LAS VEGAS — Before the pandemic started, I shot all my updates for my paysites in Las Vegas. I'm a Nevada resident and my LLC is based here. I have plenty of performers who are aching to get back to work and would jump on a local shoot if I offered one. I'm pretty confident many of them have stuck to their quarantine and I’ve studied up on cleaning protocols and how to avoid spreading COVID-19 on a set.
I'm also aware we can all get COVID-19 tests at Talent Testing Services, and that the CDC says those tests may be “okay” for about two days (aside from the incubation period). The FSC production hold is voluntary. In fact, it may (depending on who you ask) be legal to do the work we do in my state.
But I'm still not breaking quarantine right now. And here’s why:
As a performer, I've been a “crossover” my whole career and I've been blacklisted by most of the big agencies for doing gay, straight and trans porn mixed together. I've been blacklisted by a lot of the bigger productions, too. I never cared because I've always made 90% of my income from making my own porn.
But people I've had sex with off-camera have also been blacklisted just for hooking up with me.
That sucks.
Some of them relied on paid bookings to pay bills, and their agent fired them because we fucked. I completely respect and understand the reasons those companies felt the need to blacklist me. It wasn't personal, and it wasn't homophobia. It was the perceived liability of "bringing HIV into straight porn." I’m against blacklisting in any form, but I get it.
It didn't matter if they understood the science of STIs or not. They had to go with the common misperception that "HIV comes from gay people," even if they didn't believe it; otherwise, they could have gotten in trouble.
Fortunately, over time, this misconception has become not nearly as bad as it used to be. We do have a lot of work left to be done on that one, though.
Legal Liability and Public Image
Consider the liability with COVID-19. Both the legal liability and the public image liability are more contagious than the virus itself.
As a producer, I don't want to be the guy that gets my friends blacklisted, or their partners, or their roommates. The liability isn't just based on who we fuck. It spreads around like crazy, involving everyone we do not have sex with.
I also don't want to be the guy that brings negative media attention to porn in general. The old "porn is spreading disease" argument could be more dangerous now than ever. Imagine how easy it would be for a lawmaker to earn cheap votes by making an example out of a few sex workers who "spread COVID-19," even if there is no proof. We are already falsely lumped in with sex traffickers. We don't need any more shit like that.
I can cover my updates through March 2021 by paying people who are legitimately quarantined at home together to make content and send it to me. It's not easy. I have to teach many of them how to produce what I need. Sometimes I pay them for content that is subpar and I can't use it. On the plus side, I've been building quite a network of outsourced directors and producers which I believe will last long past this pandemic.
Holding the Defensive Line
I do think it's on all [filmmakers] to "hold the defensive line" on this. If I ran a sketchy shoot in Vegas and got in trouble, other producers could be heavily affected in Miami or Los Angeles. And vice versa.
I’m not trying to tell anyone what to do. I’m just saying we should consider all the consequences before shooting again.
Consider the hard work it takes to go against the grain and still be successful. Years ago, when I found out I could only get paid bookings from a small handful of productions, I had to carve out an entire niche for myself. I had to do a lot of side gigs like painting houses and manual labor to fund my little company before it took off.
Then, I had to do it all over again years later when a business partner stole all the money and disappeared. Overnight I got hit with about $50,000 in legal fees, debt and bills. I was suddenly negative $4,000-plus in business checking and negative $1,000 in my personal bank account. I had to hustle and rebuild everything again on my own. I had to do side gigs again in whatever form they came. I had to sell some personal belongings. I had to grind out 60-hour workweeks for a while. A year later I was back in the money, and two years after I was 100% debt-free.
Hard work is almost always the answer in times of uncertainty. But if you don’t want to face the hard times I’ve faced having to do side hustles to make a living, then you probably shouldn’t take the risk of getting on an industry-wide "no list."
But we Porners are generally a bit maverick, and you're going to do what you think is best. I just wanted to share the reasons behind my current strategy.
Lance Hart is a producer, director and performer and the reigning XBIZ winner for Male Clip Artist of the Year. He serves on the board of the Free Speech Coalition and is an XBIZ.net Community Ambassador.
