Interview with Gregg Alan, Co-Owner of Anabolic and Diabolic
Anabolic.com
– DiabolicVideo.com
Jan 2002
Before we start, I want to clear something up. Someone told me last night that
you were 31 years old?
That’s right.
Damn. I chose the wrong line of work.
You’re doing fine for yourself.
Yeah well. We are here with Gregg Alan, the owner of Diabolic video.
Actually I am co-owner of both Anabolic and Diabolic. Chris and I are
partners.
So
are the companies separate?
They are separate companies, but we co-own them both.
That way you avoid the whole competition thing.
That’s right.
How did you start out in the industry?
I
have known people in this business since I was fourteen years old. I started
out working in the warehouse at Zane while I was still in college. That’s when
I first met Chris. When he first started Anabolic, he shipped out of that
warehouse.
To
give us a timeline, what year was this?
This was 1991.
Chris had already been a performer in the industry for a while.
He
was a trench man yes. He had started Anabolic and had a few titles out.
And you were in college.
Yes, I went to college to become a stockbroker. I got my series 7 license,
majored in econ minored in finance and accounting. I was definitely not going
towards porndom. I had planned to go to
New York
as soon as I was finished with school and become a stockbroker. Chris and I
became good friends and he asked me if I wanted to help him get this
(Anabolic) started while I was still here. I did that and after six months it
was going very well. At that point he told me that he would like me to stay.
That’s how it started.
You went from helping him start the company to co-owner very quickly, how did
that happen?
Chris is a very unique individual. He is a guy who appreciates everything. In
eleven years we have never had a single argument. We have had discussions, but
it’s just like I’m talking to you now. He makes a suggestion, I make a
suggestion, it’s very calm. He started out as a two hundred dollar a scene
actor, was selling scenes for five hundred or whatever and once he started
doing better, he gave me a lot of the credit. He was doing most of the
production and I was doing most of the day to day business side. What makes
him unique is that whatever he achieved, he felt that I should have also.
That’s extremely unique and quite special. it’s amazing to find that in any
person, but especially in this industry. From day one, it was all about us and
not about him. He is my best friend, his wife is one of my best friends and
that is so rare. One day he just walked up and said 土ou no longer work for
me, we’re partners.”He had never treated me like I worked for him, but that
was how it happened.
Could you have imagined that it would have become this big?
No
way. I saw potential obviously, but even with my background I couldn’t have
imagined the success we have today.
Were you doing the sales work in the early days of Anabolic?
I
still do. I do all the sales for the companies.
But
now you guys have such name recognition and such quality product that stores
need your movies.
Need, want and ask. it’s a good position to be in.
In
the beginning, it had to be tougher.
It
was tough. At that time I had very little sales experience. My parents owned a
sporting goods store and I worked there as a kid. That’s not a lot of sales
experience. When I worked as a shipper, I got to know all of the customers and
I was blessed by something fortunate. No one in the industry seemed to like
the guy that Chris had doing his sales, so the first time I went to sell a
movie I sold six hundred more pieces than he did. They were just happy to talk
to a guy who wasn’t treating them like shit. It has always been common in this
industry to have a new title at full price go to catalog in three months and
be two bucks. We never did that. It took a while for people to figure it out,
but now they know that we don’t do that. There really isn’t a lot of sales
work domestically now. Most of my sales work is foreign because they are all
new customers. When I started Diabolic video, even though it was coming from
the same people, I did have to do some sales again.
It
is fairly common in this industry for a company to split off and have the
product not be the same.
Yes it is, but that’s because of the unhappy partner. We didn’t have that.
There are also the companies that break off and produce
cheaper
product than the parent company.
That’s something else we had to fight. Now that we have established Diabolic,
the two go hand in hand. My customers know that and the fans know that.
You built the company up fairly quickly. When did you start Diabolic?
January 15th, 1998
was my first release. We are coming up on four years.
That’s a lot to accomplish in a short time. It took Anabolic a long time to
get to this level.
It
did, but all of the money that was made early on, was put right back into the
production. That really lead to our success and now we are reaping the
benefits. We were talking the other day about the new administration and what
it might mean for companies like ours. The potential trouble because we are in
that gray area. Finally we are here where we can actually do well for
ourselves and now we have this potential problem. Knock on wood, we haven’t
had any problems. it’s been eleven years of hard work and it can all go in an
instant.
Why did you want to start Diabolic?
Originally I wanted something that was mine and Chris wanted something that
was his. After a while we realized that this was crazy. It was ours.
Everything we do is ours. We are partners, so the intent changed quickly. It
allowed us to release more stuff with a different name. We thought that five
titles from one company was a lot. We’ve since learned that it really isn’t.
Other companies in our genre, Elegant, Evil Angel and the like are doing
eight to ten.
We also had a number of great performers who wanted a shot at directing. At
that time Chris was making two movies a month and there wasn’t a lot of room
for someone else. We decided to start Diabolic and give the performers a
chance to direct.
At
that time you were doing camera work as well.
Yes I was.
I’ve gotten pretty familiar with you guys over the years and it strikes me
that most people who work for you do a little bit of everything.
We
really consider it a team. I do shoot camera and I consider it a nice break
from what I do for a living. I direct Gang Bang Auditions and it’s a nice get
away. I don’t have the time or desire to do too much more than I do. it’s not
where I am going to make the most money which is how I can provide money for
the budgets to let other directors make the best movies possible. I know where
my strength is, but it’s a nice side thing.
Just a hobby.
Exactly, a little hobby.
Have a girl over, invite five guys to fuck the shit out of her, just a hobby.
it’s just a nice little romantic scene with some double A.
Was Gang Bang Auditions the first movie you directed?
Yes it was. I had been on a lot of sets. That movie was early on, the second
Diabolic release. It was before Mike John, who I think is God in this industry
now.
Who was shooting most of the camera then?
It
was Chris, his wife Suzanne and myself. We had Jean-Yves LeCastel and Sean
Michaels directing for us as well.
And now who does it?
Now it’s Mike John, Chris, Lex and Erik Everhard. Mike is my second camera on
the Auditions.
How did Mike come into the picture?
We
were shooting World Sex Tour in
Costa Rica.
We were having a hard time finding talent. We were going into massage parlors
and bars and they told us about this guy from the
US
who lived down there. They said he was a big fan of our company and sent us to
talk to him. He was living down there, surfing every day and dealing with the
girls because he’s a sick pervert. Mike and I clicked right away. He is one of
my dearest friends and it was an instant connection. He was from
Venice,
living in Costa
Rica, he knows all
about our product already and he had contacts with the local girls. He helped
us and we told him to look us up when he got back to town. When he came back,
Mike started shooting camera for Sean Michaels. They hit it off as well. it’s
funny because he was nowhere near to level he is today. I joke with him
because I taught him how to turn a camera on. He has taken it to a whole new
level.
Diabolic gave Mike his first line right?
Yes. I am a big fan of Latin women. Mike had already been shooting scenes for
himself down there. They were things he had planed to watch when he is sixty
years old to remember the fun he had. He wasn’t looking to be a director or
anything. There was no one shooting Latin woman with any kind of quality
talent. I told him not to shoot them just for himself, but to let me pay you
to do it and we will distribute it. The whole thing came about while we were
just talking in the parking lot. In ten minutes he had his own line and I had
a new director.
Now he is one of the most respected shooters in the business.
He
has developed quite a fan base. The feedback we get on his stuff is
unbelievable.
I
was just watching a World Sex Tour DVD and it has this horrible footage of you
and Vince in the hospital, can we touch on that a bit.
Sure, I haven’t seen that footage in a while.
You guys were in serious trouble.
I
grew up in a pretty rough environment and I had been in situations like that
before. I’m not proud of that. it’s been a while since I’ve told the story.
Would you mind telling it again for those who may not have heard it?
For you? No, not at all Rog.
How long ago was it?
September 8th was three years.
And this was an incident involving you and Vince while you were shooting in
Budapest.
Yes. It was really a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. it’s
kind of amusing to me because I’ve always been in pretty good shape, but if
you look at Vince he looks like a man in perfect shape. I remember that night
distinctly. I drank and smoked ungodly amounts of cigarettes. Vince wouldn’t
smoke a cigarette and he didn’t really drink much. I remember him starting a
fight with a big guy. He seemed to be getting the better of the guy so I just
stayed out of it. I have never been the kind of person to gang up on someone.
When I saw the guy reach into his pocket and pull out the knife, I immediately
punched and kicked him. He was obviously on some sort of drugs. I’ve been in
kickboxing since I was eight years old. When I kick someone, I know what it
does to them. I had boots on and it didn’t even faze him. I pulled Vince away
from him and started running. As I was pulling him away he took a swipe at me.
I saw the blood, but initially I thought I had just been sliced a little.
Later we found out that it went in six inches and missed my heart by an eight
of an inch. Vince started running and I was following him. Eventually I passed
him and we turned down a street. I heard a car screeching and reversed. The
next thing I know, I’m passing Vince again. I heard Vince call for help and
turned around. There were three guys on him. One guy had stayed by the car,
but the other three were kicking and stabbing him. I ran back towards them.
One guy came at me, I ducked him. Another guy came and I punched him. I hit
another guy and as I was about to kick him in the head, the guy with the knife
came up and stabbed me. Now both of us were in deep shit. Vince was
unconscious, I thought he was dead. I had been stabbed in the leg and there
was no more fight in me. Thank God, but for whatever reason they left. The guy
probably thought they had just killed Vince. I remember seeing a lot of blood
coming across his neck. I was sure they had cut his throat. I ripped his shirt
open and saw that the blood was coming from his shoulder. That’s when I knew
that I was in trouble. I bent over and saw blood shooting out of my chest. I
picked Vince up and carried him to the main street. Thank God he came to after
about twenty steps. We went to a cab driver and asked him to take us to the
hospital. He wouldn’t and we had to fight with him to get him to call an
ambulance. That was when I realized that we were both in really bad shape. We
left an amazing amount of blood on that street. I said to myself at that
moment that all I wanted was to be at home with my wife and kids. I felt if I
passed out, that I wouldn’t wake up. I fell back and went out for a split
second. As soon as my head hit the concrete, I woke back up and stayed up for
two and a half days.
Wow, that had to be terrifying. Have you been back to Budapest?
I
have been back once.
Do
a lot of late night drinking?
That could have been avoided. We had some miscommunication and went out alone.
As long as you know where to go things will be fine. We just found ourselves
in the wrong situation.
We’re glad you’re OK. Just don’t watch the footage. That hospital didn’t
exactly look like a state of the art medical facility.
When they carried me in from the ambulance, I had lost half the blood in my
body. I refused to have a transfusion though. I said if I am going to die,
give me blood, otherwise don’t give me blood. The first thing they wanted to
do was open my chest up. When they wheeled me in, the operating room was right
near the front door. There were no doors on the operating room and the front
doors were constantly open to the outside. You know that the OR wasn’t as
sanitary as it should have been. When they lifted me from the gurney, the guy
at my feet had a cigarette in his mouth with a two inch ash hanging from the
tip. No one spoke English so I had no idea how much trouble I was in. They
could have been saying anything for all I know. They stuck this thing in my
chest and started opening me up. I was looking at the inside of my chest and
they hadn’t given me any pain medication. I started screaming and they
reacted. The next day I had about thirty bruises from where they stuck the
needles in me to kill the pain. They thought I had been given medication in
the ambulance. I swear the place was like a World War II ward. They gave us
bread and water. When they moved us to our room, we had twenty hour cops
watching us. We had our beds stacked up next to each other and a cop by each
bed. Where did they think we were going? it’s not like we were going to run
out of there. Then I saw a rat and that was it. Chris came to visit us. I
asked him if we were being held there or were under arrest. He said no and I
told him that I was walking the fuck out in exactly one hour. We got out of
there.
How long did you stay?
We
couldn’t fly right away, so we went back to work. The day after we got out of
the hospital, I was shooting camera and Vince was fucking. Chris had to watch
out for me. I had lost so much blood that I was a little shaky on my feet.
That was an experience I will never forget. I hope everyone enjoyed the movie
because we sacrificed a lot for that one.
Thank you for that story. Let’s move on to a more positive subject. Back to
the early days of Anabolic, It seems that the Gang Bang Girl became the
signature line.
Absolutely, Chris pioneered the gang bang genre. That is what we are most
known for along with the World Sex Tour.
You guys are also one of the only companies where interracial sex isn’t done
just for the sake of being interracial sex.
Some companies market their product that way, but we don’t. A lot of people
don’t like the way we do things, but we only have faith in a handful of guys.
For a long time, it has been Vince Vouyer, Erik Everhard, Mr. Marcus, Mark
Davis and Lexington
Steele. If we’re going to shoot a three way, we’re going to call two of our
guys it really doesn’t matter who. By most people’s standards, we are an
interracial company because we shoot them almost all the time. For us, we are
using the best guys in the business.
But it’s just using the best talent rather than using interracial as a
marketing tool?
That’s it. it’s just about using the best. I’ve heard from people that male
talent considers us the pinnacle. When you can work for us, then you have
reached the top.
The same is true for your directors.
We
really have grown as a team. Our early stuff was good, probably better than a
lot of what was being made at the time, but it’s so far from what we’re doing
now.
How many of the lines were your idea?
I
came up with Gang Bang Auditions.
What were you going for with that?
I
was looking for something to play off the success of the Gang Bang Girl line.
No one was shooting 5 on 1s at the time. We figured if we used fewer guys then
there would be less fighting over the girl. We could turn the guys loose a
little more and we could find out if the girl could take being a Gang Bang
Girl. People love it.
There are a lot of fans who think that even in a well shot gang bang, that
there is a whole lot of guy footage.
There is a whole lot of guy footage because there are a whole lot of guys.
Too much man-ass.
Lots of man-ass and stroking dick. In the 5 on 1 you can see more of the girl.
What about the other lines?
A
lot of the lines I came up with along with Mike. I’ve always been a fan of
Latin women. My wife is Latin and to me they are the most beautiful women in
the world. Mike agrees, so Panochitas was a natural. We are also both big fans
of swallowing. If a woman is going to want you to fuck her for an hour, the
whole point of that is so you can pull out and cum down her throat. That’s the
whole reason we sweat on top of them like pigs. They have to eat the cum,
hence Down the Hatch. Mike will not let any girl get away with out that. it’s
always something I have believed in, but he is more extreme about it than I
am. So some of the lines come from things we like. We also listen to feedback.
Fans write us and we actually read them. You have to stay in tune with the
people watching your product. We also read what reviewers have to say. They
watch movies from a lot more companies than we do and can often point things
out that we can improve on. it’s nice to get an opinion from someone who
watches all kinds of porn. I would say that almost every one of these lines
were mostly thought up with input from me, Mike, Chris, Suzanne and everyone
talking around the office. Everything with us is truly a team effort.
We
should probably at least hit on the Rough Sex videos. Whose idea was that?
That was the brainchild of a very good friend of ours. He is someone from
outside the industry and is a well respected person in society. He didn’t need
the money, but he lives that lifestyle. He came to the office and we started
talking. That’s how things get done at our company.
Two were made. Did you see the first movie before you gave a green light to
the second?
Yes.
So
you knew what you had on your hands. The feedback was instantaneous and
severe. Most people felt that it was way too much?
Yes. One of the biggest problems we had with that movie was our title
integrity. We call it what it is. Had we called it something else, people
might not have noticed. Let’s face, it there are things out there that are
much rougher than Rough Sex, but the title drew a lot of attention.
The combination of bondage and hard core sex has always been a line you don’t
cross.
And we did push the envelope with that.
There are a lot of fans of those movies and I know from talking to store
owners that the line would have made you guys a lot of money.
That’s true.
Then why cancel it?
I
do a lot of the sales work so I saw the benefit of the movies. Rough sex,
smacking a woman, choking a woman, it’s not my thing. Everyone should be
allowed to express themselves sexually though. All of the girls who were in
the movies live that lifestyle to an extent. That line was breaking new
ground. We were doing something that the industry wasn’t ready for.
Any plans to bring it back?
it’s dead forever. I would like to bring it back. It woke me up and showed me
things I had never seen before. Here is the thing. Chris and I have a lot of
people that depend on us, that we provide income for. You get a lawsuit over
something like this, it could really hurt. For the well being of the company
and the people who bust their ass every day for us, we have killed it. The
benefits don’t outweigh the risk.
One last thing and then I’ll let you go. Did you green light Perverted Point
of View.
Yes I did.
How the hell did Mike convince you to pay him to pay girls to fuck him?
(He laughs) If you will reflect on some of the things we talked about, it was
a team effort. There are a lot of people shooting point of view stuff now. The
guy who started it was Rodney Moore. We like to improve on anything we do. The
whole point is that Mike is so good with the camera. Originally I didn’t care
for the idea because it’s so hard to shoot those. I told him to go ahead and
shoot a few scenes and when I saw them, it was clear we had something great.
But still, what an idea to sell the boss.
He
really should be paying me to let him shoot it, but he works hard and
immediately people were attracted to it. It makes people feel like they have
the potential to achieve this sort of thing. That’s how the Dirty Debutante
guy sells tapes, he’s a regular guy fucking hot chicks.
Isn’t that the only reason to do porn?
I
always tell the guys here, I’m married and I can’t do shoot like they do, but
if I did it would be a no brainer. If I’m Lex or Erik and there is a room full
of girls for the movie, there should be no question who is fucking the hottest
chick. You’re righting the damn check here. Whatever want you want to hit,
that’s the one you should have. Mike took that to the extreme and kept all of
them for himself.
Thanks to you he has the greatest job in the world so I hope he sent you a
nice Christmas card.
He
thanks me by making great movies.
Is
there anything you want to say to the fans before I let you go?
I
would like to thank the fans for the overwhelmingly positive feedback we get.
I would like to really thank you for providing the unbiased reviews you give
us. They are generally favorable, but when we do something you don’t agree
with, you’re quick to point it out. I respect that because most guys review
tapes without actually watching them. That’s frustrating and we try not to
send them review tapes. We don’t do a lot of media stuff, but you’ve always
been fair and we love dealing with you.
I
do want to plug this in quickly. This is a very rare interview and I
appreciate it on behalf of my readers and myself.
Rare, yeah. I did a brief interview with you a couple of years ago. Other than
that, this is the first interview I’ve ever given and I wouldn’t have given it
to anyone else.
Again, thank you. Congratulations on the success.
None of it would be possible without the fans. Thank you all.
