LOS ANGELES — Adult star Nick Manning told XBIZ Friday he has signed a management deal with Up Late Productions/Advanced Management for mainstream entertainment projects and will co-star in a movie called “Vengeance” that will begin shooting in late 2012.
The popular performer, who has more than 750 movies and 2,000-something sex scenes to his credit, said that he isn’t calling himself “retired” from porn, but this opportunity was a sign that it’s “time to move on.”
“It appears to me that my career is heading in a different direction at least for now,” Manning said from his native Chicago, where he is taking several business meetings. “There’s not much for me to do [in porn]. Anything that was ever worthwhile I’ve done already.”
As he juggled various outside projects this year such as his book, documentary and completing two country songs, Manning already had been extra selective about performing in porn scenes. Then during the summer he chose to focus on finishing the first cut of a biopic he self-produced called “Droppin’ Loads: The Legend of Nick Manning.”
The 80-minute biopic, which was edited by porn producer Guy Capo, includes exclusive footage from Manning’s early days as a performer as well as newer footage combined with anecdotes from more than 70 different film sets collected by Manning’s friend, Duke Mulholland, a prolific writer and seasoned porn production pro.
Manning said that his attorney Noah connected him with Up Late Productions and Advanced Management, which are headed by a former Hollywood agent Gary Ousdahl and his producing partner Daniel Costanzo. They signed Manning after seeing the screener for his biopic and reading the manuscript of his book Droppin’ Loads.
Now Advanced Management will be handling any re-edits of the Manning biopic as well as its sale and distribution. At least one major cable network has already expressed interest, Manning said.
“And they’re putting me in this new movie that will start shooting in November or December,” Manning said. “The budget for it is $3 to $4 million.”
He added half-jokingly, “My mainstream career is better now than when I was in mainstream. So that didn’t play out like everyone thought.”
Meanwhile, Manning recently completed his second country song, titled “Shania,” which is the follow-up to his first single “Early Grave,” which has been available on iTunes and Amazon since June. Both songs he wrote and performed.
“In 1997 while I was modeling in Miami, I met a friend of mine named Dotan Baer on a sports commercial for Latin America where I played as a baseball player,” Manning explained. “Stuck on set for long hours with nothing to do, we began singing outlaw country songs by artists we both knew like Waylon [Jennings] and Willie [Nelson], Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., David Allan Coe, Kris Kristofferson, George Jones and Merle Haggard. After the commercial, Dotan encouraged me to write a few songs that I could record.”
Manning took Baer’s advice and wrote the lyrics for six songs and got them copyrighted. But years went by without Manning taking the next step “because I never really met anyone interested in writing the music for them.”
Then this past spring, Manning mentioned the songs to his documentarian Charles Barker.
“He said his friend Brooks Fallin was a guitarist and sound engineer and might be interested in recording with me,” Manning continued. “I sang the songs a capella for Brooks and he came up with the tune.”
The song “Early Grave’ made its premiere in June on Cleveland's “The Mo Radio Show," which has had Manning on as a guest every Friday since 2001. His new single “Shania,” which is registered with BMI, is “about what I want to do to Shania Twain,” Manning said.
“My dad was a farmer/rancher from the Midwest so I grew up listening to all his country music. I guess that's where my interest in country started and I used to sing for my teammates on long baseball trips,” Manning said. “I was always a fan of the real outlaws of country music. I guess that makes sense because I'm the outlaw of porn.”
Follow Manning and Up Late Productions on Twitter @MrNickManning and @uplateprods. Photo by LADirectModels.com.
