Sometimes, there's a perception that the world has not changed since 1997 when I started. But, it has a lot.noescape123 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:30 pm John you could be the big daddy of the producers. You can offer much more than just porn. So far, no one has surpassed any of your multi-girl movies. I've been buying from you for years. These multi-girl movies were on a whole different level.
Seeing a multigirl movie and not understanding how the economics of that worked over time is likely because, you are an observer. You get the finished product, are happy, and do not want to know how the sausage is made---just glad it tastes good.
But, I have to know all that. So, when I had a multigil shoot, it was being funded in 3 ways.
#1). In the early, early days of PKF, prior to 2009, when the effects of the financial crisis had not hit pocketbooks yet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial ... %80%932008), sales could keep up with the cost of talent and rents to allow me to create the occasional multigirl movie.
#2). Around 2009, when sales dropped by 70-80% over the course of 3-4 months when the crisis really hit (Nov 08-Feb 09) pocketbooks after all those banks and institutions started failing and even more over 09 when all those bailouts were happening, money for productions started shifting from sales supporting shoots to sales supporting income (rent, utilities, bills, etc). And with the up and down nature of sales, sometime a reserve would allow a larger multigirl booking on spec that there would be customs. So I would kick in 50% or more of those production costs, to help people fund multigirl customs.
#3. Then, after a few more self-funded and co-funded projects in 2010, it was clear that the economy not only killed supportive sales (even as bigger and more complex projects were being produced, but pirates were deliberately targeting our fetish by convincing certain individuals to download low quality pirated versions. And apparently, many did, which further weakened sales and that recovery never happened. So the shift was made to only schedule productions based on anticipated funding by customs or for specific stand-a-lone customs. I was still supplimenting the cost of customs by 40-50%, plus by that time had a big infrastructure, in my studio, props, clothing and talent that I had built over the years. And, any project I shot and edited was at my own cost. I have never charged for my personal skillset.
And that is how it went from 2011 to 1015.
I have always had repetitive content---even from back in the Ruemorgue days. Certain scenarios are repeated with different models for time reasons or because they are scripted customs.However, lately I have noticed that your films are becoming monotonous.
They come from all over the world. In fact, there are many folks on this vary forum that have ordered customs from me over the years and before that, from Ruemorgue.It's just a fact. I don’t know where these peers come from but I don't need to see a preview or anything like that to know what’s going to happen.
There are many customers that love knowing what is going to happen. In fact, I would say that is probably the majority based on my interactions. I have correspondence with many all the time, asking if a particular movie will have a certain plot-line just like some other movie.
Luckily, while the vast majority of my movies serve the fetish by being consistent in content, there are a good many---though far from a majority of "special projects" to cater to others. With 1000's of movies available it is not about what all of them are together, but what one individual movie is to someone. If in all those movies, you only find the one that you like and only buy that one movie, I am perfectly happy. For the one and done customer there are many that go the opposite and nearly collect every movie----and the majority are right in the middle (like politics).
In 2016, the studio was lost. Rent went up 64% and became unaffordable. From 2016-mid-2018, I shot in a house and could not change any sets during that time. Cost of models continued to go up. A few multigirl shoots were done--all funding by customs, and I was still able to provide cost offset supplementation.As a returning customer, I know what I'm buying and just hope to see something surprising from JohnM but unfortunately, nothing, nothing that takes my attention anymore.
In mid 2018, after a long struggle with studio managers over the years that caused more harm then good, I decided to go back to the way I was creating movies when I started PKF in 2006. So in Summer of 2018, I secured a few locations to rent when needed, and started all over with new props (all the props I previously collected over the years went away--long story).
After I did that, for the first time since 2009, sales were actually going back up (though nothing like compared to the days of pre-2009). From 2018-Feb of 2020, a combination of sales, and customs kept the company stable. And since I was doing everything again, everything was being done right. But, costs had gone up tremendously. For instance, a movie that might have cost $3000 in 2008, cost nearly $21,000 in the summer of 2019. Luckily most productions were 2 girls or less and more manageable financially. But, obviously, booking many, many girls like the old days would mean someone coming in with lots and lots if disposable cash. Most people I know--including myself, do not have that. I am a producer---sounds exciting, but my take home pay is less then the US median income. I think I would be considered lower middle class....meaning, I can afford to go to Red Lobster or Applebees once a month if I am lucky...and Disneyland is now too expensive to visit in the foreseeable future.
Not really, I suck at it. Debilitating anxiety and bouts of depression, plus some pesky ADHD, and other issues make me just a human man. And like most, sometimes the simplist thing can put me off and I just quite what I am doing and go watch reruns of The Office, or sleep.I think you are someone who can take criticism well and I read that too.
Yeah, I have counted 2-3 recently. But, honestly most emails, DM's and PM's and Discord posts are positive. But, I get it. You are seeing templated scenarios and even though I add something special in, and give everything I do the special touch, that is not something everyone notices. And certainly, putting different girls through the same scenarios could get boring.But I notice that I am not the only one who has criticism and I still doubt whether the peers are at the right address.
I have found over the years, most watch for the girl regardless of the scenario. But, as I said, I always try to change something when I do those, or put an easter egg in for the truly dedicated. The amount of pop culture references and sendups from scenes in mainstream cinema are numerous. I am one of those nerd-types.
FYI--most BDSM type content you saw from 2009-2018 were because of a studio manager I had at the time. BDSM is not really my thing. I did my best to make the movies I directed look good. But in that time, I was only directing and editing 25-30% of those movies. The majority were being made for the Dirty Deeds, Deathcut and Mainstream C4S stores, which I had nothing to do with. The only movies I count are movies I both direct and edit. So if you are referring to the other producers movies....not me.They can better apply to Missax or another BDSM producer with the porn scripts. They will get some amazing shots there of the pussy’s… You are not one of these producers.
I digress...
There seems to be a stigma against porn. I figure that is mostly an individual thing and some psychology of it. I don't care. I have been seeking out pussy shots since 1997 and have never changed. I like it. It is a brutal business with a average to bad income. So if there is one silver lining, it is a pretty pussy from time to time.
As far as porn or actual sex, that is simply a function of who was hired, what they were hired for, and what the customs required. The only way I could change that is not take the customs. And without customs I would not be able to schedule any shoots, which would eliminate that chance of making that one special movie that you want to see.
This brings me to the new reality, which I will cover after the final quote.
The old JohnM was just me, alone, no production help, nothing. And that is what I am now, again. Except this time, I am actually....old. In the old days I was hiring locals and cranking out 8-10 movies a day as fast and as sloppy as possible--fixing most of it with creative editing. Today, March 2020 and on, I am also hiring locals, but only able to crank out 2-3 movies a day. Why? Because I am OLD. Also, because I take a lot more time. I like to set up lights. Add splashes of color to the set (aka Wes Anderson). I take multiple takes and passes. I also have to work alone. No production assistant. I set up everything. I haul all the equipment. I prep and load camera, intake media, provide lunch, etc. And the products come out great. Since 2019, I no longer quick cut all the sequences to hide blinks, but meticulously remove them with rotoscoping and digital effects. So now instead of the camera cutting every couple seconds, there are 20sec to several minute shots---no blinks. And lots of other changes, like upping the overall quality of files. I also shoot on much better equipment since 2019.You have much more to offer. I know this. I hope we see the old JohnM again someday! Until then, I'm not going to convert money into Bitcoin and then buy one of your porn movies after 2/3 hours waiting for the Bitcoin to be transferred. It’s just not worth it anymore :(
But back to what it is like now. Since March of 2020, I no longer pay 40-50% of the cost of the custom because, I simply do not have the money. Any profit, covers that months bills. Some months I am short and have had to save it by credit card. It is a struggle and when I book a production, it is because someone is funding it.
I guess I would turn it back to you now. Now that you know that since 2009, sales supports infrastructure only and not productions, what would you suggest? How would you schedule shoots without money? Models will not work on spec.
You can let me know how to take break even sales (sales covers bills---mortgage, utilities, etc) and customs to make what you want to see. Keep in mind, that the people funding the productions with customs, do so because in exchange for the money I get to schedule the production, I make their custom. And most people like the customs, because they are paying for more complicated plots in most cases.
In fact, the last movie I just released, Strangled in Her Socks, https://www.pkfstudios.com/updates/stra ... her-socks/, sold more then most other things I have released this year. And the previous release, that you initially commented after, did really, really well. (I mean in the scope of things. Nothing sells more than 2 digits since 2009.
Thanks!
JohnM