he wants to explore his kinky side and thinks porn is a good outlet for that (which I don't think it is).

 

[Soilwork]

And Kane... I would also like you to read not only my post here, but the post I made four years ago about this. I think I was quite objective and laid out all the reasons why porn ISN'T a dream job.

I'm not sure why you feel the need to compare me to a car salesman... I'm not a talent scout... I'm a director. I'm a film maker. I only want to work with people who WANT to be on set. It does me no good to have unhappy performers. My movies would suck and I'd have a crappy time making them.

 

[88Jockstraps]

It's exactly the opposite of what he wants. Just reading his post makes it pretty clear that he doesn't want to "have sex for money with ugly guys."

he wants to explore his kinky side and thinks porn is a good outlet for that (which I don't think it is).

LOL, ugly guys.

 

[Telstra]

Have you considered becoming a Male Escort instead? You can travel to cities where events like conventions are taking place and book lots of men with money to burn. Doing porn will live forever on the Internet even years after you leave the business. Do you really want your sexuality memorialized forever on the Internet?

1/ How do you get these men to book you?
2/ You look far better on the internet years after you leave.
3/ Your sexuality will memorialized in real life forever anyway with or without internet.

 

[Soilwork]

2/ You look far better on the internet years after you leave.
3/ Your sexuality will memorialized in real life forever anyway with or without internet.

Oddly enough, most of the men in their 40s who get into porn late... THAT is the reason they do it. They want pictures and video of them when they were "Still my hottest."

Some do it to recapture some of that youth... Some just do it because if you're a daddy porn star... EVERY 18 year-old you meet wants a piece of it.

 

[Telstra]

Those old unfit people in the bathhouse use to be hot to very hot.
Now they are undesirable ...

 

[Soilwork]

Those old unfit people in the bathhouse use to be hot to very hot.
Now they are undesirable ...

Not all of them. Some of them were always fat and ugly.


Meh... feelings are for wussies.

 

[zombiekiller]

Not all of them. Some of them were always fat and ugly.


Meh... feelings are for wussies.

Hey, us uglies have feelings, too.

 

[Soilwork]

Hey, us uglies have feelings, too.

Hey, I'm no fashion model.

 

[erobert]

Soilwork, thank you for your point by point pro's and con's of my post. You've given me the answer I'm seeking with good reasons not to get into it. You're ultimately right, I don't need to go all into the porn industry to meet kinky minded guys, there's events and such which you need to put yourself out there at. Might PM you with a few more questions about that.

I think Lex has good insights also. Trying it out as a side gig might be something wiser to do, it doesn't even have to be fetish porn; there's the whole Bruce Weber route too with photography and the whole fine art niche which is generally more "acceptable" since that kind of stuff hung on a gallery wall or plastered up on billboards for advertising campaigns, even though A&F ads aren't porn... at least not overtly.

I think this question has come out of a lot of thinking about my options (with a career and in life in general) and a realization that most of the jobs I've had haven't been going against my natural talents, I'm mostly a creative type of person and mixing things I'm naturally talented at which make money is what I should be doing.

 

[refujiunderground]

why not sell drugs instead like become a weed courier or something?

 

[-Kane-]

And Kane... I would also like you to read not only my post here, but the post I made four years ago about this. I think I was quite objective and laid out all the reasons why porn ISN'T a dream job.

I'm not sure why you feel the need to compare me to a car salesman... I'm not a talent scout... I'm a director. I'm a film maker. I only want to work with people who WANT to be on set. It does me no good to have unhappy performers. My movies would suck and I'd have a crappy time making them.

Wasn't attempting to demean your profession with my analogy. I was simply trying to make a point about "objective" information when it comes to fact finding. They alway say "consider the source."

I could've used a plastic surgeon or a real estate agent to make the same point. If I were hesitant about getting a facelift or buying a new home, I doubt either of these people would be totally 'objective' with me.