Mar 5, 2008 5:00 PM PST    Text size: 

Puppy Productions distributed “Royal Raw Auditions 1” — the first volume in a three-part series — until the recent news that the director of the movie, Rufus Ffoulkes, had filmed a 16-year-old model.

It is the only commercially available film known to have featured the underage performer, who is billed as “Harry” in the film.

Ffoulkes, 48, is a prolific European director in the bareback and twink genres, and has been jailed in the U.K. for “enticing a child into pornography.” He was sentenced last week to a term of two years and 11 months.

Ffoulkes recruited models through the popular gay personals website, Gaydar. Last year, a model he’d recruited brought the 16-year-old with him to his audition. Ffoulkes then paid the underage teenager to pose for a photo shoot, and later directed him in the film.

“Harry” provided a passport to use on the shoot, but it since has been deemed a forgery.

“This spotlights a broader concern,” Adams said. “Mr. Ffoulkes was prolific and provided content to a variety of companies, so if he was fooled once, it stands to reason he could have been fooled twice. Any distributor with his films on hand would do well to double-check that everything is in full compliance.”

Bjorn assured Adams that all paperwork for the film was in compliance with U.S. 2257 regulations.

Bjorn met Ffoulkes online in early 2005, and they spoke for several months before Puppy commissioned any content.

“I gave my speech, as I do with every outside producer, as if I were on the set [regarding] IDs, HIV certificates and STD test results,” Bjorn told Adams.

In May 2007, he received a call from Ffoulkes about “Harry” in “Royal Raw Auditions 1.” They pulled the movie from their website, checked the paperwork and everything appeared to be in compliance.

Some time later, Bjorn received a call from the police department in Suffolk, England, about the same underage performer.

Bjorn cooperated with them, but explained that he would need a subpoena to allow them access to his paperwork. He was informed that the police department in San Diego would be in touch. They never contacted him, and by December, the film was again made available for sale.

In late January, Ffoulkes assured Bjorn that everything was in order. However, during a subsequent call Ffoulkes explained that he had in fact pleaded guilty “to the charge of using an underage model with the understanding that it be stated he was unaware [the model] was only 16, since he provided his passport.”

Puppy Productions again pulled “Royal Raw Auditions 1” and sent a letter to their retailers as well as distributors and VOD sites, advising them to do the same.

The incident began when another porn performer, identified as “Richard” — the 16-year-old’s friend — got a bad check from Ffoulkes. While making his statement to police, he mentioned that he took his friend “Harry” to the set.

Bjorn explained to Adams that he would typically pay Ffoulkes for the production of the film, and Ffoulkes was then responsible for paying his cast and crew.

“During a three-month period in 2005, Rufus either paid models with bad checks or didn’t pay them at all,” Bjorn said. “After I was made aware of this situation, I called him, we discussed the matter and he assured me that the models would be taken care of immediately.”

“I’ve been fielding calls and emails from concerned producers and directors,” Adams said, “and the bottom line is this: The U.S. gay porn industry polices itself. If someone steps out of line, we bitch and argue and call each other out. The European market does not, and it’s like the Wild West at this point — it must begin to self-regulate or face potentially crippling consequences.”

Any retailers, distributors or VOD companies who have copies of Puppy Productions “Royal Raw Auditions 1” featuring the underage performer “Harry” should immediately take them off their shelves or off their sites and destroy them.