CNN Reports on ‘Porn Recession’

NEW YORK — It seems like CNN is just catching onto the effects the U.S. economy as a whole has had on the adult film industry — something those in the business have known for quite a while.

The news agency posted a three-minute video report Tuesday on CNN.com from Kareen Wynter detailing the effects the economic downturn has had on the adult industry’s bottom line.

“Business has been difficult; it’s been trying,” Wicked Pictures Vice President of Special Projects Joy King told CNN. “A lot of companies have gone out of business; companies are shooting fewer movies.”

The brief piece also explores performers’ scene rates and the downturn in production.

“Companies don’t have the budgets that they had five years ago,” King said. “So maybe where in the past a girl was making $1,200 a scene [the companies] may now say ‘I can only afford $1,000. Do you want the work?’”

Also featured in the report is Lisa Ann who claims that online piracy and free online porn is hurting her website membership numbers to the tune of 30-50 percent.

While the overall economic picture painted isn’t rosy, Wynter interviews new performer Angela Attison who saw porn as a new opportunity for herself and her family. She started performing after being laid off at her civilian job, and says that she makes two to three times more in porn than she did previously, and the shorter hours and fewer workdays allows Attison to spend more time with her children.

“I never saw myself doing anything like this,” Attison told CNN. “It does pay more, and I’m working less, and I’m home with my kids more. I love that.”

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