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Adult Entertainment: What everyone gets paid (CNBC article)

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Slayven

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http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/20/porns-dirtiest-secret-what-everyone-gets-paid.html
There's a well-worn porn cliche about the college student-turned-actress who decided to have sex in front of a camera in order to pay off her student loans. Like many cliches, it's rarely true — but it's worth wondering: How big are paychecks in the porn business, anyway?

Money is a topic that's shrouded in mystery in the adult entertainment world. While it's widely presumed to be a multibillion dollar industry, there's no real firm accounting to back that up. Companies regularly inflate their numbers when speaking publicly and may deflate them at opportune times as well. The same is true of performers.

The median household income for the United States was $53,657 in 2014 (the most recent data available), according to a Census Bureau survey. While that report breaks down average salaries among several careers, there is no data about adult performers.

So to determine who makes what, CNBC spoke with a number of individuals who work in all aspects of the adult world to get a sense of what sort of money trades hands. While there's no way to say with absolute certainty that the figures are correct, they were supported by enough people to at least seem roughly right.
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The determining factor is the sex act performed and whether the actress has done that act on camera before.

"When the girls first get into the business and they're new, I think they can command additional money for different sex acts," said Steven Hirsch, owner of Vivid, one of the biggest adult entertainment studios. "Initially they make more money, then it depends on how popular they become."

Here's how things break down. For a "traditional" sex scene between a man and a woman, the average actress' compensation is typically between $800 and $1,000, depending on the studio's budget. Top-tier performers can earn as much as $1,500, occasionally $2,000, while newcomers with bad representation might earn as little as $300.

More extreme acts, as you might expect, command higher rates. The most extreme — unsuitable for describing in polite conversation — can go for $1,800 to $2,500.
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AdqEcpE.jpg
 
How the director gets more than the actors makes no sense to me, direction in porn must be the easiest job in the world.
 
JoeNut said:
How the director gets more than the actors makes no sense to me, direction in porn must be the easiest job in the world.
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First of all, no it isn't. Second of all, because the director basically pays all the other people in the scene, then either sells the scene to a company and his payment is the profit from that sale, or releases the scene him/herself and their payment is all the sales in the scene.
 
There's a well-worn porn cliche about the college student-turned-actress who decided to have sex in front of a camera in order to pay off her student loans. Like many cliches, it's rarely true.
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I know three students who became 'actresses' to help pay off their debts so this false cliche isn't as false as this article makes it out to be. They weren't paid a great deal either, especially for the work they did. And, yes, the casting couch IS as disgusting as it looks.
 
JoeNut said:
How the director gets more than the actors makes no sense to me, direction in porn must be the easiest job in the world.
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Well director has to be there for pretty much whole process. An "actor" comes in often does a scene for a few hours and is done. Director is involved longest in the production
 
Angelus Errare said:
Being a webcam star is where it's at. Some of those girls make $300k a year.
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Yeah some seem to do pretty fucking well, and they get to work from their house. Some really do put a ton of effort into it though. Can't hate that.

Also, stripping can even sometimes make you tons if you're good. I worked with a girl that quit to go stripping and then found herself making like 75-80k per year. It was insane.
 
Slayven said:
There is a series of movies that is nothing but outtakes and behind the scenes stuff. It is like herding cats. There was one scene where a chick got drunk and shitted on her costars during an orgy.
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I shouldn't want to see that scene, but yeah...kind of curious.
 
JoeNut said:
How the director gets more than the actors makes no sense to me, direction in porn must be the easiest job in the world.
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I'm no connoisseur of the pornos, but a good scene can go from exciting to cheesy or disturbing if a good director isn't there to control the shots. Do you really want 20 mins of balls in your face?

I also assume that the directors are probably also distributors or work directly with distributors.

Edit: We need a breakdown of how much each type of specific scenes pay. Foot stuff? butt stuff?
 
PartTimeWarrior said:
How do I become a porn scene writer?
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Teen intern - "Mr President! The Martians have fired the sexy ray. What should we..., "

*President starts to unbutton trousers*

President - "-- I for one welcome our new sexy overlords."

Teen intern -- "Mr Presideeeeeeent!"







Yeah. Money in the bank.



Angelus Errare said:
Being a webcam star is where it's at. Some of those girls make $300k a year.
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Specify exactly what you mean by 'some'.
 
TimeEffect said:
Wait...men make more?
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I'd say it had something to do with the extremely small talent pool. There's probably only a what like 20 or so reliable male stars for the big professional porn sites? If that? The girls are a lot more expendable than the guys, unfortunately.

Of course it could always just be sexism lol
 
TimeEffect said:
Wait...men make more?
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Yes, but that's because it's very, very difficult to find a man who has a significantly larger than average penis, the ability to maintain an erection indefinitely and ejaculate on command, all while being watched by a room full of people and filmed for a guaranteed public release. That's a pretty rare combination of traits.
 
My friend used to be a writer for porn. You basically write the same thing several times a week but have to make it seem different. After many months of this he had extreme fatigue from endlessly creating contrivances for people to fuck (apparently paying members actually care about this stuff and will criticize you). He also had other production work like getting shooting permits and procuring props and wardrobe so it's not an easy job.
 
Angelus Errare said:
Being a webcam star is where it's at. Some of those girls make $300k a year.
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It does seem like being a camstar alongside utilizing something like manyvids (upload and sell your own homemade porn videos, and cut out the middle man) is the best way to go. But the girls who are successful within that realm work extremely hard. They basically treat it like a 9 to 5, which is basically what it'll take to build up and keep a following.
 
TimeEffect said:
Wait...men make more?
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For a typical porn scene, no they don't. You basically have to be Manuel Ferrara or Lex Steele or pre-controversy James Deen to get anywhere near the top of that range. The average male performer is around 500-700, in comparison to the average female making 800-1k.
 
I'll be a makeup artist.

Ohhh yes.

Also I was always under the impression men only made good money was if they were ok with banging (or getting banged) other dudes.
 
What I find most interesting about this is how per-scene rates seem pretty flat or lower now than they used to be 15-20 years ago. I imagine that, due to the power of the Internet, and the fact that anyone can be in adult content now, competition has kept wages down?

TimeEffect said:
Wait...men make more?
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Notice how male performer isn't broken down like woman with man and woman with woman? Performers have traditionally made more in the gay side of the industry. I do think that female performers top out higher compared to male straight performers. On the other hand, there are more directing opportunities for men.
 
Tripon said:
Those payments just tells me that all the money is going to the producers and people who own the company.
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Pretty much. The main money for the performers are in appearances and licensed sex toys and their own websites and such.
 
I've never heard of a writer on modern porn shoots. Now, if it's one of those porn parodies then that's a different story.

Fluffers don't exist except in very specific circumstances. Usually the fluffer is being photographed and part of the action which makes them a performer and not a fluffer.

Guys usually make a lot less then $500. Even if they're Ron Jeremy or Lexington Steel they rarely make $500 for just one scene. Now, if the guys are producing and performing then that's an entirely different story. I don't even think the article mentions "gay for pay" where guys can make as much as a woman if they're willing to.
 
harSon said:
Have you seen Blacked? I think Emmanuel Lubezki might be the cinematographer for them.
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Honestly, the composition and cinematography in those videos -- seems so out of place. Outside of the sexual nature of it, it's....simply pleasing to look at. It's kind of bizarre.

EDIT: Also, the entire backdrop for the site is still racist, but that is expected with 'IR' porn.
 
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