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Ok, this takes the cake as the most spiteful, hypocritical article i've seen so far by a gay webmaster. Why now is he retiring ? Why didn't he do it when so many were dying ? Why didn't he take a stand then and leave. No. He took the money and kept filming. Unbelievable to blame this industry for what amounts to personal choices. And... the reference to Corbin Fisher is certainly a low blow. All I can say is good riddance.
I don't see this as a low blow, stab or attack on CF and their Production for "online".Quote:
Where porn is going now is sex scenes without production values made for online. No music, no setup, just sex. Not that I couldn’t do that, but how could I do it better than, say, Corbin Fisher? There are people doing wonderful work and I wish them well. I just am not wired in a way where I could do much that way.
This is a statement about the change in how a viewer finds, buys and watches porn.
I myself don't see the classic storyline behind the internet video as apposed to the "I didn't order a pizza, now come here and fuck me" VHS movies.
This was a Boot, not a stab at CF in that the quality of their style is what seems to be the bar and he cannot elevate the bar in this style.
Now the AIDS issue - As he points out "5 years" he set himself up as someone who gave a shit but needs a scapegoat instead of a bow out.
It's that pompous attitude that got my goat above anything else. I wonder if this is the prevailing attitude that most of the big studios have about online porn. It's not our fault that dvd is dying. We're leaner, smarter and that's why we stay on top.
I read and re-read this article and I can't say that I agree with you at all. I think that Kevin Clarke makes an excellent point. In fact, he makes several of them.
I think that maybe he is just tired of watching his friends die...tired of watching an industry he helped to build be torn apart by HIV.Quote:
If one straight woman gets HIV, the straight industry gets shut down for weeks. On the gay side, bareback gets bigger every day even as we die.
Granted, I don't know Kevin. He could be a hypocrite, but I don't get that impression from this article.
I too am repulsed by individuals and companies that profit from the reckless disregard for safety of the models. I am proud to say that I have never filmed an unsafe sex scene...nor would I. Nor would I knowingly do business with anyone that did.
Maybe try to take a step back and re-read the article. You might see something different.
Just my $0.02
He's a part of the industry for years then suddenly he has seen the light. After reaping the rewards and basically turning a blind eye during that whole duration of time. It is very unfortunate that Rocky died but meth killed him. It was his choice to do the drug. It was his choice to do the barebacking. I don't know any studios that knowingly infect their models.
Correct me if I'm wrong,but aren't condoms still more commonly used in gay porn than in straight porn? Straight porn doesn't have a barebacking niche because nearly all of the content is bareback. The straight industry shutting down whenever someone gets a positive test result isn't anything to glorify as a positive act when they are still all fucking each other without protection as soon as it is back to business as usual.
The key word is "knowingly." Any studio that shoots bareback, even with models tested clean the same day, is putting its models at risk becauseQuote:
Originally Posted by Huskyhunks
(a) Any model willing to bareback on camera has probably barebacked in other situations, and
(b) unless the model hasn't barebacked in over 6 months, he could be positive and in the latency period.
I know of one of our models who was in this exact situation. Tested negative, had no sex with anyone for about 3 months, then tested positive.
So any studio that is asking its models to bareback is putting them in a very high risk situation, and in most cases, this is done *without* a very clear disclosure of the risks. I have talked to models who have barebacked for various studios, and I haven't heard of a single case where the studio clearly and accurately represented the risk to the models. On the contrary, in nearly all cases it was a "Well, if you want to do it, we'll pay you x dollars more, and there really isn't any risk, because everyone has been tested."
Yes, there's a huge chasm between the straight side of the industry and the gay side. Not sure why this is, but in that way, I do agree that the industry is putting profits in front of safety.
I guess I can see your point about him being in the industry for years and then "suddenly seeing the light." However, I am still repulsed by studios that film bareback. Knowingly, or unknowingly, they surely are responsible for at least some of the infections...and that is morally reprehensable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Huskyhunks
Regarding straight porn. They at least have a comprehensive testing procedure in place. I don't know of any gay companies that actively test their models...and I have never heard of any community networking that lets other studios know the results of those tests. etc. I know it is an imperfect world...but testing would help...as well as the 'blacklisting' of any positive actor from the industry. But again, thats my soapbox.
Right on Target Chip.Quote:
Originally Posted by gaybucks_chip
In rereading the article on Kevin Clark, I think he *is* putting his money where his mouth is.
Unless I'm misreading what he's implying in the article, it sounds like he has never produced bareback, which *is* taking a stand. His retirement sounds like it's more about unwillingness to produce a product that, to him, is "quick and dirty" (lower production values) and unwillingness to produce bareback product than anything else. And, to me, choosing to leave the business rather than produce a product he doesn't like, or asking models to bareback, is a totally honorable thing to do.
I've never met Kevin and I'm not particularly familiar with his work, but from what I read, it sounds to me like he's exiting the industry in an elegant way.
Any studio can make use of AIM (the testing center for the industry). THey have blood draw deals hooked up all across the country. It's a bit pricey, but I believe they do keep track of the test results for people that work in the industry.Quote:
Originally Posted by TropixxxStudios
We test every model for HIV, syphillis, and hepatitis-C when they arrive, even though we shoot condom content. We do this in part because of the latency issues and in part because we don't want to risk a model giving us a faked test result. Thank goodness, we've not yet had a model test positive. We also take other precautions to lower risk - models don't cum in other models mouths, we use condoms for all scenes, and we follow other protocols to reduce the risk of transmission (no teeth brushing within 90 minutes of a shoot, that sort of thing.)
We also have the models sign a statement, which we actually discuss rather than just have them read and sign, which states that even though they are all tested, the test results aren't foolproof and there's risk in every situation.
I've had many models tell me that they've never had anyone -- including school classes -- educate them as completely as we did on the issue of STD transmission, and several have told us months or years later that our conversations with them had a long-lasting impact on their decisions about safe sex practices.
We, as an industry, CAN make an impact on the lives of our models and the people who view our content if we choose to. It's not convenient, and it may cut into our profits, but it all boils down to what's most important at the end of the day.
I wouldn't characterize Kevin Clarke has acting hypocritically. Besides, what does that mean anyway... acting hypocritically? So what? He obviously just is very upset over bad news that hits close to home for him. Keywords here -- for him. I've always liked his movies, and I can totally understand his decisions.
HuskyHunks - Also note that the article says Clarke is 55 years old. One thing I observe repeatedly, is that gay men in their 40s and 50s, particularly if they reside or resided in New York, San Fran and L.A., are generally more hostile to the barebacking phenomenon than other groups. To me, that makes sense, because when they were coming of age all their friends were dying.... surely a wrenching experience for anyone involved.
Now I'm not judging that those peoples' feelings are any better or worse than someones with a different attitude on the subject. (These are one's own personal feelings after all) That's just something I observe often - the gay men 40 - 59 SF/LA/NYC are typically very vocally opposed.
Now I'm 37, and I'm kind of on the cusp of all that history. I can certainly observe that young guys today live in a very different world. Clarke's comment about his European distributor only selling bareback is interesting too. But let's break out from our Unites States myopia here. I think Europeans have a fundamentally different attitude about sex. They seem to look at barebacking as a participatory taboo like cigarette smoking. Whereas in California, people love to regulate everyone else's health for their own supposed public benefit, and we are seemingly always on the verge of a new health pandemic or environmental catastrophe. This is the California twist on old timey Catholic guilt, perhaps. (I don't know because I'm not in California, and I've practically never been to church ever.. that's 2 strikes :P)
I personally don't have a gripe about bareback movies. One reason: if you think studios have blood on their hands for glamourizing such activity, then logically gay.com, manhunt, men4sexnow and all other hookup websites are significantly the worse, because they are the true facilitators. (I'd never heard of barebacking until I got on IRC) Plus I don't think horror movies should be restricted for, as some see it, glamorizing gory violence. Logic follows here.
But many very intelligent people feel the opposite, and I understand that. I wouldn't peg anyone... particularly on here.. as not being careful or circumspect in their own way on this subject.
Steve
ok, to me what he's saying is the industry is fine for the 20 years he produced but the day he retires it's conspiring to infect everyone and "you're" all guilty completely excusing himself. it's the timing that irks me.
That's it right there. The TIMING of his statements. "Goodbye and by the way, fuck you and I think you're all horrid, and I've always thought so, but I haven't found the words till now ... as I'm leaving ..."Quote:
Originally Posted by Huskyhunks
Figured I'd swing by real quick to say that I don't think Kevin was taking a shot as Corbin Fisher (Though, Charles, I definitely appreciate your being so outspoken and offended when you saw something that could have been interpreted as such and thank you for that, in all sincerity).
I've known Kevin for a few years now. We would frequently discuss and share thoughts on the movies he'd made and the videos we have on CorbinFisher.com and he frequently expressed a fondness for our product. When I came to CF, I made it a point to give him a user/pass to the site and we'd speak online, as well as at industry shows, about CF's videos, models, etc because I valued his advice and feedback and he was genuinely interested in, excited about, and admiring of our product.
I gathered from what he'd said that (as some others in here have mentioned) tastes have changed, expectations have changed, what people find hot and seek out has changed, and he was in fact complimenting us on producing something that people really go for and that he didn't feel he could match (his movies have always been very storyline driven and about characters, plots, etc, as opposed to what many call "gonzo porn" - stuff without plots and focused just on the sex, like what we and many others online do).
I know Kevin as someone who has always been very outspoken on his beliefs regarding condom use in videos, barebacking and the like. He has some very strong opinions on it and has shared those frequently - especially to and among others in the industry.
Either way, I'm sad I'll not have any more of his movies to look forward to (as I've enjoyed every one so far) but wish him the best in all future endeavors.