Press Release Jan 18, 2007 First Gay HD-DVD

Chris Ward, President of San Francisco based Raging Stallion Studios, today announced that his two-disc feature film Mirage will become the first ever Gay Erotic film to be released in a high definition format. The announcement marks a milestone for the industry. Raging Stallion has chosen HD-DVD over the competing Blue Ray format for this first HD release.

Mirage is the six-hour follow-up to 2006's top selling film, Arabesque. Ward chose Mirage as the first HD-DVD release because of the maturing HD market--customers have recently started asking for HD films on DVD. Raging Stallion has been filming with HD cameras since January of 2006. Mirage is scheduled for a retail release in April and a wholesale debut on June 1. Customers will have several options when purchasing Mirage. The standard two-disc set based on current DVD technology will be available for a $69.99 price point and the same amount will be charged for the HD-DVD version. Although the content offered on both formats is identical (including numerous special features beyond the six-hour running time of the film itself), the HD-DVD version will be contained on one disc. HD-DVDs allow for much more data to be placed on one disc. As a special promotion, customers will be able to purchase a three-disc set, containing both the standard version and the HD-DVD for $99.99.

"We are very excited about this project," Ward said. "This is a perfect project to release on HD--it is the biggest movie our studio has ever made. We wanted to release a film in HD in late 2006, but duplicators were not then willing to accept erotic content. We have now found a company willing to handle our HD-DVD needs. I can't wait for consumers to see our movies in brilliant, sharp HD widescreen."

Filming for Mirage took place in Hawaii, San Francisco, and in the deserts near the Mexican border. The movie stars the largest cast in RSS history and has a strong plot line that takes advantage of Raging Stallion's new corporate airplane. A dramatic plane crash sequence is one of the film’s highlights. Jake Deckard, Steve Cruz, and Dirk Jager lead the cast of dark, swarthy men who evoke the image of an Arabian fantasy. Scenes are shot in the desert, in ancient Egyptian tombs, and on tropical beaches. Huessein, Raging Stallion's exclusive model who headed the cast in the original Arabesque makes a return appearance as the leader of a band of tomb robbers in this "Indiana Jones meets hardcore porn" feature film.

Mirage is also one of the first releases to take advantage of the studio's new reduced visibility condoms. Safe sex was used throughout the filming of the movie. "In a tightening DVD market, innovation is the key to our future," Ward noted. "Our goal is to stay at the forefront of technology and film craft."

Raging Stallion Studios Receives 19 GayVN Nominations in Top Categories!!

San Francisco based Raging Stallion Studios received numerous GayVN nominations, with recognition going to a record 7 separate films. No other studio had more than seven movies nominated. The GayVNs, the gay porn industry's Oscars^®, are awarded each year at a celebrity-studded ceremony that moves this year from Hollywood to San Francisco's legendary Castro Theater. The show will take place on Saturday, February 24. This year, the GayVNs are open to the public. Co-founders Chris Ward and JD Slater were thrilled that their studio--which started in a small basement--has grown over the past years to become an industry powerhouse.Lords of the Jungle, one of the studio's major releases, received 6 nominations including Best All Sex Movie, Best Director (for Ben Leon and Chris Ward), Best Editing, Best Marketing, Best Videography, and Best Picture. Last year, the studio had similar nominations for Arabesque, which went on to become the top selling movie of the year. Lords of the Jungle was produced by Chris Ward and Michael Brandon.

Raging Stallion's Jake Deckart was nominated for Performer of the Year, as was FrançoisSagat based on his performances in Raging Stallion films. Sagat was nominated for his RSS work in Bedroom Eyes (best sex scene with Kyle Lewis), Manhattan (solo), Manifesto (Best Three Way with Huessein and Jay Black), and best packaging (Bedroom Eyes). He received a second Best Sex Scene nomination for his work with Remy Delaine in Manifesto. Francois Sagat was not singled out for nomination in any movies not made by Raging Stallion.

Jake Deckard, the current Raging Stallion Man of the Year, propelled Lords of the Jungle to its record number of nominations, and his starring role in Mirage (to be released in 2007) guarantees his place at the next awards ceremony in 2008.

JD Slater's Centurion Muscle 3: Omega, a Jake Deckard feature, was nominated for Best Leather Video, as was another Ward / Leon joint project, Manifesto.

Ben Leon's first solo directing project, Manhattan, received two nominations--for Best Specialty Latin (won by Raging Stallion last year for Passport To Paradise) and for the solo featuring François Sagat mentioned above. Fistpack Eight was nominated in Best Specialty Extreme.

New Raging Stallion associate Collin O'Neal received two nominations for his movie Lebanon--a three way starring Francois Sagat, Jacko, and Collin himself, as well as a nod in the Best Pro Am category.

This has been a banner year for Raging Stallion and the awards reflect the growing might of the studio. Company president Chris Ward commented "the fact that we have seven movies nominated really shows the depth of our quality. We have had a great year and look forward to seeing everyone at the GayVNS. I am particularly proud of Ben Leon and Collin O'Neal--both are new to directing and both received numerous nods. Way to go guys!"

More on the Invisible Condoms....

Boy! Did my blog post about invisible condoms really cause an uproar! I have to say that although I should have expected it, the reaction was something that surprised even a jaded guy like me. I was being accused of turning Raging Stallion into a bareback studio overnight!

Well, this is a tempest in a teapot. Raging Stallion's innovative new approach to making SAFE SEX MOVIES is not about barebacking, despite the shrill cries of one of our main competitors. One thing I want to make sure that everyone understands is that these are not bareback films and they do not glorify bareback sex. All we are doing is making condoms less intrusive for the viewer.

The emails I received were eye openers, but the most starling came from Jason Sechrest who wrote, "I don't mind at all....I love bareback movies!" One important person in the industry was worried that we would change our filming methods to better take advantage of our new "Cloaking Device." Others strongly urged that RSS go fully bareback so as to raise the quality of the genre. But in the end, industry leaders from all sides decided that this whole story was no big deal.

I wrote GayVN editor Doug Lawrence an email of clarification to head off the exaggerated stories that our competitor across town was promulgating. Here is the text of that email:

Dear Doug--

I guess you have heard by now about the fire storm raging around our new flesh toned condoms. One of our rival companies is fanning this fire--you will probably hear directly from them in Las Vegas.

As you know, we have found a combination of lighting, lubes, and condom type that take away the bright shine associated with the use of condoms in film. The condoms are almost always still visible and they are always visible on any insertion and pull out. In short, all we are doing is removing brightly colored condoms from our model kits. Clearly this is an attempt to recapture some of the bareback market over to the safe sex side of the tracks. Our site, GayDVD.com has shown us that bareback sales are five to ten times that of the safe sex companies. We. as a company, would rather go out of business than make unsafe sex films, so this is an attempt to make sex films that will also appeal, to some degree, to the exploding bareback group of customers.

I wanted to reassure you in writing (you can quote me on everything in this email) as to the following:

1. Raging Stallion does not produce nor endorse any barebacking whatsoever.We have long been leaders in the Safe Sex debate.

2. Raging Stallion requires absolutely that all performers on its sets always use condoms both during filming and during any warm ups.

3. Raging Stallion encourages and endorses safe sex under all circumstances.

4. Raging Stallion will never release any movie that might be misunderstood as being a bareback movie.

The wording of my own blog entry was poor and probably fanned this controversy. This is a statement of clarification to make sure that there are no misunderstandings.

Feel free to drop me a line if you have anymore questions. And please do not believe rumors and such that you hear from my competitors. We are 100 percent committed to safe sex and will not, under any circumstances, break ranks with the major studios in abandoning the use of condoms in videos.

Anyway, I hope this blog entry and the letter above reduces everyone's fears about the future of safe sex. The only thing that is changing is that Raging Stallion is now at the forefront of making Safe Sex Sexier!

Chris Ward

chris@ragingstallion.com

Raging Stallion Sweeps Adam Gay Guide 2007!

Raging Stallion Sweeps Adam Gay Guide 2007!
Studio Recognized as Top Player of 2007

Raging Stallion Studios, the San Francisco based Gay Erotic Industry Leader, took top honors this year with the publication of the 2007 Adam Gay Film Directory. The annual listing of top films is perhaps Adult Gay's leading guide to quality gay erotica. Raging Stallion not only took the cover (François Sagat), but also had more models mentioned than any other studio--45 in total. Raging Stallion also had 21 movies reviewed with two of them getting the highest rating of 5 stars (Arabesque and Bedroom Eyes). The 21 reviews are also a record number for the studio, further demonstrating the rising popularity Raging Stallion has attained during the past 12 months. There is little doubt that Raging Stallion has now joined the top ranks of studios in California. Arabesque, Raging Stallion's first release of 2006 led the industry in sales volume easily becoming the most popular gay porm movie of the year both in the United States and in Europe.

Company president Chris Ward was very, very happy with the Adam Guide. "This magazine--which is on sale for a full year--is the bible of gay erotica. To take the top positions.....well, I don't really know what to say. We work hard here to make quality films that customers enjoy. To see this kind of affirmation reinforces my belief that Raging Stallion is really impacting the sex lives of men all around the world."

Cover model François Sagat has become one of porn's top stars based on his numerous movies with Raging Stallion. His image has graced the covers of many films and more than five magazine covers making his distinctive head tattoo an easily recognizable image that defines Raging Stallion.

Hot House Entertainment, Colt Studio Group, Falcon Studios, and Channel One Releasing joined Raging Stallion in the top tier of quality companies. Raging Stallion is proud to be in their company.

Raging Stallion Invents Way To Make Condoms Invisible in Movies

Hey Guys--
One of my jobs as an erotic artist is to find ways to make sex on film sexy. Every day at Raging Stallion we are bombarded with customers demanding bareback movies, something that we do not produce. On GayDVD.com, our retail store, we carry movies from all studios, including bareback companies. These movies sell like hot cakes. The problem is that we at Raging Stallion are not comfortable producing these kind of movies. As a leading company in the adult industry, we feel that we have a responsibility to have a safe work environment for our actors.

In the past I used to argue that showing bareback sex educated viewers to practice unsafe sex. Today, however, this argument does not hold up. Viewers seeking bareback movies can buy them from more than a dozen bareback companies and from studios who have large libraries of pre-condom classics. Today my reason for not producing bareback movies is simple and precise--as a director and company owner, I cannot have a potentially unsafe work environment on my sets. I am not willing to ask actors to have unprotected sex while under my direction.

So we have come up with a solution that, I think, may change the industry as we know it.

Over the past year I have undertaken a huge (and secret) research and development project aimed at filming safe sex so that the viewer cannot see the condoms. In short, the condoms are still on the dick but not in the viewer's face. Just as Hollywood studios can remove street signs or unwanted images from their movies, Raging Stallion now has the capability of making condoms barely visible in most cases.

You will soon see scenes from us that have what looks more and more like condomless fucking. We will be including footage on special features of the discs that prove that condoms are being used. And a viewer with an large HD screen TV will still be able to see the condom on close up or freeze frame.

Our new invisible condom technology does not work in every scene--skin color, lighting environment, temperature, humidity levels, hardness of the hard on, etc. are all factors that play into how visible the new condoms are. Since a huge amount of post-production time is also used to make condoms invisible, we do not always have time on every movie to remove all condoms. In some scenes you will see condoms in some shots, but not in others.

Going forward Raging Stallion is going to make condoms as inconspicuous as possible as a way of making the hottest erotic images possible.

And guess what--this kind of safe sex is hotter! Everyone in our studio who has seen these new scenes is going crazy!

In both of the photos here (from my recent shoot for Mirage) the condoms are nearly invisible even though they are in full view. Check them out and see if you can see them.

I am proud to announce this new way of making films--it goes to show that Raging Stallion really is THE industry leader in the creation of excellent, safe, and sexy gay erotica!

Chris Ward

Press Release January 2, 2007

Raging Stallion Tops Mannet.com
Best 100 Movies of 2006 List

San Francisco based Raging Stallion Studios took the top honors on the annual Mannet.com top 100 movie list with 15 entries, a further documentation of the stunning rise of the company founded in 1999 by Chris Ward and JD Slater. Ward, who was also recently named by XBIZ magazine as one of the top 4 power brokers in the Gay erotic industry, was clearly happy with the Mannet.com results.

"To take the top spot--with entries from every single division of Raging Stallion Studios--is really something we are proud of. Our commitment to quality is second to none and this comes thru in these year end lists. I want to personally thank Butch Harris and his excellent staff of reviewers!"

The Raging Stallion movies that appear on the 2006 list are
(in alphabetical order):

1. Ass Quest # 1 (Monster Bang Video)
2. Ass Quest #2 (Monster Bang Video)
3. Bedroom Eyes (Raging Stallion)
4. Centurion Muscle #2: Alpha (Centurion Pictures)
5. Centurion Muscle #3: Omega (Centurion Pictures)
6. Anal Tap (Fisting Central)
7. Can Openers (Fisting Central)
8. Twist My Arm (Fisting Central)
9. Elbow Room (Fisting Central)
10. Humping Iron (Monster Bang Video)
11. Lebanon (Collin O'Neal Productions)
12. Lords of the Jungle (Raging Stallion)
13. Manhattan (Raging Stallion)
14. Manifesto (Raging Stallion)
15. Rookies (Pistol Media)