Manuel Skye didn’t leap into the adult industry as a studpup still wet behind the ears. The ruggedly handsome Montreal native worked in fashion for 16 years and modeled — with his clothes on, for the most part — for 22 years. A fortuitous photo shoot with shutterbug Mark Henderson, when Skye was 37, was the final prompt he needed to make the leap into adult. The prolific performer has since become a powerhouse in the clips market and spoke to XBIZ about his tips and tricks for growing a business — and staying sane and balanced — as a freelance content creator.
“I was born a very sexual being,” he recalled. “Even at a young age, and before the era of internet, porn had been in the back of my mind for a long time. I declined a few offers thinking it would not align with my spiritual side. The circumstances of my entrance in the industry were all presented to me eight years prior, in a premonitory dream, which helped me to understand that it was finally the right path for me.”
The secret of success in the adult industry is to be genuine. Everything you do has to come from a place of passion.
Also, he quipped: “I really enjoyed making my first hard-on pictures!”
In addition to his fashion work, Skye had begun to perform aerial acrobatics and teach yoga in his mid-30s. “All these elements were definitely key components in [building] my porn career so far. It helped to create an image that was unique and gave me a better vision of marketing,” he said. “I love to learn how to fuse my newly learned skills — as well to create new acrobatic sex positions. Plus, the yogic approach allows me to connect to the sexual energy better on set and to teach it to my scene partners.”
He elected not to create a “Manuel Skye” persona to be trotted out onscreen. “You always get the real me: serious, yet playful … directive, yet nurturing. The secret of success in the adult industry, like many others, is to be genuine,” he said. “Everything you do has to come from a place of passion; not for money, not to please others. Being your authentic self onscreen allows you to connect to different parts of yourself and embrace both your feminine and masculine sides in balance. It also breaks the stigmas of what is expected of performers according to their physique and preferred positions. Again, the key is to own who you are and be confident with it, which demands a lot of internal work.”
Skye first began producing clips with an ex-boyfriend to generate buzz and momentum before the release of a film. “In the beginning, everything was free. That was right before the OnlyFans formula started,” he recalled. “We tried camming a few times, but due to my nature — I don’t like being told what to do — it did not reflect who I was. When we broke up, I finally started my fan pages on ManyVids and JustFor.fans. This way, I could share my private sex sessions, done the way I like.”
He describes the process as “sacred, nothing planned, just a natural flow between my boys and me, as the chemistry evolves to create pure pleasure. This vibe — the audience can sense it. That’s why it became so popular among many fans.”
Skye has developed a finely honed formula for content creation. “Being the creator of your own content is a privilege as an artist,” he said. “The first thing to think about is creating two very distinct kinds of content if you are also a porn actor. Your private content has to have something unique and personal, not staged.”
He recommends a bank of “at least 12” clips ready to go, as well as “a few amazing pictures,” prior to the launch of a new store. “Now you are ready for promotion! Twitter and the big porn blogs are your best friends for marketing.”
As he launched into a recitation of his production-to-posting formula, Skye urged “consistency and diversity” in order to retain subscribers. “I like to create my own previews of each video that I release,” he said. “Two seconds of each of the best moments for a 20- or 40-second preview. Also, be nice to your coworkers. Always include their fan page links in your posts; it will create cross-promotion. Tweet and retweet as much as you can. Each week I release one or two full sex videos split in two or three segments with a maximum 25 minutes, one or two solos, one day just pictures and the last day, something more personal like naked acrobatics and fitness.”
However, all of that hard work must begin with chemistry. “It all starts with reaching out to other guys you are highly attracted to,” he said. “And the more you film, the more you’ll get proposals, too. Traveling is also key in meeting amazing sex gods from around the world.”
Skye prefers to keep his filming equipment — cameras, lights, sound — portable and manageable. “I like to film only with phones to keep it simple — maybe one on a tripod and a second one for POV. The key is to keep the amateur vibe to it,” he notes.
He keeps the lighting low to create “a more intimate ambience” and strives to present clips unedited, or just lightly cut together. “Your fans will want the full sex session, not just the highlights like in a professional porn movie. No need for 4K. Just good HD definition is fine; otherwise, it is hard to share the files with each other.”
The addition of an actual camera operator can help capture more comprehensive coverage, particularly during a multi-person shoot. “Just make sure it’s someone you feel really comfortable with being in the room while you have sex,” Skye warned. “And, cameraman or not, always [perform] like the camera is not there. If you film by yourself, like I prefer — I always have the viewscreen facing us, so I can check from time-to-time if we are in the frame. But if you look into the camera, make a point about it; it should naturally turn you on even more. It makes me say something like, ‘Fuck, that’s hot!’ — and then I just go harder.”
Finally, once the shoot is complete, Skye recommends taking the time to schedule your uploads in advance. “If you know you’ll be gone for a few days or that the wifi might not be powerful enough as you travel, post-date your uploads. If you start losing subscribers, then you’ll have to work twice as hard later.”
Skye, who prefers not to cam or escort, has found a workable balance between traveling for his studio shoots and the commitment required for maintaining and growing his own self-produced catalog of content.
“Fortunately, I have a lot of stamina,” he said, which he attributes to “all the adrenaline related to acrobatics, so I can shoot [a lot] and remain passionate about it.”
Skye has also chosen not to focus his content creation on custom clips. “In my case, I’d rather focus on shooting for the general audience, since I don’t have much extra time on my plate. If I [receive] certain requests that inspire me though, you might see it appear in my content. Yet, it is filled with a lot of my fantasies already!”
An ability to adapt has also proven useful. “As a freelancer, it is a lot of planning, indeed, to make your schedule and traveling work, being able to get to Plan B, Plan C and even Plan D, sometimes. You have to be very adaptable, rest when you can and prepare mentally when you know a big rush of filming is coming. If I film professional porn in a different city than my own, I always arrive at least one day ahead of time, and stay at least two-to-four days extra, on my own, so I can cool down, enjoy the local boys and visit.”
Find him under “ManuelSkyeXXX” on JustFor.fans, ManyVids, OnlyFans and Twitter.
