FULL QUESTION:

I know that shooting scenes pay a fairly across the board rate, right? BJ only.....straight BG.....etc. But what about now that we are all in a 'recession'?? Do companies start offering less and less? Or am I wrong on that? It's not like there is a lack of supply for willing girls, huh? I'm sure it can be very competitive, right? Is there alot of 'take it or leave it' attitude from producers/companies?


DESI'S ANSWER:

The economy is definitely affecting our whole rate system as well as the amount of work that's available. I hear every day or so of companies that have laid people off or have shut down production at least temporarily. From what I've witnessed since being in The Biz over a year now, it hasn't been stable yet so only promises to get worse. Some things happened before we got into the industry that most will say destabilized it all well over a year ago. Here's the gist of what I can gather from it all. It's been tough to get solid answers on this one:

From what it sounds like, the agents used to get a fee when they referred a girl for her first shoot with a company. Thus, the agency fee. It was a one time fee like a referral fee. Agents made their money from the commissions on the shoots. Somewhere, that got changed and a fee was then charged each time the girl shot. How this came about is where it gets murky. You book a girl through an agency, you pay an agency fee plus the girls rate. The agent now gets a commission from the girl on her rate, usually 10% plus an agency fee, I've heard anywhere from $50-$200 per booking. So I've been told when the agents started getting paid an agency fee every single time a girl's booked, the companies said it was too much for them to pay, sales had already been down for some time, so they lowered the girls rates. Now, the girls look at this as "now we pay the agent twice, once for commission and then the ($100) agency fee that was part of my old shoot rate which now goes to the agent. I, as the girl, lost a $100 in this deal. The agents gained an ongoing fee. The agents feel differently about what happened here. But from everything I've gathered and gone over, this is the bottom line of what happened. I'm not sure how you deduce anything else from what the facts above are.

I've heard from both agents and girls that producers aren't paying on time or at all. We've had a couple that were tough to collect. Elli had a $350 BJ scene that took 7 weeks to get, if you'll remember back in December. A good rate for a BJ scene but not if you can't collect it. Our agents have helped us by deferring commissions or paying for tests at times. People wonder why I talk about our agents a lot and that is why. They will get us work if at possible and they worry about our issues along the way. But agents have some big time outstanding payments to collect themselves. And many of those same companies that owe them are folding.

Our rates are down and dropping and the work is getting more scarce. There's not many b/g's being shot, instead lots of small stuff that gets us all through. It causes tension with everyone every time this happens. Girls will take a lower price to pay bills. Or they go around agents to save the agent fee for the company and they will pay the girls full rates. It upsets the balance and pisses the agents off. I think most of it's economical but some producers may take advantage when they hear the going rates being paid. The smaller companies we normally shoot for pay alittle less all the time.  It's the bigger ones dropping to the indie's lower rates and the bigger ones are the ones with all the money. Go figure right?? There's alot of onging debate about this whole issue. 

The truth is, if you look at the facts above, everyone is contributing to the problems we're having in Porn Valley. Because it's always been such a don't ask, don't tell kind of business, there's not much of a team approach to fixing the problems. Everyone points the finger at someone else and there's always a hidden agenda. But the fact really is that the system only works if everyone participates in making it work. The agents started a trade association. I'd like to see the girls do the same. That or get a union!!

It's much like our country these days. The Bush Administration divided our country like never before. Our unions are all busted up. Corporate America has sucked the worker bees dry. Look at the results of what we have now!!

So, my opinion.  Economy is hurting the worker bees the most here just as everywhere else in America. But you can't support any system without the worker bees so the answer is . . .  Fix it for the worker bees and they will in turn support the system. Until then, more and more girls go independent and work with smaller indie producers. We still all have bills to pay but our bills are to live, not for big houses and fancy cars!