Sex sells.
Many advertisers and television producers subscribe to this notion, but there is an entire industry based on the idea that seemingly flies under the radar: the adult entertainment industry, or, to put it more plainly, the porn industry.
While Canada may not provide the illustrious porn careers that American cities like Los
Angeles or San Francisco can, there is certainly a bustling world where people can experience the “fantasy” of being filmed while having sex.
Being a university student, it can be difficult to make ends meet so, perhaps unsurprisingly, some university students choose to give porn a try.
“We hire all shapes, all sizes […] of females and couples. Do not assume you wouldn’t be
sexually appealing to our viewers,” said Rob Assum, a producer for AmateurCanada.com, an Ontario-based porn company.
“We want people to break free and come out of their shells.”
How do you sign up?
Amateur Canada finds most of its actors through application sites or through referrals from other porn companies. However, many also answer ads in local or alternative magazines. While many of Amateur Canada’s actors are in the 18-25 age group, most applicants are college — not university — students.
Morgan Horst from The Great Canadian Male, a gay and bisexual porn website based in
Toronto, said he finds most of his actors through local classifieds or on Craigslist.
“It tends to be around the holidays or just before school starts again,” Horst said. “The actors are just average types of guys who enjoy having fun and making some money.”
While amateur websites tend to be the entry point for many adult entertainment actors, there are possibilities to move up. Kink.com is a well-known kink and fetish porn website based out of San Francisco.
“[Kink.com] has a reputation for being ethical and the most committed to our models,” said Mike Stabile, a spokesperson for Kink.
“We run workshops about how to do things safely, like using restraints without rope, using safe words, and consent. We’re committed to sexual freedom in a smart way.”
The website, unlike more amateur porn websites, receives most of its applicants through an application form on the website or through talent agencies, according to Stabile.
Kink has an interesting niche to fill with a wide-ranging viewership. The site doesn’t tend to have an overwhelming number of university students signing up, but a mix of all ages, according to Stabile.
“Sexual preference draws [our actors] to kink. They tend to join the industry because they’re exhibitionists; they’re not ashamed to show off,” he said. “They enjoy, and get off on, being seen.”
What’s the pay like?
Working in the adult industry is by no means steady work, but actors are usually enticed by the large fees for less than a day of work.
Jason Danilak, president of Real Productions, an Edmonton-based adult distribution and
production company, said his company began with a university student.
“The first girl we ever worked with, Elise Johnson, was a University of Alberta student,” he said. “She said she made more in one weekend than she would all year.”
Smaller companies like The Great Canadian Male, pay $300 per shoot, which according to Horst, is more than most local escorts make doing similar work.
“It really isn’t so much about the money as it was a decade ago, people now are very liberated and do porn as it’s a hot and sexy thing to do. Trendy even,” said Assum from Amateur Canada.
Women working for Amateur Canada are paid a standard rate of $150 an hour, according to Assum. For a typical girl-on-girl video that takes two hours, each girl would get between $300 and $400. Typical pay rates for a “couples video experience” is $500.
Fetish and kink porn, in general, demands more of an actor. Therefore, Kink.com negotiates payment for larger stars. Typical industry pay trends are also present in kink porn.
According to Kink.com, girl-on-girl pays less, as does oral sex (at about $400 per scene), while double penetration, group sex and industry experience pays more (up to $1,300 per scene).
What’s a shoot like?
Porn producers, much like producers in Hollywood and big studios, have set-up requirements and a behind-the-scenes crew. Amateur sites tend to have smaller crews, while the bigger studios have lighting, camera operators, production assistants and multiple directors on set.
“When actually filming, we only have one person in the room as we are there to share in their experience and help the talent open up and flourish on camera,” Assum said.
Big studios like Real Productions, which produce porn mockumentaries, can employ anywhere from seven to ten people.
“Our ‘Tight’ mockumentry starring Bree Olsen has a cast of nine, with a crew almost as
big as some Hollywood sets,” Danilak said. The ‘Tight’ mockumentary is one of the biggest productions Danilak has worked on.
The process on an amateur set is a little less intense and more intimate.
“I let most of my boys do what they want to do for the first video shoot,” said Horst from The Great Canadian Male. “Lots of them like to show it all for the camera.”
That’s why Horst ensures when choosing models that they are not timid or shy and have an
exhibitionist streak. They have to be in “a certain mental spot” and have a certain look to do porn, according to Horst.
“I want the viewer to think, ‘this is just an average Canadian guy that you might run into on a Friday night at the pub.’”
One of the biggest challenges Horst said he faces on set is choosing the scene partner(s).
“Gay guys tend to be picky about who they work with,” he said. “Bi and straight guys will work with just about anyone. I try to find people who are a good match in a shoot.”
After the shoot, Horst edits the video while keeping the amateur feel.
“I try to leave in everything including the laughs to make it seem more real unless I say
someone’s real name or something like that,” he said.
Canada vs. the United States
Being a Canadian porn company has its advantages. In bigger cities like Los Angeles, porn actors are typically rejects from Hollywood.
“There are no failed Hollywood actresses in Winnipeg,” said Danilak from Real Productions. “They’re there to do porn and make some money.”
The pay-rates are lower in the U.S. too, according to Assum, who blames the current economic climate and “the profuse amount of free porn” available.
Canada also lacks the sheer quantity of models that the U.S. has. However, especially in
Montreal (Canada’s proclaimed “porn capital”), the numbers of actors is growing.
“It’s not easy recruiting people in this country, never has been!” Assum said.
So whether it’s kink and fetish porn, or just regular vanilla sex, Canada’s small and amateur landscape has some advantages over its American west coast-based big brother.
And while some people may not look on the industry favourably, those who work in it still consider themselves professionals, and work hard.
