On March 12, Paul Interlandi and Joey Strange of Freedom Distributing/Moonlight Entertainment joined First Amendment attorney Gregory Piccionelli to turn a conference room at the Warner Center Marriott into an adults-only classroom for an all-day, intensive seminar titled, “Adult Entertainment for Fun and Profit.”
“Good morning future pornographers,” said Strange, greeting a room full of budding entrepreneurs hoping to break into the industry.
The seminar, which started at 9 a.m. and ran until 4 p.m., covered all of the details a first-time adult entrepreneur has to consider in order to produce and package a sellable product before approaching an established adult distribution company.
“The idea for a seminar came to Greg and me after the Erotica LA show last year,” Interlandi said. “I can't tell you how many people left me products to screen that were badly flawed and couldn't be distributed. So, we started talking about putting together a class to help those people.”
Topics included legal issues, dealing with talent agencies, hiring production crew, basic lighting and shooting techniques, editing options, shooting for web and cable, box cover design, working with distributors and getting publicity.
“We [wanted] to cover enough bases so that anyone coming from our seminar will at least be able to have a viable product in their hands for the money they spent,” Strange said.
Guest speaker Digital Playground contract starlet Jesse Jane offered a performer’s perspective on the industry.
The $99 course fee included a booklet containing sample contracts, call sheets, video budgets insurance documents and permits that must be filed with the government. The booklet also contained health information and a detailed production checklist.
Interlandi said Freedom Distributing plans to run additional seminars to coincide with the upcoming Erotica Expo NY, May 19-20 at the Penn Plaza Pavilion in New York City, and Erotica LA, June 10-12 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
