Vivid Studio Insider for January 16, 2009

Vivid Studio Insider for January 16, 2009

"CRY WOLF" AND MONIQUE TAKE AVN AWARDS - The tense Paul Thomas x-rated psychodrama "Cry Wolf" won AVN Award for Best Film during the 2009 ceremony at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. And one of its stars, Vivid Girl Monique Alexander (and Mr. Marcus) took the award for Best Couples Sex Scene in the film. Other tributes to Vivid at this year's AVN Award ceremony included:

Vivid Girls Briana Banks and Tera Patrick, named to the AVN Hall of Fame;

Best Music Soundtrack for "Bad Luck Betties" from the Vivid-Alt imprint;

Best Packaging Innovation for "Burn" from Vivid;

Best Educational Release for "Tristan Taramino's Expert Guide to Oral Sex 2" from the Vivid-Ed imprint.

Said Vivid co-chairman Steven Hirsch after the ceremony: "The selection of 'Cry Wolf" as Best Film shows the value the judges place on great directing and plot lines from masters such as Paul Thomas and terrific acting by a wonderful ensemble. We put enormous effort into our big budget films and it's wonderful to be recognized for it."

MONIQUE SIZZLES ON THE COVER OF CHERI MAGAZINE -- AVN Award winning Vivid Girl Monique Alexander graduated from being featured as CHERI magazine's "Tart of the Year" in 2002 to being the cover girl for March, 2009. There's a sexy eight-page pictorial of Monique by Josh Ryan, in which she's in and out of a tiny red bikini. The magazine went on newsstands across the country this week. Cheri Managing Editor Rob Perez says Monique "is beautiful. She has an amazing body and she's charming and oozing sexuality whenever she appears on screen." Monique reveals all in the accompanying interview including that she is truly bisexual. She says her pick for the female celebrity that she would most like to have sex with is Angeline Jolie and the male is Johnny Depp. Asked about the best and worst things being a porn star, she said: "The best thing is I get paid to have sex with beautiful people. And, the worst thing I would have to say is the stereotype that everyone thinks that every porn star is a drug addict or that we're all stupid, or that we're all whores and we have orgies every day of our lives." As for her AVN Award for Best Couples Sex Scene in "Cry Wolf" with Mr. Marcus she said: "I really enjoyed doing the movie. It was a great script and a great cast."

HIRSCH "MOBILE" QUOTE GOES GLOBAL - A quote by Steven Hirsch in a story on the Agence France Press news wire about the surge of adult content on the web and mobile went global this week. In his article AFP reporter Glenn Chapman said, "Sex video makers and distributors are evolving with the technology times, catering to customers seeking satisfaction on smart phones, Blu-ray players, and Internet television." Chapman reported: "Adult Entertainment giant Vivid Entertainment thrust itself into the 'mobile space' early, particularly in Europe where such content can be offered along with other telecom services." AFP quotes Steve Hirsch as saying, "Revenue continues to increase with the roll-out of 3," referring to a new-generation high-speed broadband network for mobile Internet service. "The more phones that have video capability, the better it gets for us." He said as DVD sales decline, "online subscriptions, Internet video-on-demand (VOD), and cable offerings became rising stars" but digital piracy has increase. "These are issues mainstream Hollywood is dealing with as well. With new technology comes new issues, but ultimately people want to watch adult movies." The AFP report noted that "Vivid shoots all its films in high-definition and is beefing up its library of titles in Blu-ray, adoption of which has boomed since being declared winner of a format war with HD DVD a year ago." But the growth of 3D has also attracted Vivid's attention: "We are interested in 3D for sure. Certainly when you get Internet-enabled TVs it would make sense to go out and get those (special 3D) glasses distributed." Noting that high-resolution flat-panel televisions designed to link directly to Internet services were among an array of snazzy innovations unveiled at the international Consumer Electronics Show that ended in Las Vegas on Sunday, the AFP report quotes Hirsch: "Obviously, the Internet is where it's at. We need to look to new technology and the future, as does Hollywood." The article was picked up by dozens of newspapers from France to Canada and from Australia to Peru.

HIRSCH ADDRESSES ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN ON NPR - When Larry Flynt and Joe Francis launched their "plea" for a U.S. bailout of the adult industry, National Public Radio decided to take a closer look at the story behind the story, and it turned to Steven Hirsch for some perspective. Reporter Karen Grigsby Bates noted the lower adult DVD sales are a direct result of increased use of the Internet to access adult content. She reports that "most people in the adult entertainment industry dismiss the (Flynt-Francis) request as a publicity stunt, but they do agree that the recession is hurting business. 'The economic downturn has affected everybody," says Steven Hirsch, the CEO of Vivid Video. 'People simply don't have as much money as they used to. The guy who used to spend $100 on adult content is now only spending $50. Hirsch is a second-generation adult entertainment producer. He started working for his father when he was 19. In its 25 years, Vivid has become an industry giant, bringing adult stars such as Jenna Jameson to the screen, and distributing sex tapes of celebrities such as Pam Anderson and Kim Kardashian. But even those names don't sell like they used to. To keep his business competitive, Hirsch is joining standard elements to new technology, like an interactive video that allows the viewers - typically men - to control the leading lady. 'You can change the storyline, and you can basically tell her what to wear, what to say and what to do,' Hirsch explains. This may or may not be every man's fantasy, but Hirsch believes video on demand will be the future of adult entertainment.

FIVE VIVID GIRLS INTERVIEWED BY XCRITIC - Five Vivid Girls attending last week's AVN Awards ceremony and the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas were interviewed by XCritic.com. Each wearing her Vivid Girl necklace and a sexy outfit, the girls talked about life as a contract actress with Vivid, their favorite scenes in recent movies and their interaction with fans. Here are some representative outtakes from the interviews:

Sunny Leone, about her first movie as an independent producer: "The 'Dark Side of the Sun' is 100 minutes of just pure sex. Vivid approved and will distribute it. With Vivid, you can't lose."

Monique Alexander, on how her career changed in the past year: "It's all about the Internet now rather than DVDs. Also, I have great fans who really enjoy seeing me and I get great feedback. I like meeting my fans."

Meggan Mallone, saying she's excited about her new movies coming out in '09: "In one I have sex literally on the rocks and in another with three boys; I thought, omigod, what do I do with the other two?"

Hanna Hilton, when asked about her first year with Vivid: "It's been a blast. The whole fan-thing is so exciting. As I make more movies, I'm more relaxed. It's really cool."

Nikki Jayne, on what her ideal scene would be: "To be walking around a football pitch (field) wearing only little tiny tennis shoes, then I sneak into the locker room and I get to ball 11 footballers. Nikki playing with 22 balls!"