An exploratory pilot episode for what would become the burgeoning new all-male paysite RodsRoom.com first came to life several years ago, under the expansive artistic vision of Adult Time CCO Bree Mills and co-directors Michael Vegas and Siouxsie Q. That episode featured an alluring POV/gonzo aesthetic mixed with the lush, saturated colors and brightly lit appeal of glamcore erotica. Vegas himself took on the persona of “Rod,” a camera operator and voyeur who remained offscreen as he teased and tempted a pair of handsome men into exploring each other’s sculpted physiques.
The vignette, titled “Peeping Todd” and featuring Johnny Ford and 2022 XBIZ Gay Performer of the Year Michael Boston, first appeared among the offerings from newly launched gay studio Disruptive Films and was an immediate standout, recalls Jeremy Babcock, COO of parent production company Alpha Studio Group, whose purview includes Disruptive and Next Door Studios, as well as Active Duty and Pride Studios.
Our members really want to be able to immerse themselves in fantasy right now.
“‘Peeping Todd’ started as a scene with the Michael Vegas crew, right around the launch of Disruptive,” says Babcock. “And we reacted to it the same way the industry reacted: ‘That’s really cool! Do more of that!’ Michael does a really good job of grabbing that sunny, warm, saturated look. We all thought that we should do more with the concept, but it wasn’t meant to start a new line. We just really liked the look and feel of it.”
The vignette shared visual similarities with early content offerings from Disruptive, whose first feature, “The Last Course,” nabbed the XBIZ Award for Gay Movie of the Year — but Babcock soon realized that “Peeping Todd” didn’t quite fit in. Early feedback from website members stressed how this particular piece of content felt different from everything else. Nevertheless, Babcock didn’t want to abandon a concept that had popped so readily with industry observers.
In gay porn, he observes, an overall aesthetic is often less important to consumers than the actual model, whereas on the straight side, “fans will watch the same model over and over and over again, so the aesthetic becomes a very real part of the experience.”
“I was at the XBIZ Awards ceremony in January and as I watched the clip packages for all of these categories, it was fascinating to realize how wildly different those clips looked from gay porn,” Babcock recalls. “Why is that? What can we do about it? I can really geek out about this idea.”
Under Babcock’s supervision, Disruptive and Next Door have enjoyed success with the introduction of higher production values, layered storytelling and emotionally complex characters. However, he came to understand that the glamorous gonzo POV of Rod’s Room was a flavor best experienced on its own platform. “Peeping Todd” was eventually released on DVD, in the Disruptive Films title “Young Again.” Meanwhile, with its own web brand, the Rod’s Room creative team began tweaking its formula in response to member feedback, such as by pulling back on the offscreen voice of Vegas’ “Rod” character.
“Our audience told us they didn’t want a narrator, so to speak,” Babcock says. “It seemed to break the spell for them. They were very clear with us about that. They liked the intimacy of gonzo, which you don’t really see from the gay side. But they didn’t want to share their experience with anyone else.
“I have this theory,” he continues. “Our members really want to be able to immerse themselves in fantasy right now. I think that’s why the POV or gonzo aspect of Rod’s Room really popped, but not so much with the narrator aspect. Members are looking for total immersion. We can theorize all day about why content is trending this way. But I think that’s why the deeper storylines we’ve introduced in our other products, like Next Door Films, is really resonating. And Disruptive has been our most successful new product for the last five years on the gay side. It’s about taking what skills and staffing you have and really putting them to work in a new way.”
New faces are always going to sell, of course. But new models no longer need to come to a studio. “They can go right to OnlyFans or JustFor.fans,” Babcock notes. “So let’s lean into what we already know we can do well.”
Plus, he adds, this kind of storytelling is simply more fun.
“I just got back from Montana where I got to make a cowboy movie,” he shares. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”
Babcock sees this kind of experimentation with form and function as intrinsic to the continued health and survival of studio-shot content.
“We’re not competing with other studios anymore,” he notes. “Our direct competition right now is OnlyFans and similar platforms, so we have to bring an extra layer to what we do. There’s still a lot of the hotel room/one camera stuff, of course. But some creators have really evolved what they do, to the point that it looks like it was shot by a studio. That’s where Rod’s Room comes in, I think. It fits right into that little gap that we believe will expand tremendously over the next, oh, five years or so. Fans still get that intimacy and authenticity they crave but with an added level of gloss and production value.”
He draws a parallel between Rod’s Room and the bold swing taken by Bree Mills when she launched luxury brand Transfixed on Adult Time a few years ago. Its inaugural vignette, pairing Venus Lux with Cherie DeVille in a lavishly art-directed fantasy, was an industry ground-shaker.
“Bree does such a great job of expanding the boundaries of what you might expect and then working closely within them,” Babcock said. “It’s been fun to learn from some of the things they’re doing and bring them to our side. Transfixed offered fans something they never really got to see, which is their favorite trans models in a brand-new light. We’ve learned the guys on our side really enjoy that, too. The models for Rod’s Room are carefully cultivated. We only really cast guys who want to engage with the camera and who are very comfortable having gay sex.”
Babcock enjoys member feedback that points out how often the models on Rod’s Room are smiling.
“It goes back to that immersive fantasy,” he says. “The models, while they’re filming, feel very comfortable and engaged. We just had a guy shooting for Rod’s Room who came hands-free for the first time in his whole life. He was just feeling fully engaged with what he was doing.
“The guys can feel like fashion models for once,” Babcock added. “They enjoy opening themselves up and bringing in the viewer. Michael Boston and Johnny Ford are so good at making you feel as if you’re in the room with them and that you’re part of the action. I think that’s why ‘Peeping Todd’ popped like it did; Michael Vegas really captured that intimacy and gave it a saturated, warm feel that made the experience a real pleasure. It’s porn in its purest form.”
Image (L-R): Devin Franco, Jkab Ethan Dale, DeAngelo Jackson via RodsRoom.com.
