Devon Hunter

One of the reasons I blog is to help others avoid irrevocable choices. I cannot say it enough: You do not go into the video component of adult entertainment without THOROUGH consideration. You must take care of yourself. You must research the companies you are going to shoot for. You must get to know your agent (or already have a solid understanding of all components of the industry before you represent yourself).

BEFORE YOU DO PORN YOU SHOULD CONSIDER WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN IN “KNOW BEFORE YOU GO, PART 3 OF 3″

I was recently contacted by someone who wanted to know if his experience was acceptable/professional/normal. He had supposedly been aggressively approached by a pushy, 21-year-old recruiter for a particular modeling agency. This potential model was allegedly contacted by the recruiter on a social networking site (something I specifically warn you to be wary of), he claims he was heavily flattered (perhaps overly much, given the model’s current fitness statistics), and asserts he was told by the recruiter that he could shoot a scene within a couple days. When the potential model showed doubt and expressed the need to consider it all more, the recruiter then allegedly shredded the potential model to pieces, told him he was fat and unattractive, and then stopped talking to him as quickly as he had started. Whether or not this is standard procedure for this (or any) agency, or its recruiters, it definitely shouldn’t be.

There are many observations that could be made about the content on this company’s site, and it should be instructive when you are looking at ANY agency. I have never worked with this company, so I can only ask questions. Consider carefully the company you keep. This company makes the following claims:

1. They claim to be the largest agency for adult models
2. They claim to cultivate fresh talent
3. They claim to get their models work nearly immediately (within three-five days)

There are many other observations I could discuss, but I am going to stick with these “simple” three. As I said, I haven’t worked for this agency, and I am addressing only the information they have published themselves on their own site. Any other agency who has similar content would fall under similar scrutiny.

1. Even if there is some form of hard evidence or empirical proof to show that a particular agency is the “biggest,” the “best,” or the “most successful,” this is a non-issue. What matters is HOW THEY WILL TREAT YOU AS A PERSON. I see hundreds upon hundreds of models listed on this company’s site, and I would ask some questions: How is it possible to have a personal relationship with each individual model when there are so many of them? How is it possible to understand the needs and concerns of each individual model? How can the staff for an agency (which tends to have only a few employed members) maintain the ever-changing files for each of these models? A simple statement of fact: I have spoken with or done scenes with some of the male porn models listed at this site, and I know that one (if not all) of those whom I have met are no longer with this agency. When a model is listed as “unavailable,” how long has that been so? At what point will the “active list” be updated, so that it isn’t bloated full of people who aren’t currently working for them? Would this agency still be the “largest” after this update?
2. Cultivating fresh talent sounds heroic. But why not work with established models who have a reputation and an audience? Why not work with people who understand what they are doing already? Wouldn’t that be easier? Why would an agency want to be burdened with the responsibility of honing so many new, inexperienced, and starry-eyed amateurs? And again: How could this be done for so many hundreds and hundreds of models? Manicuring one person is an arduous undertaking. How is it done for such a huge group of disparate individuals who are spread all over the continent?
3. Okay, so an agency can get you work immediately. Without giving you time to think carefully about what they’ve found. And then they pressure you, or they harangue you when you hesitate. This is not acceptable. EVER. If you can get me work within three-five days I would ask the following questions: For whom will I be working? What kind of airline and hotel will you be able to reserve at a cost-effective price with less than 10 days’ notice? Why are you so adamant that I take this particular gig? If you found this one so quickly, why can’t you just find me another one when I feel more ready? Another simple statement of fact: I observe that many of the male porn models on the site’s roster have done work for ChaosMen, a site known SPECIFICALLY for doing bareback porn.

Given these few observations, and the concerns they elicit immediately, I ask the following question: Does the agency you are considering bloat its roster by approaching inexperienced people and then by neglecting to update their lists; funnel the models into projects with only a few days’ notice; and then look for new faces, once they have gotten some bareback work out many of the men whose careers they have already “cultivated?”

I am biased, but I would tell you to contact Fabscout. See if there is a possibility of working with them. I make no money by making this referral. I make it, on the chance that it will be beneficial you. For more information about what to expect from a reputable client, I again suggest you read “Know Before You Go, part 3 of 3: The advantages of an agent.”

Well, where to begin??? As always, too much to do in too little time; however, I prefer being overwhelmed to being bored ANY DAY. I have to say it: I entertain myself pretty well. What with all my projects and drama, there’s never a dull moment, eh?

Okay, so it’s time to start getting ready for the summer. This is going to be a time of change for me. Literal physical change. My exclusive contract with Sean Cody will run out at the end of May, 2010, and my friends at Fabscout: NOT SAFE FOR WORK/Music may play when page opens (whom I don’t believe I’ve mentioned until now) are hopefully going to be keeping me pretty busy with a variety of gay video projects. One of the many aspects I have enjoyed with Fabscout so far is their unrelenting expectation that their models use condoms. I wouldn’t continue on with the porn if I thought I’d be expected to do bareback scenes.

What does this mean in terms of going to the next level? Well, I am going to workout with my trainer an extra day each week during the next few months, and I have restarted a system of very clean and high quality supplements by Cellucor (I will be doing the Lean Muscle Growth system). I know some of you will see some red flags in this, because of what I have said in the past about anorexia and Dysmorphia; however, there are videos on Cellucor that explain how the supplements work. I also want you to know that I am approaching this from the perspective of healthy, sustainable gains, not obsessive or exaggerated notions about my shape. Also, I am keeping the word “supplement” firmly in my mind: I am definitely eating (I just polished off a whole box of couscous with two chicken breasts, 1/8 yellow bell pepper, a cup of fresh spinach, and a handful of cherry tomatoes… and I’m still hungry. My baby gotta eat!).

Don’t worry: I AM EATING. I’m just getting polished up. Always remember, my little ones: Pain is temporary… Video is forever!!

I am not so worried about getting help with body fat - I have been trying to monitor refined carbs (CHOCOLATE!!!! xoxoxo I love you, and I miss you dearly… we shall meet again soon one day…), and I’m confident I can manage that on my own. But what I am preparing for right now is to do some photoshoots in the coming weeks and video shoots beginning at some point in June. I gotta get my sexy on in a hurry!

OMG… I have to hang with the Big Fellas again… I really do hope this isn’t Swinging Richards all over again. I’m not feeling (in terms of social mores) any conflict about this, and once I get some fine tuning done on the chassis I think my confidence will be just fine. I am excited at the idea of working with models who are gay. No matter what, that has got to make filming easier than what I did last summer: I really don’t dig working with Paysexual dudes. They’re pretty to look at sometimes, but the ladies can have them, thanks very much.

I am about to write this blog with the full knowledge that it could set off a series of conflicts later. I also want to preface what I’m about to say by admitting that I am in no way perfect in regards to safe sex. In fact, I’m not very good at being consistent with practicing it. I know the risks, I know the consequences, but (like a huge number of people) I have not completely embraced 100% safe sex (and I don’t believe other people when they say they have: I’ve hooked up with far too many people who claimed 100% and then fell short with me for me to buy into all their nonsense).

All of this stems from the following: 1) Most of the condoms I’ve tried have either desensitized me or hurt me (however, Pleasure Plus are almost awesome and Lifestyles SKYN are passable), 2) Condoms have been served to me (and the rest of the U.S.A.) with a hefty dose of guilt and fear, instead of eroticism and empathy, and 3) Gay + Artist + Middle Class + America = worthless (if I’m not rich, straight, and corporate then I don’t have any real value in this country anyway, right? Imagine the potential extra layers of burdensome self-loathing for people who are poor and/or non-White).

But I recognize that this is not good! I recognize that this needs an adjustment in behavior on my part. I own that I am making bad choices when I opt for natural, rather than safer, sex. I know I am valuable and deserve better, that I should be respecting my partners. I know this. It is one of the reasons I am so intent on helping with promoting the safer sex strategies Dr. Terry Gerace wants to implement on his website. It’s because I truly want to acclamate to taking better care of myself, my partners, and my community/world. I feel bad that I’m not there yet. But I definitely never advocate barebacking.

So, after acknowledging that I need to practice safe sex with better than 50% regularity, I am going to go out on a limb here and call Mason Wyler out as the single most irresponsible person I can think of in adult entertainment. I saw that he was wanting writers for his site/blog, and I submitted my name before I read his content. All I knew of him was that he is a bottom with a reputation for being a gutter slut. However, I’d not actually read his own words before…

Utterly irresponsible… It is bad enough that gay porn is reinforcing the notion for gay men that bareback sex is “better,” but the outright smut from Mason’s own pen breaks my heart a little for him. In his entry “I want Brock Armstrong” Mason Wyler writes that Armstrong is hot specifically because he does bareback sex videos. He then defends this outrageous statement by saying, “That’s right, I said it!” beaming with pride, as if he has liberated himself and his readers from the cold, dark abyss that is safe sex. BULLSHIT!

I’m sorry, but at what point do we start holding people accountable for the net they cast? Yes, everyone is free to make choices in their lives, but at what point does your personal life start affecting everyone else too? Thomas Jefferson said that one man’s rights end where the next man’s begin… okay… so… The porn industry works with people who, in their personal lives, make the choice to practice bareback sex. Fine. However, once the industry becomes saturated with this imagery/attitude, and once the public begins responding by imitating this behavior more and more (and then STD infections explode again), isn’t the industry responsible on some level? Yes, there is still a freedom of choice innate to the consumer, but underneath it all, wasn’t that free choice heavily weighted towards the self-destructive?

Tobacco companies are being held responsible for addicting people to their product and for the health consequences of the general public. Don’t be surprised when the same becomes true for restaurants that offer fat/salt/sugar-laden food. These foods are addictive. Don’t fool yourself - these chains train their customers to want only bad food, to the exclusion of more healthful options. There’s a push to hold these purveyors of toxic food responsible for the product they make. So then, why not adult entertainment too?

I offer this question for debate: Is a person who takes Mason’s opinion into himself, practices the same behavior as his dysfunctional role model (with Mason’s example specifically in his mind), and is consequently infected with a disease, not in a position to hold (himself and) Mason Wyler responsible?

If we as a culture could be gobsmacked by 0.03 seconds of Janet’s titty (which is so completely ridiculous on so many levels that I’m not even going to entertain addressing them), then why aren’t we outraged by Mason Wyler’s wholly chaotic attitude towards safe sex in the midst of a resurgence of HIV infections? I believe that people imitate what they see, and I don’t think it’s fair that gay men seem to see only bad examples. Where are the portrayals of healthy, compassionate, generous same-sex interactions?