The Montreal porn machine part 2

Brandon Jones
 
In this two-part sequel to our overview of the Montreal Porn Machine, we look at highlights from the gay side of adult entertainment, as well as respond to readers’ requests for a less rosy look at what it’s really like working in the industry.
 
GAY PORN BABYLON
 
Highlights from Montreal’s gay porn scene, in no particular order…
 
Brandon Jones – performer

Measuring a meaty 8”, Brandon’s reputation as a power bottom make him gay porn’s golden boy. According to Lucas Entertainment, one of several international studios he’s worked with, Brandon is an “insatiable power-bottom” whose fantasy is “to get gang-banged by an entire rugby team.” He also works as a flight attendant, and has had his fair share of cringe-worthy moments when these two worlds intersect.

Flash Conway – director

Quebec-based director who used Montreal as a backdrop in his film Here Comes Santa. Born in Zimbabwe, Flash sums up his love for Canada’s favourite slutty city: “People here are willing to show their dick and ass for just about anybody in the street. The average American wouldn’t even dream of doing that. There’s a different mindset [in Montreal].” (Courtesy of Richard Burnett / Three Dollar Bill)

Kim Maurice – programmer and designer

Kim works behind-the-scenes, and is very good at what she does. Kim, who identifies as queer (according to a recent interview in Fugues), cut her teeth with hetero porn juggernaut Brazzers before joining forces with Stunner Media, where she’s helped shape gay porn sites like blakemason.com and gaylifenetwork.com. A lifelong fan of porn, she would watch her dad’s VHS tapes then rewind them to the exact spot he left it at so as not to get caught (anecdote courtesy of Fugues).

Pierre Fitch – performer

The Xavier Dolan of gay porn — a true wunderkind. Pierre was born in Cornwall but got the hell out of there the second he turned 18. His pedigree is untouchable: Falcon Studios, CockyBoyz and his own Fitch Media… the kid is unstoppable. He’s also a self-styled superstar DJ, and easily one of the most recognizable performers today. Formerly a twink, he now wears the mantle of “jock” and/or tattooed muscle stud.

ZIP – gay porn bible

If Fugues is the kind of free magazine you can comfortably leave out on your coffee table, then Zip is the kind you hide under a copy of Fugues. We’re talking wall-to-wall penises with man-holes aplenty. And it’s free. I repeat: free, hardcore porn (with reviews, star profiles and more). Grab a copy at most sex shops and all over the Gay Village.

Dave Angelo – performer

You may remember Dave and his huge uncut wang from the Showcase reality series Webdreams. The legendary Colt Studios porn star even has his own signature dildo: at 8.5” – with a 6.5” circumference – this monster toy is accurate down to the last vein.

With files from the incomparable Richard “Bugs” Burnett, Fugues and Zip
 
THE DARK (AND OCCASIONALLY HILARIOUS) SIDE OF PORN
 
Considering a career in adult entertainment? Learn from these three industry insiders who share their brushes with danger, tragicomedy and the occasional foot stalker.

Mat Paré & Fransexka Valentine
 
Mat Paré (aka the Pinch), 33 – performer
 
Bittersweet beginnings. “I randomly met Vandal Vyxen at her birthday show in 2009. We became friends and she always said I should try out and I eventually did in 2011 after my girlfriend passed away.”

The dark side(s). “That ‘dark side’ can be many things: girls committing suicide, overdosing, hetero guys shooting up Viagra-like injections to do gay porn for money…”

Worst. Gangbang. EVER. “My most horrendous experience was in 2011 when a company made me shoot a triple-penetration scene. I won’t do dick-to-dick contact – I need my own orifice. So I lay on my back, the girl on her back on top of me, and two guys on top of us both in her vagina. It was atrocious — we kept trying for over 10 hours and could never make it work. I took four different pills and I couldn’t keep it up for more than a minute… every time I pulled out there was poop on my wang.”

The surprisingly simple secret to success. “Men, be hard. Women, make male actors feel like you want them — as soon as it becomes work, it fucks up everything.”
 
Sabrina, 25 – webcam model
 
Creeps are out there, and they will recognize your feet: “A guy driving an SUV stopped me on the side of the road to gawk at my ‘beautiful feet.’ I thanked him and tried to move on, but he was quite persistent. I went into a convenience store to try and avoid him, but I saw him driving back and forth outside waiting for me to come out. I waited until he passed again and ran out to cross the street to hide, but he was turning around again, and saw me. I had enough time to bolt into an alleyway, and I waited there with my heart beating out of my chest for 15 minutes.”

Security and safety are constant concerns. “A guy emailed me saying he thinks I live in his neighborhood because of a picture I posted. It barely revealed anything, and was taken 12 blocks from where I live, but somehow he guessed my street corner out of the blue. He asked me if I could find him pot and when I politely refused, his emails got aggressive and threatening. Luckily I have never had my true identity disclosed online like I’ve seen other girls go through. But something like this happening so close to my (former) home is scary.”

Be smart, be safe and have fun. “Expect to be recognized – family, former co-workers, high school friends… you have to become your online persona, and if you choose to keep personal social media accounts, it’s important to keep them 100 percent private to the general public. Know your worth and don’t compromise. Have a back-up plan for post-adult-industry life. Last but not least, have fun.”
 
Ben, 26 – billing and payment department, Montreal-area adult content web hosting company
 
The crazy “non-craziness” of working in porn. “It wasn’t at all what I expected; I was struck by the normality of it all. I had figured it would be all orgies and porn stars visiting me in my cubicle. But it definitely wasn’t. It was typical nine-to-five call centre banality – punch clocks, break times and meetings. The ‘non-craziness’ of it was the craziest part.

Breaking bad… news. “It was my job to take payments for website memberships and explain rates. Just like any other porn company, we did discreet billing, which means that the real names of the sites do not appear on people’s credit card statement; just a vague code so that husbands and wives don’t know the levels of depravity their significant others have sunk to. You haven’t lived until you’ve explained to a Baptist minister that his son charged thousands of dollars worth of bukkake porn to his credit card. It was equal parts disturbing and hilarious.”

Porn: the great workplace equalizer? “I feel like porn is the great leveller. Everyone watches porn. Some people talk about it, some don’t. I think that when you work in the industry, you sort of take away the pretense about it, regardless of gender. so it was my experience that men and women were much more relaxed and respectful with each other. It was refreshing, actually.”
 
*Correction and update: In part one, “Montreal is a cornerstone of the porn empire,” I write that “MindGeek controls about 30 per cent of tube traffic worldwide (approximately 65 million unique visitors per day, give or take). Across the board, MindGeek sees around 110 million daily visitors. Pornhub leads the charge with approximately 50 million daily.” Not true. Matt Blake from MindGeek was kind enough to help me come correct:

“While Pornhub sees over 50 million daily visitors, traffic from our top four sites alone (Pornhub, YouPorn, RedTube and Tube8) accounts for more than 110 million visitors daily. So that’s just the top four tube sites… If you incorporate all of MindGeek’s entities I’d imagine it’d be well over 200 million daily.” Thanks Matt!

The same article also references a 2011 Toronto Star story that says the Montreal MindGeek office “employs over 325 people.” One Reddit commenter who claims to work there says that number today is closer to 800. ■
 
Your feedback will help shape future installments, so please let us know what you think: info@cultmontreal.com.