Films like Falcon Studio's “Taking Flight,” COLT Studio's “Buckleroos” and Lucas Entertainment's "Lost" will be added to a roster including Hot House's “Perfect Fit,” Raging Stallion's “GayDreams 2” and the Jet Set/NakedSword.com gaytime drama “Wet Palms,” filmed in Los Angeles.
Naked Sword began operating in late 1997 as the offspring of parent company Cubik Media. Cubik had started as a mainstream web media firm during the previous year, but The Gay Movie Channel, which soon morphed into Naked Sword, quickly became Cubik’s bread and butter.
The company and its studio space are housed in a converted bathhouse in San Francisco.
Cubik Media still maintains many of its early mainstream clients, in addition to rebuilding and maintaining NakedSword.com in-house. “We really pride ourselves on the look and feel of it,” Senior Media Manager Michael Stabile told XBiz, saying that in the dot-com crash, “the adult [content] really held us together.”
Stabile noted that the mostly gay staff members of Naked Sword are active participants in the site's design, and described the site as efficient and aesthetically pleasing in addition to accessible. Enjoying the content “makes the job interesting,” Stabile said. “It makes everyone comfortable, because we like to watch what we’re presenting for our members.”
Naked Sword has two main pay models, a membership area and an “E-ticket” option. The E-Ticket is a pay-per-view schema that often feeds the membership area. “Many people start on the site by looking at E-Ticket offerings,” Stabile said, “and then they become members once they’re used to how things work.”
Stabile added that the membership area is more affordable than the E-Ticket pay-per-view section, but that many of the films offered in both areas overlap.
Naked Sword also has a free area, offering a monthly staff “Dream Team” selection of iconic gay performers as well as original content like the “Tim and Roma! Show” industry news webcast.