THE PIPELINE: APRIL 2005
Spring has sprung my friends and you know what that means. It’s time to say good-bye to the snow and welcome the sun. Some of you still lucky enough to have a Spring Break in your lives can head to Florida for topless fun. The rest of us are happy enough to just see the sun outside the window as we gather our paperwork and prepare to send our yearly tribute to the Feds. It’s also time for baseball again and that’s a good thing in spite all of the steroid talk and lame, political grand-standings by camera-starved congressional whores on both sides of the aisle. Since I followed up a decent Super Bowl pick with a horrendous Final Four selection (I got one out of four right.) I will throw some baseball picks in at the end. So what does spring mean in Porn Valley? Not a whole lot really. It’s pretty much the same as it is all year-round. Sin never sleeps and that means we have the usual roster movement, but also a few major stories to cover. After all, it isn’t every month that one of porn’s most controversial figures turns over a new leaf and one of the biggest star’s the business has ever seen changes companies after more than a decade.
Thomas Zupko has been one of the most controversial figures in porn since he came onto the scene with his movie, “Anal Ball.” The whirlwind of quick-cuts, hard-pounding music and shocking images resonated with porn fans who were looking for something with a bit more edge than the usual adult feature. Zupko found the anything-goes atmosphere at Extreme Associates to be fertile ground for his mixture of rough sex, misogyny and shocking imagery. After moving to Elegant Angel and trying his hand at more straight-forward gonzo, things are changing for the talented director. Zupko is on his own for the first time in his career, shooting for a number of different companies, including Mayhem.
Along with this new career path comes a new outlook on life, the adult business and his place in it. “For most of my life I have believed in giving my heart and soul to the people I work for.” Zupko said. “I was working seven days a week and not looking at anything else. But having that sort of tunnel vision strips away layers of your humanity. You don’t get to become the person that you think you are by doing this. You give and you give, but sometimes you have to sit back and smell the roses. You have to enjoy life. There are so many other beautiful elements of this world that I have overlooked for too long.”
He has shed forty pounds, found a new clarity and sworn off using religious imagery to shock. “My intent going in wasn’t to shock, but to express what I had inside me. I don’t have that inside of me any more.” As for rough sex, Zupko has strong words for those who use it for sport. “You don’t need slapping, spitting and choking to make sex intense. That is the common misconception that people have. You don’t need that stuff to make scenes hot.” For the new Zupko, porn is all about stroking one’s cock, but when the cameras are off his focus is on a higher calling. “I know people in this business who are really good people who have been burned and hurt to the point where they just want to give up. We shouldn’t let that happen. As crazy as this sounds, it shouldn’t be about me, it should be about we. I still put my heart and soul into what I do, but in the end you have to be able to look in the mirror and not want to turn your head away.” Is the world of porn ready for a kinder, gentler Zupko? We’ll have to wait and see, but based on his track record, I wouldn’t bet against the man.
In a signing war not scene since the days of the USFL, Vivid and Club Jenna have been collecting new contract girls like bubble gum cards. (Wow, I am dating myself horribly in this column.) In what has been a non-stop game of ‘can you top this’ the two companies have added names to their roster at a mind-boggling pace. In the past few months Club Jenna has added former JKP contract star Ashton Moore, sexy Canadian Jesse Capelli (A former Perfect 10 model), British bombshell McKenzie Lee and mainstream actress/model Sophia Rossi. Not to be outdone, Vivid has inked deals with Canadian mainstream model Malezia, hard-core up & comer Lanny Barbie, gorgeous Monique Alexander (Who will be taking the turn towards boy/girl scenes) and pulled off the coup de gras by landing a set of identical twins, Lacey and Lyndsey Love. With both sides stock-piling talent like they are ready for war, porn fans are sure to get plenty of great eye candy in the coming months.
With all the new names on their roster, Vivid has lost one of its legends. After 12 years as a Vivid Girl, Janine Lindemulder has flown the coop. The amicable split had much to do with Vivid’s slow release schedule which the legendary performer, soon to be 37, felt might limit her exposure in the final years of her career. “Steve Hirsch and I talked. He knew my situation and is aware of my concerns. I’ve only got a couple more years in this business…I want to make the most of it.” With her days as a Vivid Girl over, Janine made a bee-line over to Digital Playground where she joins an impressive group of contract girls that includes Jesse Jane, Teagan Presley and Devon. Given her love for hot women, Janine’s reaction to her new teammates is not surprising. “I’m not complaining about that at all” she says. Having previously worked with Digital Playground on her “Virtual Sex with Janine” DVD, the move was as smooth as could be expected for a performer who spent nearly her entire career with Vivid. Just last year, Janine ended her long-standing girls-only policy. Her hetero debut was in Vivid’s “Man-Eater” and was followed by seven other boy/girl movies which will be released over the next several years. Among her most memorable scenes, Janine points to a three-way with Mr. Marcus and Sean Michaels as one of her favorites. “I didn’t have a chance to brace myself or get my thoughts together and they just rocked my world. It was fantastic. It was a fantasy that I had thought about since my teenage years and it was a scene that I really wanted.” Most important of all to fans who are happy to see her finally doing guys, Janine adds this promise. “There will be more boy/girl scenes. I am hooked. I should have done boy/girl a long time ago. The guys are great and I have had no complaints. I’m having some of the best sex I’ve had in my life. I am a very happy girl right now.”
Since it’s opening weekend for baseball, let’s close with some predictions. The AL Divisions will be taken by the Yankees, the Twins and the Angels with the Red Sox and Indians as wild card teams. In the NL, it will be the Braves, Cardinals and Padres with the Mets and Cubs taking wild card spots. I picked the Yankees over the Cubs last year and this year I’m taking the Yankees to beat the Cardinals. Here’s hoping that the Angles and Padres prove me wrong. Until next month, enjoy the new Vivid Girls and be on the lookout for Mason as the newest Hustler contract director. (More details next month.)
