“We decided there and then to shoot a movie. It was only ever intended to be a one-off project to keep me occupied for the summer. But I ran up so much credit card debt making the movie and setting up the brand, the only way I could ever conceivably recover my investment was to make another movie...and another,” he recalled. “And I’m still here making movies. Thankfully, the credit cards have finally been paid off.”
Lucky us. Not only did Eurocreme quickly become the gay porn leader in the United Kingdom, the label quickly proved to have a staying power that allowed it to penetrate other markets. “In 2002, there was almost no high-quality gay porn in the U.K. We had only just seen the introduction of the R18 lassification that made hardcore porn legal, so the market was pretty empty. At about the same time, the U.K. version of ‘Queer as Folk’ shocked the nation with its very raunchy depiction of gay sex between Nathan and Stuart. I wanted to make ‘DreamBoy’ a similarly engaging story, but with slightly more explicit sex.”
When the studio evolved as a porn brand, DreamBoy became its flagship line featuring goodlooking young studs in top-dollar productions. The studio has since grown: “Rudeboiz” is styled around British “chavs,” young men who live in deprived inner city areas and typically wear cheap sports clothing (hard guys with hard bodies, tattoos and might possibly even be straight. The scenes are shot in high-rise, government-owned apartment blocks, which adds to the realism.) “Indieboyz” is what Lincoln call’s a “fashion” studio featuring young, skinny guys with floppy hair and trendy clothes (not quite emo, but heading in that direction); while “Hung Ladz” appeals to size queens (a.k.a., everyone). Last year, the company joined forces with Trojan Rock’s Alphamalemedia, adding a prominent muscle studio to its portfolio. The lineup is led by the series and is joined by “Huge and Hung” and “Dads Fuck Lads.”
A few years ago, Eurocreme also consolidated its association with Euro Media Distribution, its U.S. distributor. “EMD has been crucial in building our brand in North America. We have also re-established the link with [German distributor/publishing house] Bruno Gmünder and signed an agreement with Millivres Prowler in the U.K., so our global distribution is now very strong.” Just don’t make the mistake of using the “T” work when describing the company.
“The term ‘twink’ didn’t really exist in Europe when Eurocreme started business. We chose the kind of guys that most men would hope to see if they went out to the most glamorous gay bar…we gradually became aware that a lot of these guys would be called twinks in the U.S.,” Lincoln said.
“The general appeal of the twink was his apparent innocence…over the years, the taste of the porn viewer has matured, and I think most viewers now think that sex between ‘barely legal’ guys is pretty uninteresting. The trend now is for early 20’s men with more muscled or athletic bodies and some body hair, who look like they know what they are doing in the sack.”
While Lincoln noted that Eurocreme features twinks to some extent in all of its Eurocreme lines, they have stopped producing “twink only” titles in favor of the more interesting mix-ups — and added that they strictly produce condomonly porn. “Some studios have taken the twink genre to what I feel is an unnecessary extreme. When I see the covers of some Eastern European DVDs — usually with the word ‘twink’ in the title or studio name — I really wonder if the boys they have used are really 18. This, combined with the fact these movies are generally bareback, gives me a pretty strong feeling that these guys are being recklessly exploited. I’m sure I’m not the only one who associates the term ‘twink’ with this kind of production, and I’m not happy when I hear Eurocreme being spoken of as a ‘twink’ brand.”
Eurocreme has helped maintain its reputation and fan base by relying on remarkably few directors over the years. Lincoln directed the early “DreamBoy” films, with Simon Booth (his principal cameraman) eventually taking over (Booth also directed “Rudeboiz” and is now directs the Out films). Maxwell B helmed the sleazier “BulldogXXX “ series and now directs “Hung Ladz,” while young Marc Reardon gives “Indieboyz” its character. (Lincoln notes he will return to the directing saddle later this year.) But even with a solid stable of directors and models (including longest-serving exclusive Alex Stevens, super-hung Matt Hughes and American Dylan Ryan), the company found America challenging.
“The American market is huge, and you have an enormous amount of American product. Combined with the natural preference for American models, it’s sometimes an uphill struggle for a European studio. EMD has done a really great job of getting us noticed,” Lincoln said. “Americans like a star. You will find an actor you like, support him throughout his career and build him into a celebrity. Europeans generally prefer to see someone new in every production… Americans also have a general preference for the muscle end of the market, while Europeans tend to prefer slimmer, toned physiques. Alphamale has a much easier ride in the U.S. than in Europe.”
But with a new film covering a vast array of niches released almost every week — including new “DirtyBoy” and an upcoming “Out” release from Booth evolving around the recent HustlaBall in London — Eurocreme has made its mark in the U.S. Add some recently revamped websites, the signing of musical group Boy Banned (first single “One World” is available online) and a launch of the Rudeboiz brand into the club scene (where it jointly promotes a major weekly night in London, an effort the studio plans to take on the road), things are far from boring.
“Not many European studios can match us for that wide spectrum of production. We also focus totally on quality, and every aspect of our work is tightly quality controlled,” Lincoln said. “The very fact that we are European makes us stand out from the crowd in the U.S., and I like to think that we match the American studios in terms of quality and value.”
Check them out at eurocreme.com, eurocremestore.com, rudeboiz.com.
