ADULT ENTERTAINMENT EXPO 2003
www.ElegantAngel.com
Days Two
If fan attendance was a bit anemic on Thursday, the massive lines outside of the Sands Expo Center on Friday morning could only be seen as a sign that the 2003 Adult Entertainment Expo was alive and well. Long before the show floor opened for fan hours, the bodies were lined up far into the hallway. Porn fans paying thirty five dollars a head to mingle with their favorite stars stretched as far as the eye could see.
I spent the early part of the day in the Red Light District booth where I met and interviewed company owner Dion Giarusso. This is RLD’s second Adult Expo, but their catalog of titles has jumped from 2 to 55 in that time and the fan reaction was overwhelming. Dion has taken the lessons he has learned in his years with Elegant Angel and applied them to his new company. From day one, RLD has used customer feedback and the internet to fine tune their business plan. Listening to customers and fans on things like simultaneous DVD/VHS release dates has helped RLD move quickly up porn’s ladder.
The most interesting moment of the day happened when Digital Playground’s wayward starlet Tera Patrick made her way around the show floor. Recently married, Ms. Patrick has gone into semi-retirement. Though still under contract with DP, Tera has declared herself a free agent. With every stop at a new booth, Tera’s presence fueled already rampant rumors that she may be ready to announce plans for a “new” contract with another company. All that talk turned out to be just that as Tera sashayed her way across the floor with her boyfriend and a few “companions” before leaving for the day.
Later that day, Jill Kelly Productions announced their new contract girl. Since Tera had spent a good deal of time at the JKP booth, there was a good deal of speculation that she might have joined the company. Instead it was Jezabelle Bond who was announced as the new JKP Girl. A nice addition to the team even if she doesn’t make quite as interesting a story as Tera would have.
After the show, www.adultdvdtalk.com held their first Vegas get together. Industry representatives from Evil Angel, Anabolic, LVNI, DVSX, VCA, Shane’s World, Elegant Angel, Diabolic and Pandora Cinema mingled with readers and contributors to one of the net’s most active forums. The mixing of industry insiders and fans makes the forum unique and that spirit carried over to the party.
Day Three
Saturday’s crowd was even heavier than the one that nearly overran the booths on Friday. Outside the Expo, the line to get in for fan hours was as long as two and a half hours. When they got inside, they found the aisles packed and the lines for autographs quite long. Many of the lines were made longer as the day progresses when some of the stars made early exits to prepare for the big AVN Awards Show.
One of the women who had good reason to leave early on Saturday was Chloe. The industry veteran and VCA contract girl was the hostess for the awards show and was kind enough to give me an interview this year at great risk to her voice. She had a lot to say about her years in the business, the direction she wants to take her career and some new toy projects in the works with Las Vegas Novelties.
The big question of the day was “Where is Extreme Associates?” No one from the company was expected on the floor as they no longer buy booth space at the Expo. Last year, they set up their own display in another hotel, but this year no one from the company was seen in Las Vegas all week. No one seems to have heard from anyone at the company in some time.
Also still missing in action was Ex-Extreme director Thomas Zupko. Since leaving (or being fired from) Extreme, Zupko has been very scarce. No one knows where he might end up. The most common rumor making the rounds is that Zupko might end up working for Patrick Collins as Elegant Angel. When asked about the possibility of hiring Zupko, Collins replied, “Hell no. No chance.” I guess we’ll have to wait to hear from Zupko himself to find out what comes next for the enigmatic director.
Some people just can’t seem to keep their feet out of the mouths. Wicked director/performer Brad Armstrong is apparently just such a person. While enjoying some time away from the floor, Armstrong was approached by an industry veteran who complimented Brad on his feature “Falling From Grace.” His response to the award winning and legendary director (Who also just released a very successful feature) was a curt, “I guess you know now just how hard it is to make a feature.” Apparently Brad forgot that the man complimenting him has been making features for longer than he has been in the business. Hey Brad, next time just ask, I’ll clue you in on who is who or at least give you some salt to help that shoe leather go down a little easier.
As an interesting side note, porn journalist and everyone’s favorite whipping boy Luke Ford was seen on the floor Saturday. Since selling his site, Luke has been writing about mainstream projects and pops up from time to time with news from the adult world. I imagine he picked up a lot on the floor this weekend.
I also had the distinct pleasure of meeting Henri Pachard on the floor today. He is one the people I respect most in this business, both as a film maker and a writer. Meeting him was an honor and he had some unexpected and undeserved praise that had me smiling all day.
Day Four
Sundays are always the quietest days for the Adult Expo. Most of the performers and industry people stay up late at parties following the AVN Awards. This year the floor seemed particularly dead on Sunday morning. People came dragging in a bit late as the aisles filled with fans hoping to get some last day autographs.
The big news from the AVN Awards was how many statues Evil Angel collected. They came home with an amazing 19, including a record tying 10 for “Fashionistas.” John Stagliano’s brilliant four hour and forty minute epic made it a huge year for the Evil Empire. Lexington Steele collected the award as Male Performer of the Year for the third time in the last four years. Aurora Snow finally broke out and won as Female Performer of the Year while Jenna Haze took home the Starlet of the Year honors as the best new girl in the biz.
As always, the final day brings the show to a close with a whole lot of missed interviews. For the third year in a row, Haven wasn’t around on Sunday to give the promised interview. I’ll have to get on her case about that when we get back to LA and see if we can line up the JKP Girls for an interview back home. Jules Jordan was unable to hook up with me, but we’ve already got things set to interview at home. It was another year when I was unable to get close to any of the Vivid Girls, including Jenna Jameson. Instead of harping too much on the missed interviews, I’ll just let you all know that I got more this year than ever. Look for interviews with Anabolic owner Chris Alexander, Digital Playground’s Devon and Jesse Jane, Chloe, Jewel De’Nyle, Jim Gunn, Avy Scott, Aurora Snow, Gauge, Calli Cox and two dozen others coming soon.
