Las Vegas, Nevada has long been thought of as “Sin City.” The legalized gambling, the casinos, the strip clubs, the mob influence, the Las Vegas porn conventions & the nearby legal prostitution have made Vegas a hub for all manner of vice. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” the infamous brainchild catchphrase of a public relations company in 2003, has become one of the most famous & successful city slogans in history. The perpetuated idea, for marketing purposes, is that Las Vegas is the go-to spot for all things naughty, carnal, hedonistic & immoral… does that sound like porno to you? Vegas aims to be the American capital of lasciviousness, reminiscent of Pleasure Island in Pinocchio. The only difference, according to the marketing campaign: there are no lasting consequences to your “bad behavior”; in Vegas, you can drink, gamble, smoke, suck & fuck… and then you go back home & it’s as if none of it ever happened.
Las Vegas has been home to the porn industry’s most popular awards show, the AVN Awards, since 1984. Based on everything we’ve mentioned about it so far, it’s no wonder that your average civilian (porn industry outsider) would guess that Las Vegas is the epicenter of the American porn industry.
History of the Porn Industry in Las Vegas
Indeed, Las Vegas, Nevada, is currently one of the top cities for adult film production in the United States, but this only recently became the case. Until 2012-2013, Los Angeles, California (one State & about a 5-hour drive west of Las Vegas) was always the porn Capital of the Country. Los Angeles is where 75%-80% of the production companies, studios & distributors were. Although Las Vegas has always been home to a small number of gay & straight porn studios, it was never anything like Los Angeles… until 2012.
In 2012, a porn industry-hating man named Michael Weinstein successfully pulled one over on the 4 million registered voters of Los Angeles. It’s excellent for Mr. Weinstein that he’s skilled at hoodwinking large groups of voters because if you look at the guy… well, let’s say he’s not going to be winning any beauty contests or magazine covers anytime soon. Weinstein also tried the same thing on a broader California statewide scale, but thankfully he failed at that.
Me and @DannyMountain10 ran into Michael Weinstein at the gym. My husband gave the him a piece of his mind???? pic.twitter.com/XGvWA4RCHx
— Mia Malkova (@MiaMalkova) November 20, 2016
Here’s how Weinstein’s scheme worked: he got a harmless-looking, wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing measure placed on Los Angeles voters’ ballots. Essentially it read, ‘let’s protect adult film industry workers from AIDS.’ Who wouldn’t support that? It wasn’t just about forcing porn actors to use condoms, even though legitimate, professional adult films are never shot with condoms. (Just like Hollywood movies, porn movies are about fantasy, and only a weirdo would fantasize about fucking someone with a condom.)
Buried deep in the small print of Weinstein’s Measure (the part that he knew 95% of voters don’t read), there was a litany of red tape for Los Angeles porn producers:
- They’d need to get special licensing & pay an annual fee.
- They’d need to undergo special “blood-borne pathogen training.”
- In addition to condoms, porn actors would also need to wear masks, gloves & goggles. (Makes for a hell of a porno, right?)
The professional adult film industry had already been successfully regulating itself for decades, requiring every performer to test at an official porn testing clinic, at least once every 14-30 days & to show proof thereof, for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea & many other STDs & STIs. No test = no work. The HIV testing performed by the porn clinics is far more stringent than that executed by civilian (non-porn industry) clinics & doctors’ offices. Professional pornstars are, per capita, cleaner than your average Joe or Jane walking down the street. It’s statistically safer to have unprotected sex with a professional pornstar than it is to do the same with your average Joe or Jane at your local college, bar or nightclub.
Nowadays, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is readily available, which effectively works like an immunization against HIV. When combined with regular, stringent porn industry testing, PrEP makes it essentially impossible to have an on-set transmission of HIV.
Weinstein didn’t want to share any of this information with L.A. County voters (most likely because, as the head of the Aids Healthcare Foundation, he earns money from the SPREAD of HIV, not its CONTAINMENT); he just wanted his anti-porn Measure to pass. Unfortunately (but fortunately for the Las Vegas economy), Weinstein got what he wanted in L.A.
Real porn isn’t shot with condoms, and it never will be. The result of the Weinstein scheme is that a large amount of porn production companies immediately packed their bags & moved east to Las Vegas. (This is how the bustling Las Vegas porn industry came to be.)
Los Angeles has lost a massive amount of tax revenue from the industry exodus. LAist reports, “The four years following the passage of Measure B saw a 95% drop in porn [film production] permits for Los Angeles… The $5 billion-a-year adult film industry had employed over 10,000 people a decade ago, but now employs around 2,000.” Some adult film producers remained in Southern California but started taking the quick drive, for shoots, to neighboring Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange & San Diego counties. Other producers decided to keep everything the same since the Measure doesn’t include any viable means of enforcing itself.
Regardless, the Las Vegas porn business is now bustling & vibrant. In a way, Michael Weinstein could be called a “founding father” of the Las Vegas porn industry. Without Weinstein’s vendetta & crusade against porn in general, and specifically in California, the Las Vegas porn industry would not be thriving, as it is today.
Vegas Porn Companies
Las Vegas is home to some of the top gay & straight porn production companies. Our performers are promoted to all of them. Join our performer roster, and our office will work diligently to get you booked by all of the Las Vegas porn companies that you’re suited for.
Porn Jobs in Las Vegas
The Las Vegas porn companies are always looking for new talent. First & foremost, that includes on-camera talent. There’s plenty of behind-the-scenes porn jobs in Las Vegas available as well. These include opportunities for video editors, photographers, videographers, production assistants, makeup artists, sound technicians and more.
Porn Studios
There are several options for professional adult-friendly sound stages throughout Las Vegas, as well as an abundance of adult-friendly commercial & residential shooting locations that are available for rent.
Property & studio owners can contact us for advertising rates, to be featured here.
Las Vegas Porn Agencies
As half of the Los Angeles porn production headed east to Las Vegas following the passage of Measure B (the “L.A. condom law”), several of the L.A. porn agencies also opened offices here. Unfortunately, most L.A. porn agents are pimps & madams in talent agent’s clothing, and it’s been that way for decades.
Here’s how their scheme works: naïve, inexperienced, aspiring pornstars trust these so-called “licensed & bonded porn agents” with their brand-new careers in the professional adult film business. The agents may (or may not) get the new performers some legit porn gigs. Still, when bookings slow down (which they will) or don’t come in at all, the “agents” have a magic solution holstered & ready to go: “well look, honey, it’s not porn, but we happen to have an endless supply of ‘distinguished gentlemen’ that will pay good money to fuck you in a nice hotel room. No, there’s no camera rolling. No, there’s no security in the room with you. We know they’re not tested for HIV & STDs like professional porn actors, AND we know it’s illegal, AND we know it’s not what you signed up to do, AND we know you might get beaten or worse, but YOLO, right? It’s not porn, but we don’t identify it as ‘prostitution’ because it’s ‘high end.’ So, we call it ‘escorting’ to make you feel better.“
Until very recently, the State of California & the federal government have turned a blind eye to this illegal & immoral baiting and switching. Although we’re ecstatic to finally see the California Attorney General taking action against a small number of these scumbags, the same bait-and-switch scam is pervasive throughout most (if not all) of the major porn talent agencies. To make matters worse, unlike California, Nevada has no licensing requirements for talent agencies, and Nevada tends to be even more prostitution-friendly than California.
If you’re looking to join the legit Las Vegas porn industry and to get booked only by lawful, professional adult film producers (with ZERO so-called “escorting” or prostitution offers), then you need to secure professional adult industry talent management BEFORE contacting any so-called porn agencies or production companies. When entering a new industry – and especially this one – it’s a good idea to have a professional, experienced talent management squad watching your back.
Is It Legal to Shoot Porn in Las Vegas, Nevada?
First Amendment attorney Marc J. Randazza writes, “The legal status of adult film production in Nevada is clear; under Nevada law, porn is not prostitution. Thus, it cannot be prosecuted as such…“
Legal disclaimer: We are not attorneys, this is not legal advice, and you should consult with your own attorney.
AVN Convention
The AVN Awards show has been held annually in Las Vegas since 1984. The AEE (Adult Entertainment Expo), more commonly known as the “AVN Convention” or simply as “the Las Vegas porn convention,” is always the same weekend as the AVN Awards show.
The AVN awards show & convention are entertaining, but they’re more for the hardcore fans of porn & fans of pornstars (and those after the fans’ money) and less about actual intra-industry networking.
Held on the same weekend as the AEE is another unaffiliated & much less known networking event for the shot-callers & movers-and-shakers of the porn industry. There are no fans there, just the people that make porn happen. If your porn agent only talks about the AVN convention and not this other industry-only event, then it’s probably time to find a new agent because yours is not connected.
If you’re just a fan of porn and not trying to join the industry, then the AVN convention is honestly a great time. On the other hand, if you are looking to join the industry, you should apply with our Company for talent management. Our staff attends both events.
