Paul fishbyn once thought his biggest problem was government censorship and counter-censorship. porn activists.
Then he logged into the Internet.
Fiscollin is editor and publisher of Van Nuys
Adult Video News based on trade magazine, often considered an authoritative guide for $9billion U. S. sex business.
For retailers, AVN offers sales charts and reviews for mysterious titles such as "Kitty's quirky Kapers" and "Ben Dover's naughty British baby.
"It's an authority for fans. -
Sometimes painful and exhaustive-
Sources of news, gossip and star cup size.
In fact, fishbyn set an example for his lucrative advertising. Crowded every month-
Sometimes it runs more than 300 pages and weighs 2 pounds. -
Entertainment trade magazines such as billboards.
"In an industry that is not very good --
He said: "We are respected by the outside world. we are really good --
Be respected as straight-up.
"But the adult entertainment industry is changing and fishbyn is racing to catch up.
While the sales and rental of adult videos are as high as $4.
1 billion last year, suppliers were moving steadily online, among which adults-
Everything from chat rooms to "live" is available for websitesCamera.
So AVN is following them. -
Hit Luke Ford, an eccentric self.
Strengthen network gossip from Beverly Hills.
On a website dedicated to pornographic news, Ford has repeatedly attacked the magazine for ignoring conflicts of interest, allowing advertisers to downplay major stories, such as AIDS that broke out among performers last year. -
The allegations that fishbyn strongly denies.
Last month's legal threat forced Ford to drop some particularly harmful charges. -
But he didn't have it until he sent out the full letter of demand from lawyer fishbyn.
The spat made Ford's pornographic film famous.
"If it's a different age, my legs are in danger of being interrupted," he mused, referring to the fictional mob relationship of pornographic films.
In a sense, for the sex trade, the world is not new, the profanity and evil of the sex trade
In contrast, grumpy producers tend to make their Hollywood counterparts look like they are.
But it also highlights the huge amount of money for adult entertainment companies.
Ignoring the "gray market" that supports hundreds of small businesses and large listed companies, from Playboy businesses to Metro global media.
AVN has found a profitable niche in the adult video space, and adult video has been popular since the beginning of 1980.
Nearly 9,000 new hard drives-
Last year alone, core products flooded the market.
Retailers insist consumers will continue to buy adult tapes and DVDs despite the Internet.
"It's a growing business," said Craig Kelly, chief operating officer, Video City, Video ance --
The chain, which is headquartered in 140 stores, accounts for 20% of total sales of adult films.
Kelly says some of his stores have special sections specifically for AVN movies.
However, since the Internet Entertainment Group began marketing,
With the infamous sex video of Pamela Anderson and her husband Tommy Lee, the adult website has taken off.
According to a recent survey by Datamonitor, a UK research firm, sex sites received $ 69%.
Global internet sales 4 billion
Based on 1998.
Steve Orenstein, president of evil Picturesyear-
An old production company in Canoga Park said that a recent electrician revealed at home that he ran two adult websites in his spare time, which annoyed him.
"The Internet has made everyone go, 'Oh, I can do that, 'says Orenstein. '".
Fishbyn is now trying to keep the top of the flow of information in this rich but extremely fragmented industry, which helps explain why the battle with Ford has become so controversial.
* Last month, AVN launched a derivative magazine for adult webmasters and retuned its website to "CNN-
Type of "news service.
Fishbyn admitted it was an uncertain terrain.
When asked about the number of adults
He shrugged his shoulders and said, "there are too many websites to count.
"Since the beginning of 1980, there has been a sharp change in the situation, when fishbyine was a complete
The shop assistant of the Times video store pioneered the concept of a trade magazine specializing in adult entertainment.
He had $900 with several students at Temple University in Philadelphia before making the first issue.
"I'm not necessarily a fan of this material," he said in an interview.
The office was lit with pictures of professional wrest hands on the wall.
"What I'm interested in is publishing.
It turned out that his timing was favorable.
Adult videos are divided into dozens of types: trans-racial, gay and bisexual, S & M; , "gonzo.
"Chaotic retailers with limited shelf space need guidance when deciding which items to stock.
"The market has become oversupply," said Ron Jeremy . " He starred in hundreds of pornographic films and was hired by fishbyn as AVN's first gossip.
"It was a perfect moment for Paul's magazine.
"When the Meese porn Committee of the Reagan administration began to put pressure on leading video vendors ---
Some of them were eventually charged with federal and state obscenity charges. -
Fishbyn has become an industry speaker and advocate, and he is still in this role. "If [porn]
"It seems redundant at first, and all you have to do is consider the government trying to legislate to make what you can and can't read or watch into law," he said . ".
"It makes your energy level rise and your blood rise.
AVN still offers a great deal of legal advice and trade analysis to retailers and distributors.
The first phase of June includes a round.
About the video for the black audience and a discussion about a News project to lift the Alabama sex toy ban.
The current circulation is about 45,000.
The ad page is up 12% from last year, with total revenue of about $5, says fiscollin. 2 million.
* The company also sponsored the adult entertainment fair, an industrial trade show running through the Los Angeles Convention Center on Saturday.
The magazine's popularity has upset some people in the industry.
"When a trade magazine gets as much power as AVN, it becomes an inherent part of the industry.
It bothers me, "said screenwriter and journalist Roger Jacobs, who wrote articles for Larry Flint's publication, whose
Luke Ford amplified this concern on his website, often without the benefit of factchecking.
Son of an Australian Christian evangelist
"Born gossip" uses the site to detail his sexual exploitation with porn stars and the idea of Judaism he converted.
While Ford praised fishbyn himself as "credible", he accused AVN employees of, among other things, trying to quell his coverage of HIV in the sex industry, and tailored the annual awards ceremony for large advertisers.
"What I wrote really shocked them," Ford said . " He admitted to putting unverified items on his website.
He added: "So far AVN has failed on the Internet.
They spent a lot of money and were just defeated by Internet people and adults.
"Fishbyn says corruption charges" are a plane.
He said AVN eventually corrected Ford's mistake in reporting the HIV scandal.
Although he said he had briefly flirted with Ford and wanted to do a gossip column on AVN, he now sees him as an "irresponsible journalist ".
"It's kind of like we're institutions and Luke's a rogue," fishbyn said . ".
"We will always have competitors. . . .
As long as we are in a fair competitive environment, I welcome such things.