Sunday, Sep 11, 2005    Text size: 

According to MachoMedia.nu, a Hungarian adult industry news portal, the unnamed actor tested positive on July 15, causing an immediate work stoppage throughout the city’s numerous adult movie studios.

Authorities mandated a quarantine period, during which all registered adult actors, including those who had performed in gay porn movies with the infected man, underwent mandatory testing.

No other performers tested positive.

Budapest is home to a large and thriving adult film industry that has been compared to the European equivalent of California’s San Fernando Valley — production is intense and ceaseless, but unlike Porn Valley, filming is often done in the open, with the blessing of local authorities.

Deals are often struck and movies cast in downtown cafes. Not only is there a large talent base native to Budapest; the city also attracts young women from throughout the former Eastern Bloc, most notably Russia and Romania.

Officially, all performers are required to obtain health licenses ensuring they are disease free.

Because the industry is vital to the city’s economy, authorities kept the crisis quiet to avoid tarnishing the reputation of Hungarian porn among Western European and American production companies, which often film in Budapest in order to take advantage of inexpensive talent and facilities.

In the past, the most popular performers sometimes made their way to the United States, to join the major leagues in the American porn industry. However, amended 2257 record-keeping regulations have chilled the demand for foreign talent in the United States.