HOUSE OF SODOM

2008 XBIZ Award Winners

The 6th annual XBIZ Awards features hundreds of adult entertainment companies competing for the coveted prize, which is awarded based on innovation and excellence within the industry. Award nominees are nominated by clients and colleagues and then judged by a panel of peers.

The winners of the 2008 XBIZ Awards are:

Affiliate Program of the Year – TopBucks
Emerging Affiliate Program of the Year – Hush Money
VOD Company of the Year – Hot Movies
Content Broker/Licensor of the Year – WorldWideContent
Content Feed Provider of the Year – Webmaster Central
Live Video Chat of the Year – VideoSecrets
Web Host of the Year – Webair
Design Studio of the Year – Dickmans Design
Dating Program of the Year – Eroticy
Web Retailer of the Year – Adam & Eve
Web Community of the Year – AdultWhosWho
Billing Company of the Year (IPSP) – CCBill
Billing Company of the Year (Merch Acct.) – Netbilling
Billing Company of the Year (Alternative) – Verotel
Mobile Company of the Year – Adult Mobile Solutions
Emerging Web Company of the Year – TrafficDude
Software Company of the Year – Mansion Productions
GLBT Company of the Year – PrideBucks
Web Babe of the Year – Sunny Leone
Outstanding Achievement – Adult Web Industry – PussyCash/IMLive
Lifetime Achievement – Adult Web Industry – Joel Hall (Epoch)
Studio of the Year – Evil Angel
Emerging Studio of the Year – Harmony Films
GLBT Studio of the Year – Titan Media
Feature Movie of the Year – “Upload,” SexZ Pictures
Gonzo Series of the Year – “Jack’s Playground,” Digital Playground
GLBT Feature Movie of the Year – “Link: The Evolution,” All Worlds
Feature Director of the Year – Dcypher
Gonzo Director of the Year – Jules Jordan
GLBT Director of the Year – Michael Lucas & Tony Dimarco
Publicity Stunt of the Year – “Michael Lucas Found Dead”
Marketing Campaign of the Year – All Media Play for “Not the Bradys XXX”
Outstanding Achievement in Movie Production – Paul Thomas
Lifetime Achievement in Movie Productions – Gerard Damiano
Female Performer of the Year – Eva Angelina
Male Performer of the Year – Evan Stone
GLBT Performer of the Year – Jake Deckard
New Starlet of the Year – Bree Olson
Crossover Female Star of the Year – Stormy Daniels
Crossover Female Star of the Year – Evan Seinfeld
Lifetime Achievement (Female Performer) – Marilyn Chambers
Lifetime Achievement (Male Performer) – John Holmes
Lifetime Achievement in Movie Productions (GLBT) – Steven Scarborough
Novelty Company of the Year – PHS International
New Toy of the Year – Fun Factory’s Delight
Outstanding Achievement in Product Quality – Python
Outstanding Achievement in Business Excellence – PlatinumBucks/Adult Rental
Outstanding Achievement in Business Development – Silvercash/Silver Sinema
Lifetime Achievement (Industry Contribution) – Sharon Mitchell, AIM Healthcare
Man of the Year – Marc Bell, Penthouse
Woman of the Year – Diane Duke, FSC

Tags: Adult, Industry, Porn Awards, Porn News, XBIZ, XBIZ Awards

Hillary Scott Preps for Sept. Releases

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — When Hillary Scott blasted ahead of the pack and won Female Performer of the Year honors in early 2007 for her body of work, it was clear that she was a cut above all other adult movie starlets of her generation, a representative said.

Scott continues her streak of leading-lady performances with a number of blockbuster September movie releases led by “Upload” from SexZ Pictures, which the company said is destined to become a leading contender for Movie of the Year honors.

An action adventure science fiction movie, “Upload” from master director Eli Cross delivers a mind-bending journey that holds the viewer on the edge of their seat, a representative said.

Scott also showcases her comedic side with a heart-warming performance as big sister Marcia in the “Brady Bunch” adult parody “Not the Bradys XXX,” which is being met with heavy first week sales and critical acclaim, the company said.

Before signing her exclusive contract with SexZ Pictures, Scott found time to star in “Spunk’d” an adult comedy that rips from MTV’s “Punk’d” reality TV show where celebrities are set up in hilarious situations, only this time with a sexual twist. The movie will be in stores late September from director Justin Kane.

Since signing with SexZ Pictures, Scott has also been busy behind the camera as a director/producer/performer with her own brand of titles like “Extreme Asshole Makeover,” “Creamy Stinkstars,” “Chocolate Dipped Vanilla Girls,” and the soon-to-be-released “Cum Eating Teens No. 6.”

Check out “Upload” here.

[XBIZ]

Tags: Adult, Asshole, Celebrities, cum, Cum Eating, Extreme, Hillary Scott, Hollywood, News, Pictures, Sex, SexZ Pictures, Teen, Teens, Video, VOD, XBIZ

Fed. Anti-Smut Bid Harvests Zero Prosecutions

WASHINGTON — A Justice Department program to fight obscenity on the Internet, funded by a $150,000-a-year earmark in a spending bill and operated by an anti-porn group, has resulted in no prosecutions for obscenity.

The Justice Department website routes citizen complaints about obscenity to ObscenityCrimes.org, a website run by anti-porn group Morality in Media, which receives the grant money.

Two retired law enforcement officers check the reported sites for legally definable obscenity. A reported 67,000 complaints have been forwarded to the Justice Department and federal prosecutors through this program.

None has been prosecuted.

“Any program that fields public complaints on a matter as complex as obscenity can never be expected to play a meaningful role in the decisions of what is to be prosecuted and where,” 1st Amendment attorney Jeffrey Douglas told XBIZ. “Lay people will simply call in about something that they are offended by. Individuals’ offense could hardly be less relevant to the criteria for obscenity as defined by the Miller opinion.

“It’s even worse when the entity requesting such calls is an ideologically extreme entity, Morality in Media, which is attempting to alter the definition of obscenity into one in which if they can see genital penetration, somebody ought to go to prison. Expecting that the calls that they stimulate will be meaningful is ludicrous.

“The fact that we’re spending money on this program is, in fact, simply welfare to extreme political organizations that some ideologues in the White House want to subsidize.”

In the seven years of the Bush administration, the Justice Department has prosecuted about 24 cases involving adult material, according to the New York Times. Several focused on producers who failed to keep proper 2257 records.

The president of Morality in Media, Robert W. Peters, is disappointed with the Justice Department’s failure to act on any of his group’s complaints.

“We’d like to see some prosecutions that arose from the complaints submitted to the website,” Peters said. “But it’s ultimately up to the Justice Department, and I can’t tell the Justice Department what to do.”

Stephen G. Bates, a Harvard-trained lawyer and journalism professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, discovered the ObscenityCrimes.org program through a Freedom of Information Act inquiry. He said he was appalled when he discovered that the Justice Department was outsourcing a search for obscenity.

In an op-ed article titled “Outsourcing Justice? That’s Obscene” published in The Washington Post and other newspapers, Bates said the combination of Morality in Media’s religious influence, the sensitivity of the issue of free speech and the outsourcing made “a mockery of the 1st Amendment, chilling freedom of expression.”

[XBIZ]

Tags: Adult, Extreme, Law Enforcement, News, opinion, Oral, Porn, prosecution, Rough, XBIZ

Jenna Jameson Appears at Comic-Con

SAN DIEGO — Adult superstar Jenna Jameson made an appearance this past weekend at the International Comic-Con to talk about “Shadowhunter,” a comic book series produced by Virgin Comics with a main character based on Jameson.

Virgin Comics CEO Sharad Devarajan and Chief Creative Officer Gotham Chopra sat alongside Jameson at a press conference held on July 28 as they talked about the new series. “Shadowhunter” will be issued in a limited five-issue series for the company’s “Voices” line, which also features series by the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and actor Nicolas Cage with his son, Weston.

Devarajan said the company is working with “prolific mavericks in their industries who have been creators that challenged the status quo, giving them a voice in the form of graphic novels to give them a playground to really tell a story and challenge convention.”

“I wanted to make sure that I would be able to bring my spirit and my energy to the comic book,” Jameson said. “And when Virgin approached me, I knew it was going to be the best possible. When they pitched me the idea of this comic book, I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Described by Chopra, Jameson’s character is a woman that has had a near death experience and has to deal with the reality of having returned from a hellish place and also confront past issues of what sent her to the dark side. He said also that Jameson, a horror movie fan, has been very hands-on in the development of her character and the mythology of the storyline.

“That’s one of the exciting things — people have a certain expectation of what they’re going to get. But the cool thing with working her and in listening to her creative input is its redefining,” Chopra said. “We’re not interested in the idea of doing what people might expect.”

When asked if the comic would contain adult content, both Devarajan and Chopra were quick to point out there would be no nudity or explicit content in any of Virgin’s comic book series.

“Obviously, in all the comics we do, we do not include adult content in the form of anything pornographic; erotic, yes, explicit, no,” Devarajan said. “We definitely see that what we’re trying to do with Jenna is we think she’s a great icon to work with and tell a good story, but we don’t see the need for nudity or pornography within that.”

Jameson was anxious to speculate on the potential of the comic series spinning off into a movie, as well as other merchandising possibilities.

She said that she would love to play the comic book heroine on the big screen, as opposed to playing herself in the upcoming production of the biopic based on her best-selling book, “How to Make Love Like a Porn Star.”

“Making a movie based on my life has been a process so far. I felt uncomfortable playing myself. I lived through it once and I wasn’t sure whether or not I could live through it again,” Jameson said. “I tapped Scarlett Johansson to play me. She’s brilliant — not only is she beautiful, but she’s brilliant as an actress.

“So, Universal has bought the rights to my movie and Peter Berg is directing it. It’s going to be a huge project, but when I think about playing a character, that is my passion. That is what I want, so this I look at as my opportunity to showcase my skills as an actress — because anybody can play themselves,” she said.

Johansson’s representatives denied the actress’ involvement in the project when contacted last month for another article that appeared on XFANZ.com.

Virgin Comics is a collaboration between author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekar Kapur and Virgin CEO Sir Richard Branson. Virgin Comics and Animation is headquartered in Bangalore, India, and employs 50 artists and writers on its editorial team. The company also is producing a “Director’s Cut” line which will issue comics series based on plotlines by celebrity filmmakers like Kapur, John Woo, Guy Ritchie and Terry Gilliam.

[XBIZ]

Tags: Adult, Horror Movie, Jenna Jameson, News, Porn, porn star, pornstar, Rough, Superstar, XBIZ

Playboy.com Launches iPlayboy for the iPhone

LOS ANGELES — Playboy.com is jumping on the iPhone bandwagon with the launch of iPlayboy, a collection of downloadable items that can be installed into the new cellphone that goes on sale tomorrow.

Users can download a free set of 12 non-nude Playmate wallpapers, a photo album with 12 additional Playmate photos and a 90-second Cyber Girl video, all formatted for the Apple iPhone screen, plus a one-hour audio episode of Playboy Radio’s “The Playmate Hour” with hosts Miriam Gonzalez (Miss March 2001) and Pilar Lastra (Miss August 2004).

“We have always tried to stay ahead of the curve by delivering the fun, sophistication and sexiness of Playboy to our fans on the newest and hottest media platforms,” Editor of Playboy.com John D. Thomas said. “And with so much buzz surrounding the all-in-one Apple iPhone, we knew we had to develop something specifically designed just for this device.”

iPlayboy is a new service from Playboy Mobile, which currently offers wallpapers for wireless telephones. To access the free iPlayboy downloads, visit iPlayboy.com.

[XBIZ]

Tags: Hot, News, Playboy, Playboy Mobile, Sex, Video, XBIZ

Girls Gone Wild Creator Sued Again

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Trouble just seems to find Joe Francis. Two women who allege that sexually explicit footage was released without their consent on two DVDs are suing the “Girls Gone Wild” founder in federal court.

Brooke Pastolic and Christina Brose allege that they were enticed aboard the Girls Gone Wild bus and plied with free apparel and drinks, even though both girls were under 21. According to the lawsuit, both women allege they were coerced into exposing themselves and engaging in sexual acts after being promised the footage would not be used for commercial purposes.

While Pastolic and Brose claim they did not consent to be filmed, even if they did, due to their inebriated state, their consent was obtained illegally.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

Francis is currently jailed in Nevada on federal tax evasion charges. Francis pled not guilty in that case but elected to stay in jail to avoid extradition to Florida, to avoid arrest on charges of possessing contraband and drugs while being imprisoned there in May.

Exacerbating Francis’ legal woes, he’s also charged in Florida with using minors in sexual performances and prostitution.

Kevin Mercuri, Fracis’ spokesman, did not immediately return a message from XBIZ seeking comment.

[XBIZ]

Tags: Girls Gone Wild, News, Prom, Sex, XBIZ

Joe Francis to Remain in Reno Jail

RENO, Nev. — After a Tuesday release, Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis has chosen to remain in jail, his lawyer said, in order to avoid another jail sentence — without bail — for new charges in Florida, where he previously served time for contempt of court.

Francis was relocated to the Nevada jail last month after a federal judge ruled that his $20 million tax-fraud charges took precedence over those he had been held for at the time in Florida. In April, Francis turned himself in to Panama City, Fla., officials to serve his 35-day sentence.

Francis’ defense lawyer, David Houston, told the Associated Press that Francis’ attorneys decided the adult producer should stay in Reno after learning of new decisions made by the Florida judge.

Florida Circuit Judge Dedee Costello refused bail to Francis Tuesday on his 2003 charge of using minors in his videos, and has ordered Francis also be charged with possession of a controlled substance, as well as possession of contraband. In April, Francis was discovered carrying prescription sleeping pills while serving his Florida sentence at Bay County Jail.

Houston said he called off Francis’ bail post of $1.5 million, which had been posted Tuesday.

“If I post [bail], Francis goes to Florida, and it took us a month to get him here,” Houston said. “There’s no reason for me to want to send him back to that environment. We had hoped he’d be out today.”

Kevin Mercuri, a press representative for Francis, told XBIZ that Francis has not yet made an official statement regarding his decision to stay in Reno.

[XBIZ]

Tags: Adult, Girls Gone Wild, News, Video, XBIZ

Memphis Monroe Launches Official Site

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Hustler contract star Memphis Monroe has launched her official website through Phabucks. The blond-haired, blue-eyed self-professed country girl from Kentucky is taking a hands-on role in the development of MemphisMonroe.com, featuring 100 percent exclusive content.

“In my first contract with Hustler in November 2005, they originally contracted me and part of the deal was to build and maintain my site,” Monroe told XBIZ. “During that year, there were a lot of things going on and they could never get the time to actually work on the site, so as a gift basically, Hustler and Larry Flynt decided to turn the site back over to me and let me do what I wanted with it, which I was very excited about.”

Monroe, who lives in Louisville, Ky., said the opportunity to build and maintain her site gives her full creative control and will challenge her to keep the site fresh with new updates and new features. Managing the site herself enables Monroe to shoot content on her own time and on her own dime, because she only comes to L.A. once or twice a month.

Monroe got her start modeling for the Phabucks site PantyhoseAddict.com, so she decided to have her official site be a part of its network. Monroe’s site pays webmasters 50 percent of all signups and recurring memberships.

MemphisMonroe.com has all exclusive content of the Hustler Honey, and spans the gamut from solo masturbation to hardcore boy-girl. Monroe said that her site would be updated two to three times per week with new videos, photo sets, mobile content, a diary and her travel schedule.

“A lot of the girls in the industry who have a name, seem to never have the time to run a site,” Monroe said. “I make time, no matter how busy the schedule is because my fans are everything to me. A lot of sites you go to, have the same feeling as every other site or solo girl site you see — cute, bubbly and shiny. It’s like you know the ones who have a webmaster sitting behind the screen acting like the girl and the girls who actually lace their sneakers up and do work.”

The peripatetic Monroe has two new movies scheduled for release this summer: “The Farmer’s Little Filthy Daughter” on July 3 and “Memphis Does Hollywood” on August 14, both directed by Jerome Tanner. She has a signing planned at the Hustler Hollywood store on June 14 in St. Louis, Mo. and will be appearing at the 4th Annual Adult Film Star Ball with Jesse Jane and Dave Navarro at La Boheme Gentlemen’s Cabaret in Denver.

“Things with Hustler are great,” Monroe said after having her contract extended for another year last November. “The Hustler family is a special family to work for. Since 1974 they have only had a handful of contract girls and I was the only one to ever exceed a full year. I just think they can count on me for anything they need. I have never cancelled a flight or not shown up for an event. I’ve always been on time for everything in two years and I think they take notice. You have to set yourself apart from the other girls in this industry, since there are so many. And I think persistence, hard work and being punctual are key aspects in this business.”

[XBIZ]

Tags: Adult, Contract Star, Hardcore, Hollywood, Hot, Hustler, Industry, Jesse Jane, Larry Flynt, Movies, News, Rough, Solo, Solo Girl, Video, XBIZ

Max Hardcore Indicted on Obscenity Charges

ALTADENA, Calif. — Paul F. Little, aka Max Hardcore, has been indicted on federal obscenity charges. The Justice Department charged Little with numerous counts of obscenity.

The 10-count indictment was returned against Little on May 17 and was unsealed yesterday.

The charges originate out of Florida, but Hardcore turned himself into authorities in California, WNBC in New York reported. The case is based in Florida because Little’s production company, Max World Entertainment, mailed DVDs there.

WNBC reported that in addition to the mailing of allegedly obscene material, Little also is being charged with transmitting five allegedly obscene video clips over the Internet via the company’s website. According to WNBC, federal prosecutors said they are “seeking forfeiture of the ‘obscene’ films, all money made from sales of the films and all property used in the making of the films, including [Hardcore’s] home in Altadena, Calif.”

Authorities also are seeking the forfeiture of the sites MaxHardcore.com, PissedOnPornStars.com and CatalinaXXX.com.

The DVD titles named in the indictment are “Max Hardcore Extreme 20 – Euro Edition,” “Pure Max 19 – Euro Edition,” “Max Hardcore Golden Guzzlers 7 – Euro Edition,” “Fists of Fury 4 – Euro Edition” and “Planet Max 16 – Euro Edition.”

Investigators with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation of Little. Attorneys with the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

Little is scheduled to be arraigned on July 12.

A call to Little’s attorney Jeffrey Douglas seeking comment was not immediately returned.

[XBIZ]

Tags: Clip, Clips, Entertainment, Extreme, Hardcore, max hardcore, News, Porn, pornstar, Pornstars, Video, XBIZ

Tenn. State Senate Passes “Girls Gone Wild Bill”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee State Senate this week voted unanimously to pass the so-called “Girls Gone Wild bill” — despite the fact that Tennessee Attorney General Robert E. Cooper had issued an opinion stating that portions of the legislation are “constitutionally suspect.”

According to the text of the bill as published on the website for the Tennessee state legislature, the bill “creates a new offense of advertising or promoting the sale, production, distribution, exhibition or display” of obscene materials in the state.

If passed in the state House of Representatives, the Senate Bill 14 (SB14) would also make it unlawful “for the owner or an employee of a television station or cable television company that broadcasts in this state to knowingly accept or solicit for advertising material that is obscene, harmful to minors, or in violation of the above-described federal law, or for such a company or station to actually and knowingly promote or advertise such content.”

In an opinion letter dated May 14, Cooper stated that while some sections of the bill closely track federal law regarding obscene materials and those aspects of the legislation are likely to withstand legal challenge, other sections of the proposed law are more dubious constitutionally.

“Given the extensive federal regulation of the content of programming on television, it is possible that a court could determine that [the bill] is preempted to the extent it applies to public or private television broadcasts,” Cooper wrote in his opinion.

“Moreover, Section 4 of the proposed amendment to [Tennessee state code] is constitutionally suspect under the 1st Amendment because it lacks a ‘safe-harbor’ provision to allow the broadcasting of indecent material during hours when minors are unlikely to be viewing television, does not directly advance the governmental interest in restricting a minor’s access to material harmful to minors, and is more extensive than is necessary to serve that interest.”

The bill’s sponsor, Democratic State Sen. Doug Jackson, told the Associated Press that he was encouraged by Cooper’s evaluation of the bill, and said that the legislation is designed to apply only to material that a jury determines to be obscene.

“If a jury says the product is obscene, what we’re saying is the cable companies can be held responsible,” Jackson said. “Why should they be allowed to make money off a product that they know or should have known is obscene?”

The portion of the bill that Cooper termed “constitutionally suspect,” states in part that it is an offense for “the owner or employee of a public or private television station or the owner or employee of a cable television company… that broadcasts for public viewing or paid subscription viewing in this state to solicit, accept or cause to be solicited or accepted, advertising for any material that is harmful to minors.”

According to Jeffrey Douglas, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, the fact that the bill provides no “safe harbor” provision that allows for the broadcast of material that is deemed inappropriate for minors but fine for adults will likely prove the bill’s undoing in court, should it be signed into law.

“Beyond being bad policy, the bill is indefensible, legally,” Douglas told XBIZ. “These efforts by states to ban speech that they don’t like are facially unconstitutional.”

In addition to the lack of a safe harbor provision, Douglas said it is not clear whether states have the legal authority to regulate cable TV content, at all. Even the Federal Communications Commission does not have clear authority to regulate cable television the way it does broadcast TV, Douglas observed.

“The ability of a state to regulate cable content is highly questionable,” Douglas said. “One can imagine how insane it would be if every state could regulate cable content — every cable company would have to have different programming for every state.”

The bill has little chance of passing in the Tennessee House of Representatives during the current legislative session, according to AP reports, as a companion bill was tabled by a House subcommittee in April, after it received no support from members of either party.

Despite the reservations of legal experts, including his own state’s Attorney General, Jackson said he believes the bill will pass in the state House next year, during the second session of the 105th General Assembly. This would ultimately stop Girls Gone Wild from advertising on television in Tennessee

[XBIZ]

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