GRUNTS - Men At War!!!
Team Raging Stallion witnessed a real war when the powerful combination of Trey Casteel, Ricky Sinz, and RSS Man-of-the-Year Jake Deckard came together on a mess table at the Base Rec Center. We all knew how the battle would turn out--two sergeants vs. one private! The energy of this scene was startling--almost scary. As the scene unfolded, everyone from crew to actors got caught up in an adrenaline rush and what ensued will go down as one of the most violent acts we have ever caught on tape. As the action revved up, with Trey urging his two tops to a level of brutality that mimicked full-scale rape, everyone watched, mesmerized. Normally Raging Stallion shies away from outright brutality. Our S/M scenes are all about endorphins and mutual satisfaction. Some other companies often film degradation and humiliation as part of their S/M lines--I am not saying either is right or wrong, but the energy we have at Raging Stallion is not about violence. Until now! You really have to see this to believe it.
Jake Deckard is giving the performance of his career as Sgt. Houle. His portrayal of a mean and nasty drill sergeant will certainly garner him best actor nominations at award shows next year. In all of my years of directing, I have never encountered a performance like the one he is giving. Jake has become his character--living the role 24/7.
Sergeant Houle is a complicated role. He is tough and brutal, exhibiting some of the common boot camp, bad-ass attitude that has become a stereotype in modern culture. His motivation, however, is to train these guys so that they can survive--it is the ultimate example of tough love. In return, the GRUNTS hate his guts. They view him as their tormentor, not as their salvation. In an environment that gives Houle no positive feedback, he has to draw on his inner strength to keep going. His is a cycle of bitterness, anger, and compassion, with the latter repressed to near invisibility. As a director it has been a challenge to bring out these many facets. One scene we shot last night--Houle alone on his cot reflecting on his job--demonstrated to me that Jake Deckard is one of the finest actors in porn today.
Last night we also shot another show-stopper scene, this one between Dominic Pacifico and Ricky Sinz. The setting was at night on our WWII army jeep. Moonlight provided a backlight as the two men engaged each other in carnal delight! Dominic is a power bottom and Ricky is a power top. Together they created enough friction to set the base on fire! Three great fuck positions, filmed and directed by Ben Leon, show us everything we want to see.
One of the most rewarding things about this GRUNTS shoot is the fact that every single scene has gone off without a hitch. Today is the last day of filming, and so far we have shot almost 25 scenes, each and every one of them first class erotica. I have not felt this good about a movie since Arabesque, two years ago. For me, as head of Raging Stallion Studios, the best thing is that the successful conclusion of principal photography on GRUNTS means that Raging Stallion will remain a top studio for the next few years.Chris Ward
posted by Chris Ward at 2:09 PM
2 Comments:
Mainstream DVD sales by porn companies are continuing to lose market share. You point out that the cost for models continues to go up. Increased production costs coupled with lower sales will eventually cause a convergence for the larger companies where they are no longer profitable. This is not only bad news for the companies that produce original high quality gay porn, but for those of us that LOVE hot PROFESSIONAL GAY porn. What I don't understand is why marketing that was once effective is so seldom used anymore. FOR EXAMPLE, I was NOT ABLE to pre-order "Grunts". Companies used to send out mailings that offered special incentives for prepurchasing a title. A discounted price was often COMBINED with very deep discounts on recent DVDs. These mass mailings required HUGE capital outlays for color printing, order forms, double "explicit warning" envelopes, etc. YET THE COMPANIES that did it right, MADE LARGE PROFITS. Today, a company could do the same thing by using the net to show color scenes of UPCOMING MOVIES (like you do in you blog -good marketing job there). However, there are NO links to any preorder pages, no special deals being combined with this release, and no "coming soon" links on the main Raging Stallions page. This seems like a bad business decision since EVERY copy presold is one less illegal copy or download you have to worry about. ALSO, why don't the larger companies OFFER SOME TYPE OF SUPER PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION. Not the silly $99.95 to $129.95 that was tried years back, but something along the lines of $59.95 would probably be acceptable IF the company left the customer feeling like they were getting their money's worth. For example, a company could offer monthly updates like the smaller low quality sites, behind the scenes of upcoming movies, AND mail a DVD of the finished film as part of the subscription process (THE ONLY MAILING I would recommend for any Internet based porn company these days). Falcon TOTALLY blew it with their early efforts at a premium subscription. The cost WAS HIGHER than their typical DVD and their content was both low res. and sparse. The "Ala Cart" mind set where the ceo feels that profit will come from from charging for EVERYTHING the customer gets from the company (and remember what I said about those presale flyers; they were sent to customers FOR FREE since they were a MARKETING tool). The NET goes WAY BEYOND direct mail marketing, and customers WILL PAY for sites that offer quality content and frequent updates. The problem for the big companies is, the customers that subscribe to their big porn sites often feel they are being charged FOR MARKETING MATERIALS, or BEING DOUBLE CHARGED for the same content (once as a site member,and again if they want the DVD). Not a good position for the big companies. When the loyal customer feels cheated, that sentiment will eventually destroy any and all loyalty. The business model needs to change if great companies like yours wish to thrive. Please pass on what I have suggested. Believe it or not, this isn't intended as a "bitch letter", but as a possible way to work around piracy, theft, and the raised expectations the "net" has left consumers with. I WANT you to continue to be profitable AND grow larger since that will lead to the ability to continue to hire the BEST talent available. YOUR SUCCESS is in the best interest of your fans. Thank you.
Your comments are very insightful. Your point that there is a convergence for companies that will make them no longer profitable is dead on--several major players right now are teetering on the edge of going under. Without any doubt, several current big players will be gone within the next year or so. As for pre-ordering GRUNTS, I decided not to put it up as an option yet, since the movie is still two or three months away. I know that a famous New York company pre-sell their movies for many, many months. Fortunately, Raging Stallion has ample reserves in our bank accounts, so we do not have a strong need to more aggressively push our product. Your point about pre-ordering as a defense against illegal downloads, however, is excellent. I have put this suggestion on the agenda for our staff meeting later this week.
Chris
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