Titan Media's Bruce Cam Refuses DAVID Lifetime Achievement Award

[Titanmen]

Bruce Cam Refuses DAVID Lifetime Achievement Award

San Francisco, CA (October 23, 2007) – Titan Media regrets to announce that GAYVN Hall of Fame Director Bruce Cam has refused to accept the DAVID Lifetime Achievement Award. Sponsored by GAYeLINE, a gay adult magazine publisher in Europe, the DAVID Awards were initially considered to be the European equivalent of the GAYVN Awards in the United States. The awards show was held in Berlin on Friday October 19th, 2007. Due to a last minute illness, Cam was not able to attend the award ceremony, but his business partner and Titan Media Vice President Keith Webb was in attendance on his behalf.

“I cannot in good conscience accept a Lifetime Achievement award from an organization that glorifies and promotes bareback content alongside my own,” says Bruce Cam, President and CEO of Titan Media. “I have worked my entire adult industry career to promote and eroticize safer sex content in all of my films. It would be against every single fiber of my moral being to accept this award. Silence is acceptance and I can no longer sit by and watch the industry where I have worked and helped shape be destroyed by others seeking financial gain at the expense of performers and the entire gay community. I cannot and will not accept this award as it is tainted with the blood of others."

In 2006, TitanMen won the DAVID Award for “Best American Studio”. In addition, TitanMen exclusive models François Sagat and Spencer Quest were awarded ‘Best European Actor’ and ‘Best Non-European Actor’ respectively. 2006 was the first year the awards were held, and at that time bareback films were excluded from consideration, citing the same standards as the GAYVN awards. It appears that this year’s list of nominees were kept from Titan Media and other nominated studios in an apparent attempt to conceal the amount of bareback films and studios being nominated. Had Titan Media been informed of the fact that the vast majority of the nominees were bareback we would not have supported or attended the event.

“I was really disappointed that the DAVID Awards seem to have taken the focus off good film making and quality movies in many of the categories and turned to honoring and promoting all things bareback”, said multi-award winning director Chi Chi LaRue.

“We received an award of "Best Actor Europe", which was totally unfair,” says Thomas Virsov and Ulrich Jung, CEO and Producer of XXX-Project Germany. ”We got the award because we paid to sponsor the show, and other awards were given to companies which paid for adverts in the GAYeLINE magazine. We tried to communicate this while we were at the stage, but they took away our microphone. We gave back our award and didn't take it. We are more than happy that also Titan refused to accept their award.”

“We were truly shocked and appalled by the overwhelming amount of low end and poorly produced bareback films being honored at the awards,” says Keith Webb, Vice-President of Titan Media. “When it became known to the producers of the awards show that I was going to refuse the award on Bruce’s behalf, the award was pulled and I was refused access to the stage. They did not even have the decency to allow me onstage to voice our opinions and to politely refuse to accept the award on Bruce’s behalf. In my opinion the entire event was a set-up meant to showcase and promote bareback films, and was the most biased and poorly produced awards show I have ever attended. The event was an embarrassment to the entire gay adult industry and I am sad to say we were even represented at the awards show."

For more information about Titan Media, please contact Keith Webb at Keith@TitanMedia.com and visit TitanMen.com

[IdolKnights]

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!

[hdkbill]

[QUOTE=“I was really disappointed that the DAVID Awards seem to have taken the focus off good film making and quality movies in many of the categories and turned to honoring and promoting all things bareback”,:bullcrap: said multi-award winning director Chi Chi LaRue.[/QUOTE]

It hardly seems true that they were honoring and promoting "ALL THINGS BAREBACK" when Titan Media is nominated for four awards. Hmmmm, sounds like just another over the top exaggeration from an expert publicity seeker. And, it's always seemed a bit strange to me that Chi-Chi LaRue, in April 2007, about two years after HDK and other studios started making bareback films, started a website called "Live and RAW" knowing full well that the term "RAW" was being used by us and other bareback companies to indicate bareback or "no condoms" in our titles and advertising, and that the search engines were picking up that term, yet, she uses a name for her website that contains "RAW"......sure seemed at the time that she was just trying to get a free ride for surfers who were typing "raw" in order to locate bareback material.:jerkoff:

And, is this drag queen suggesting that ALL bareback films don't consist of "good" film making and are of low "quality"? That, of course, is an over simplification. Some bareback studios make damn good quality films, some don't. But then, some condom only studios make some pretty shitty films...and, some make some damn good films. I can't speak for what Chi Chi (Larry) makes because I have never purchased any of his films. But Titan makes some of the highest quality films with some of the hottest models in the industry. And, of course, some of the models have filmed for us.

Bill

[hdkbill]

[QUOTE=“We received an award of "Best Actor Europe", which was totally unfair,” says Thomas Virsov and Ulrich Jung, CEO and Producer of XXX-Project Germany. ”We got the award because we paid to sponsor the show, and other awards were given to companies which paid for adverts in the GAYeLINE magazine. We tried to communicate this while we were at the stage, but they took away our microphone. We gave back our award and didn't take it. We are more than happy that also Titan refused to accept their award.”
[/QUOTE]

I couldn't agree more with Thomas Virsov and Ulrich Jung. In fact, the same can be said for nearly all of the awards given out by the gay and straight award show promoters. There has always been a direct correlation between advertising dollars spent and award nominations received. The same can be said for the "Top 50" and "Top 100" sales and rental charts dished out weekly and monthly by various online and print publications. Just take a look at the advertising in those publications and then check out the Top Charts and draw your own conclusions.

The amazing thing to me is that it seems that no one in the industry has the balls to admit it or vocalize about it. It's all bullshit.:bullcrap:

Bill

[basschick]

just wanted to point out that live and raw has been around for years... they were offered as a paysite plugin in 2000 and maybe 1999.

i'd love to see honest awards - ones that actually go to the best sites, videos, etc, regardless of advertising, relationships or publicity. but i guess even the oscars don't do that...

[C1R_Andy]

And, it's always seemed a bit strange to me that Chi-Chi LaRue, in April 2007, about two years after HDK and other studios started making bareback films, started a website called "Live and RAW" knowing full well that the term "RAW" was being used by us and other bareback companies to indicate bareback or "no condoms" in our titles and advertising, and that the search engines were picking up that term, yet, she uses a name for her website that contains "RAW"......sure seemed at the time that she was just trying to get a free ride for surfers who were typing "raw" in order to locate bareback material.

Hey Bill,

Sorry, but you have your facts a little off... LIVE AND RAW was created in 1999 and was in no way meant to be associated with bareback. It's RAW as in REAL...UNEDITED. :angel:

[A_DeAngelo]

Hey Bill,

Sorry, but you have your facts a little off... LIVE AND RAW was created in 1999 and was in no way meant to be associated with bareback. It's RAW as in REAL...UNEDITED. :angel:

Real, Raw, call it what you want

the fact of the matter remains...

the very first broadcast in 2002, I believe, featured known barebackers Tony&Cam... US for Christ's sake - what was that all about?

Meanwhile, there are over 1,000,000 people Californians who have displaced by these horiffic fires with more than 1,200 homes lost and close to 500 businesses.

Turning down an award and tooting one's own horn seems meaningless to me in the light of the day's events.... maybe I'm just "old fashioned"...

[Lazer]

.......Indeed.

All superfluous arguments aside, I applaud Bruce for sticking to his convictions and sacrificing personal glory to do what he felt was right.

[hdkbill]

Hey Bill,

Sorry, but you have your facts a little off... LIVE AND RAW was created in 1999 and was in no way meant to be associated with bareback. It's RAW as in REAL...UNEDITED. :angel:

Andy, Basschick, et al:

I stand corrected. Actually, I mis-typed the date....guess I should have proof-read it. Live and Raw was registered on October 27, 1999. Not sure when it was launched but well after 1999. Hot Desert Knights was registered on February 15, 1998 and launched on May 8th, 1999. The original launch was under the name www.barebackers.com and later, after we achieved name recognition and branding, we began to use the website www.HotDesertKnights.com

I didn't say that Chi-Chi meant her site to be associated with bareback, but she damn well was smart enough to take advantage of the word "raw" in the search engines. If she wasn't trying to take advantage of those surfers looking for RAW, i.e. bareback films....she could just as easily have named her site Live and Real as opposed to Live and Raw.

Very few believe that the use of the word "raw" by Chi-Chi signifies unedited. But then, believe what you wish.

And yes, Bruce and Keith are to be commended for sticking by their convictions. They and Titanmedia have always stuck by their convictions. It's nice to have others in the industry not afraid to stand by what they believe.

Bill

[jIgG]

strong words and an admirable move on the part of Titan.:thumbsup:

[Jasun]

I suppose next the Bottom Feeders will be suing horse riders for stealing the term "Bareback."

[C1R_Andy]

Andy, Basschick, et al:

I stand corrected. Actually, I mis-typed the date....guess I should have proof-read it. Live and Raw was registered on October 27, 1999. Not sure when it was launched but well after 1999. Hot Desert Knights was registered on February 15, 1998 and launched on May 8th, 1999. The original launch was under the name www.barebackers.com and later, after we achieved name recognition and branding, we began to use the website www.HotDesertKnights.com

I didn't say that Chi-Chi meant her site to be associated with bareback, but she damn well was smart enough to take advantage of the word "raw" in the search engines. If she wasn't trying to take advantage of those surfers looking for RAW, i.e. bareback films....she could just as easily have named her site Live and Real as opposed to Live and Raw.

Very few believe that the use of the word "raw" by Chi-Chi signifies unedited. But then, believe what you wish.

And yes, Bruce and Keith are to be commended for sticking by their convictions. They and Titanmedia have always stuck by their convictions. It's nice to have others in the industry not afraid to stand by what they believe.

Bill

I really hate to say it, but your grasping for something that is just not there...

The usage of the word "RAW" was not intentionally used in ANY MEANS to relate, associate or imply anything to do with barebacking. I can say this with absolute certainty, as we are a condom only studio and the thought would not have even entered our minds. Any affiliation between the word "RAW" and "Bareback" are entirely COINCIDENTAL. Again, we used the word "RAW" for the more literal definition; we're not into the bait and switch method, so we wouldn't intentionally try and trick surfers looking for bareback content into coming to our site.

As for the name issue...come on. Live and Real? Are you kidding? That sounds about as hot as WatchHomosexualFellatio.com - Of course there are a million things we could have named the website, but we felt that is what best related to the product and would be catchy (and easy) enough to remember. One could bring up your website name for example...HotDesertKnights, are any of your models Knights? Have they knelt before Queen Elizabeth and been given the title of Knight? What about all the high school kids doing research on European History; are you trying to take advantage of all these minors researching historical figures?

Obviously I'm not naive enough to think that is what you are really doing; but please take into consideration that in the English language there are multiple meanings for most words, be it textbook or slang, and just because the word is used does not mean that EVERY definition of the word applies.

Last, I just have to ask...What does the launch date of Live and Raw have anything to do with the launch date of your website? Doesn't appear that you ever used the word raw, so i'm not sure what you were trying to compare there.

Andy

P.S.

Very few believe that the use of the word "raw" by Chi-Chi signifies unedited.

Let me guess...those who do think so are all bareback producers?

[A_DeAngelo]

Real, Raw, call it what you want

the fact of the matter remains...

the very first broadcast in 2002, I believe, featured known barebackers Tony&Cam... US for Christ's sake - what was that all about?

Meanwhile, there are over 1,000,000 people Californians who have displaced by these horiffic fires with more than 1,200 homes lost and close to 500 businesses.

Turning down an award and tooting one's own horn seems meaningless to me in the light of the day's events.... maybe I'm just "old fashioned"...

I must correct the record - I just looked up the facts...

We performed "LIVE" on "LIVE and RAW" on their first broadcast which aired live on Saturday March 4, 2000 at 6PM - we were both paid a "generous" $300 each for 3 hours of non-stop performance - with a brief break at the end of each hour - We had to run over because the second pair were late... and missed the call time -

My notes also show that we brought our own condoms because... when we had worked for that director (nameless) on two prior shoots, there weren't any condoms ready to use for us in our appropriate size... go figure! (cat claws extended)

[hdkbill]

Andy,

You are kidding, right? You say we don't use the word "RAW" on our site?

Let's see, listed on our site are the following films:

Raw Weekend Retreat
Raw Retreat
Raw Auditions
Raw Butt Fuckers
Will West Raw
Jeff Palmer Raw
Raw, Wet & Raunchy
Hung & Raw Palm Springs
Nature Boyz Fuckin' Raw

A quick search of our site shows that the term "RAW" appears 96 times just in the description of our various films. So, please, don't say; "Doesn't appear that you ever used the word raw, so i'm not sure what you were trying to compare there".

As for why the date matters, that was the gist of what I originally posted about the use of the word "RAW".....the first use of the word "RAW" in describing sex between men....meant bareback, and we first used it in our original site www.barebackers.com in 1999 and continue, obviously to use it to this day. Various AIDS organizations also used it and continue to use it to describe condomless sex. The "Johnny Come Latelys" that are condom studios only use it to get hits from surfers looking for "RAW", or condomless sex.

As for Chi-Chi using the word "RAW" for a website name....and, by the way, in the meta tags, is more than just "coincidence".

I just wonder what the results would be if a poll were conducted among sexually active gay men and asked that when they heard the word "RAW" used in a sexual connotation, what they thought it meant. I'm guessing, not many would say they thought it meant "unedited" sex. I also notice, that the word "unedited" doesn't appear in your meta tags or description. Interesting.

You know, you and I have argued about bareback sex for years. Neither of us are going to change the others opinion. So, why, keep wasting time on this thread about it? It's kinda like politics and religion. The best we can do is to agree to disagree.

Bill

[C1R_Andy]

Andy,

You are kidding, right? You say we don't use the word "RAW" on our site?

Let's see, listed on our site are the following films:

Raw Weekend Retreat
Raw Retreat
Raw Auditions
Raw Butt Fuckers
Will West Raw
Jeff Palmer Raw
Raw, Wet & Raunchy
Hung & Raw Palm Springs
Nature Boyz Fuckin' Raw

A quick search of our site shows that the term "RAW" appears 96 times just in the description of our various films. So, please, don't say; "Doesn't appear that you ever used the word raw, so i'm not sure what you were trying to compare there".

As for why the date matters, that was the gist of what I originally posted about the use of the word "RAW".....the first use of the word "RAW" in describing sex between men....meant bareback, and we first used it in our original site www.barebackers.com in 1999 and continue, obviously to use it to this day. Various AIDS organizations also used it and continue to use it to describe condomless sex. The "Johnny Come Latelys" that are condom studios only use it to get hits from surfers looking for "RAW", or condomless sex.

As for Chi-Chi using the word "RAW" for a website name....and, by the way, in the meta tags, is more than just "coincidence".

I just wonder what the results would be if a poll were conducted among sexually active gay men and asked that when they heard the word "RAW" used in a sexual connotation, what they thought it meant. I'm guessing, not many would say they thought it meant "unedited" sex. I also notice, that the word "unedited" doesn't appear in your meta tags or description. Interesting.

You know, you and I have argued about bareback sex for years. Neither of us are going to change the others opinion. So, why, keep wasting time on this thread about it? It's kinda like politics and religion. The best we can do is to agree to disagree.

Bill

Bill, You're welcome to believe whatever you like, and you are correct that the best we can do is agree to disagree...but with that said, there are a few things to clerify...

1) You and I have not argued about bareback sex at all. I have never spoken with you before and the current 'argument' is about the usage of the term "RAW" and not bareback sex itself :evilgrin:

2) Regarding your usage of the word Raw, i had meant in your domain names; I was not referring to any text you may use on your site.

3) Unless you can read minds...you don't know what Chi Chi was thinking when the website was concepted; so you can't say with absolute certainty that it is more than just coincidence.

4) No comment regarding your websites name? I suppose this double standard doesn't apply to you?

Anyway, that's it for this subject. Hope you have a great rest of your week and maybe i'll see you this weekend?

Cheers,
Andy