I love working in the adult industry, but let me tell you it has been a huge challenge. Some of the stereotypes you hear about porn are true. Like the fact that it is full of guys who basically lack sound business practices and even when you sign a legal contract with them, they have no intention of honoring it.
That may sound harsh, but it has actually happened to me three fucking times! It has been a total nightmare! I like to be honest, and I can say that I am a man of my word. But when you keep getting screwed…it is REALLY frustrating.
Let me give you a couple of examples. When I was starting out, I signed a movie deal with the company that released my very first film, Buck’s Beaver (which earned me my first AVN nomination). Well, after three films, they stopped paying me. I had signed a 12-picture contract with them, but they did they care? Not even.
At first, I'd felt very confident that this was going to be a good situation, and the first two films actually went pretty smoothly and I was pretty happy. Then, all of a sudden my payments stopped, and all the owner of the company gave me from then on was a bunch of excuses.
As bad as the situation was, it actually turned into a blessing in disguise because after I got burned, I decided to launch Buck Angel Entertainment and began producing all of my own films under my own label. Total control!
The next nightmare was with one of the biggest European distribution companies in the adult business. They did the exact same thing! WOW. I was thinking, How can this be happening again?! But the payments just stopped, and since they were located in Holland, it wasn’t like I could just walk over there and pick up my money!
The sad part is, they’d come highly recommended, and after negotiations, I had my lawyer look over the contract. In the beginning, they were great. I went to Europe many times to promote myself, and they actually helped to get me on a couple of TV shows to do promotion. But then BAM! I was out.
I just do not understand treating people that way. How is it possible for these companies to stay in business? Well, needless to say, this company has been going down the tubes, and I watch from afar because I am a huge believer of karma. What goes around definitely comes around.
After getting out from under that mess, I tried another European distributor on the recommendation of a good friend. FUCK! They totally took me for a ride. They never paid me a dime, and basically told me to fuck off, even though…you guessed it, we had a signed contract.
Maybe I should have known. They are a big distributor of bareback porn—which I have a huge problem with, but I’d hoped, since they were willing to take me on and my safe sex movies only, it was a good sign that they were open to the idea that safe-sex porn is good, too. Again, not even.
At the time, it was hard for me to find distribution because my films are so unique and no one wants to take a chance with anything new in this business. So I was always in a situation that I had to sort of take what I could get, which explains why I ended up working with so many questionable business people. I’ve since built my name up and my niche so that now, I can be a lot more selective—and boy, does that feel good.
That brings up is another subject that really upsets me: unsafe sex practices in the adult entertainment industry.
I am a huge advocate and practitioner of safe-sex filmmaking. I am pretty much alone or with a small percentage when I say that I am all for regulation of the adult industry and support making condoms mandatory. I think that we have had many chances to regulate ourselves, but to no avail.
Everyone acts like getting tested makes it “okay” and that we are all “safe.” What they fail to realize is the importance of being responsible filmmakers. Knowing that many viewers don't have any education about safe sex, and when they see all the fucking going on with no condoms, do you think they know or even care that you all got tested? Hell, no!
Even testing has its limitations. Consumers need to see the condoms on the cock. They need to see gloves when fisting; they need to be taught that safe sex is the way it has to be—and that it does not make bad sex.
Because I’ve lost so many friends to AIDS, and also I’m very connected to the HIV community, I feel I have an obligation to spread this message. It’s a message of self-love and respect: If you love and respect your body, then you will do what you must to take care of yourself and others.
When I see movies with girls drinking “buckets of cum” and getting fucking in the ass, and then the pussy, then the ass with no condom I want to scream. Don’t they care? Even if they don’t care about themselves, which is a whole other thing, at least give a shit about teaching people that this is not okay. It’s fucking dirty and causes infections. No wonder the world thinks we are all a bunch of dirty pigs (and not in a good way).
If we did promote safer sex, more people would respect what we do and see that we care. They would see that we want to make sex a positive and enjoyable thing, not something unsafe or dirty that we have to be so secretive about.
I can tell you that a condom sure doesn’t make any difference to my pussy! I don’t have a cock—at least not one that’s attached—so I don’t know what it feels like to have sex wearing a condom or not. But I do know that it cannot feel so good that you’d want to risk your life, or the lives of others just to get off.
I’m sure some people who watch my films think I am fucking disgusting as well—even though I fuck with condoms—and even give blowjobs with condoms. I can’t change the whole world. But one thing I can do is to show that I care. I care what people think about us in the adult industry. I care about trying to make a difference so that people view sex and sexuality as a positive force. That’s a powerful thing to be able to do.
That may sound harsh, but it has actually happened to me three fucking times! It has been a total nightmare! I like to be honest, and I can say that I am a man of my word. But when you keep getting screwed…it is REALLY frustrating.
Let me give you a couple of examples. When I was starting out, I signed a movie deal with the company that released my very first film, Buck’s Beaver (which earned me my first AVN nomination). Well, after three films, they stopped paying me. I had signed a 12-picture contract with them, but they did they care? Not even.
At first, I'd felt very confident that this was going to be a good situation, and the first two films actually went pretty smoothly and I was pretty happy. Then, all of a sudden my payments stopped, and all the owner of the company gave me from then on was a bunch of excuses.
As bad as the situation was, it actually turned into a blessing in disguise because after I got burned, I decided to launch Buck Angel Entertainment and began producing all of my own films under my own label. Total control!
The next nightmare was with one of the biggest European distribution companies in the adult business. They did the exact same thing! WOW. I was thinking, How can this be happening again?! But the payments just stopped, and since they were located in Holland, it wasn’t like I could just walk over there and pick up my money!
The sad part is, they’d come highly recommended, and after negotiations, I had my lawyer look over the contract. In the beginning, they were great. I went to Europe many times to promote myself, and they actually helped to get me on a couple of TV shows to do promotion. But then BAM! I was out.
I just do not understand treating people that way. How is it possible for these companies to stay in business? Well, needless to say, this company has been going down the tubes, and I watch from afar because I am a huge believer of karma. What goes around definitely comes around.
After getting out from under that mess, I tried another European distributor on the recommendation of a good friend. FUCK! They totally took me for a ride. They never paid me a dime, and basically told me to fuck off, even though…you guessed it, we had a signed contract.
Maybe I should have known. They are a big distributor of bareback porn—which I have a huge problem with, but I’d hoped, since they were willing to take me on and my safe sex movies only, it was a good sign that they were open to the idea that safe-sex porn is good, too. Again, not even.
At the time, it was hard for me to find distribution because my films are so unique and no one wants to take a chance with anything new in this business. So I was always in a situation that I had to sort of take what I could get, which explains why I ended up working with so many questionable business people. I’ve since built my name up and my niche so that now, I can be a lot more selective—and boy, does that feel good.
That brings up is another subject that really upsets me: unsafe sex practices in the adult entertainment industry.
I am a huge advocate and practitioner of safe-sex filmmaking. I am pretty much alone or with a small percentage when I say that I am all for regulation of the adult industry and support making condoms mandatory. I think that we have had many chances to regulate ourselves, but to no avail.
Everyone acts like getting tested makes it “okay” and that we are all “safe.” What they fail to realize is the importance of being responsible filmmakers. Knowing that many viewers don't have any education about safe sex, and when they see all the fucking going on with no condoms, do you think they know or even care that you all got tested? Hell, no!
Even testing has its limitations. Consumers need to see the condoms on the cock. They need to see gloves when fisting; they need to be taught that safe sex is the way it has to be—and that it does not make bad sex.
Because I’ve lost so many friends to AIDS, and also I’m very connected to the HIV community, I feel I have an obligation to spread this message. It’s a message of self-love and respect: If you love and respect your body, then you will do what you must to take care of yourself and others.
When I see movies with girls drinking “buckets of cum” and getting fucking in the ass, and then the pussy, then the ass with no condom I want to scream. Don’t they care? Even if they don’t care about themselves, which is a whole other thing, at least give a shit about teaching people that this is not okay. It’s fucking dirty and causes infections. No wonder the world thinks we are all a bunch of dirty pigs (and not in a good way).
If we did promote safer sex, more people would respect what we do and see that we care. They would see that we want to make sex a positive and enjoyable thing, not something unsafe or dirty that we have to be so secretive about.
I can tell you that a condom sure doesn’t make any difference to my pussy! I don’t have a cock—at least not one that’s attached—so I don’t know what it feels like to have sex wearing a condom or not. But I do know that it cannot feel so good that you’d want to risk your life, or the lives of others just to get off.
I’m sure some people who watch my films think I am fucking disgusting as well—even though I fuck with condoms—and even give blowjobs with condoms. I can’t change the whole world. But one thing I can do is to show that I care. I care what people think about us in the adult industry. I care about trying to make a difference so that people view sex and sexuality as a positive force. That’s a powerful thing to be able to do.
Buck, you know I love you before I even start my rambling, but I must anyway.
We honest-to-goodness need more people like you in porn. Yes, many are aware of the monthly testing requirements, but does that really pass on to porn viewers? Of course not. Even if you put a glaring, neon orange PSA before every film that "all performers are tested and we strongly suggest you do the same," people are going to just fast forward and/or say "yeah, whatever."
Part of my at-home work involves answering people's questions, and you wouldn't believe how many sex questions I get where kids as young as 11 and 12 are having unprotected sex. Dental dams, gloves, and condoms aren't even considered. So of course, when young adults and even grown people watch porn, they're going to think it's perfectly okay to dive right into that pussy or take a money shot. Or "oh, he doesn't seem like the type to have an STD." Yeah, okay.
I would love more than anything to see condoms, gloves, and dams as THE standard in porn. Maybe it'd be the jumpstart we need to get sex knowledge and education out of the dark ages.
So Buck, seriously, thank you. Way to prove that you're beautiful inside as well as out.
Buck, thank you for your candor about the sorry state of the industry's ethics. A lot of your sentiments have been mirrored in my posts on various mtf message boards and there has been quite a bit of denial going on there. Standing up for what you believe in very, very tough in this business, but remember that you'll always have allies if you're on the side of right.
~BB~
Deep and passionate article. Thank you Buck, we love you!
It's a sad shame that negative attitudes about sex and sex workers effects how businesses treat said workers.
Great article buddy.
Its a shame that people treat others that way.
As for unsafe sex in porn, I was watching a movie today and saw an ass to pussy to ass, and thought "Isn't that a little unsafe"....
Thank you for the article. It's interesting hearing from someone of the inside of the business