Dion Giarrusso Interview

Jan 2003
INTERVIEW- DION GIARRUSSO

We're here at the Red Light District booth with Dion, the owner of RLD. When did Red Light start?

In November of 2001.

A little more than a year ago. You've come a long way in a year.

I would say so.

You guys were at the show last year.

Last year was our first show. Andrew from Jaded was kind enough to share his booth with us. He is a gentleman who maintained our web site for us as well. He's been great to us.

Have you noticed a different sort of fan reaction this year as compared to last?

We got some good feedback last year, but we only had two titles on the shelves. Now we have 55 titles and the feedback is great. People love the product, they love the quality and they love the fact that we do simultaneous video and DVD release.

You've done that from beginning haven't you?

Yes we have and it's been a big help to us.

Before forming RLD, you worked for Elegant Angel for a long time.

Elegant Angel is the only company I have ever worked for in the adult industry. I worked for Patrick for five years as his general manager.

What brought on the decision to move out and start your own company?

There was no disrespect to Elegant Angel, but it was time for a change. I like to compare it to football. It's like how John Gruden was with the Raiders and now he's with Tampa Bay. It's good for the Raiders and it's good for Tampa Bay. It's good that I moved on. We all won. Elegant Angel is doing fine, God bless them and Red Light is doing great.

How does Vince Vouyer fit in?

The company is owned by myself, my brother and Vince. All three of us own Red Light District.

Vince was also at Elegant before Red Light.

When I was at Elegant Angel, Vince and I were friends. We used to ride motorcycles together. He was happy at Anabolic and Diabolic, but he wanted more. He was interested in ownership. Chris and Greg own Anabolic and Diabolic and they aren't going to give up ownership. They don't have to and I don't think they should. If I owned Anabolic and had that name recognition, I wouldn't let anyone own anything either. Vince talked to me about working for me at Elegant Angel. He was only getting one movie a month and he was looking for more. I told him I could give him two because I was in the middle of making changes at Elegant. Our product was slipping and I wanted to get back to where it needed to be. The only way to do that was to get better players. Vince asked Greg and Chris for more and they couldn't give it to him. He told them he was coming to work for me at Elegant and I gave him two movies a month. I gave him bigger budgets than anyone else at Elegant had.

Did that create any resentment?

Not that I know of. It's common sense. You don't pay Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher the same. Vince is a star. I have never in my life seen someone care so much about what he does. He is not just working for a paycheck. He knows that for him to make money, quality is a huge factor. So he came to Elegant at a time when I was planning to start a company of my own called Volcanic. My plan was to have him work for Elegant and then let him own something at Volcanic. I told Pat that I would give him ownership at Volcanic, but that part didn't work out. It was time for me to move on. I let him keep Volcanic and I started Red Light District. A day after I left, Patrick fired Vince Vouyer. I want to thank him for firing Vince. Vince called me and told me that he was fired and that he wanted to be with me. From that day on, he has been with me. I told him that I wanted him as a partner and as head of production so that all product and any directors we hire, would go through him. In the six years I have been in this business, I've never seen anyone care as much as he does.

David Luger is also shooting for you, how did he come on?

I was in my office and I got a call. David was a fan who faxed me a letter when I was at Elegant Angel. He was a student in Maryland at the time and said that he wanted to come work for us. I liked what he had to say so I brought him out from Maryland. I brought David Luger into this business. He was a journalism major and a bright guy so we put him in charge of PR. I've always liked him. He wanted to direct and at Elegant Angel, anyone can direct. It didn't work out at Elegant for David so he went on and did some stuff for Pleasure, West Coast and other companies. He called me one day and told me he was looking for a home. I told him that I thought a lot of him, but that Vince was in charge of that. Vince took a look at his stuff, loved his camera work and we brought him on. He has been our right hand guy ever since. I am going to try to give him more this year. I don't think you can tell the difference between Vince and David sometimes and that's what we want at Red Light District. We want a consistency and always be at the same high level.

Brandon Iron also shoots some stuff for you.

Brandon is a good friend of mine. I've always liked him. I wanted him to work for Elegant, but it didn't work out there. He is such a nice guy and if anyone were ever made for porn, it's Brandon. He is a true pornographer. He is always watching other people's stuff, always trying to get better. I think that he is amazing when it comes to getting nasty stuff. Vince has been working with him technically. If we can combine Vince's technical proficiency with Brandon's perverted mind, we can do amazing stuff. If he just listens to Vince, Brandon will be great.

Are you shooting anything now?

I am so busy with the company that I really don't have time to do much of that. I did shoot one movie. To be honest, I recently got married and out of respect for my wife, I'm trying to stay on the business end of things. Besides, Vince had some problems with my camera work. I will leave that stuff up to Vince.

Who else is shooting for you?

We have a friend of mine, Robby Fisher who did "2 In The Seat" & "Throat Gaggers 3." He is doing a lot of behind the scenes work for us and is working closely with Vince and David.

You have always done simultaneous DVD release. Some other companies do that, but you were one of the first. How did that decision come about?

My background is in sales and I spent years doing sales at Elegant. I knew that DVD was the way to go. When I go to get a movie, I want the best stuff. I don't think it's rocket science. A lot of people said it would kill our video sales. I'll tell you this Rog, if I didn't do simultaneous releases we wouldn't be sitting here today because I couldn't afford this booth.

Do you think it has hurt video sales?

I can tell you this, and I'll show you my books if you want. I'm selling three thousand videos out the door and about three thousand DVDs. In the beginning it was around twenty two hundred videos and a thousand DVDs. DVD has caught video and after street date, it's probably five hundred to one in favor of DVD.

Do you see a day when you won't even bother with video?

As long as the numbers stay where they are, I can't see a day where I stop making video. I'm making four movies a month at three thousand pieces. I will do it until the wheels fall off. I'm in this business to make money. If you are all about quality and you listen to your fans, you can make a ton of money in this industry. I'm not at true pornographer who jerks off every night, but I know what I'm doing. I know what people want. I'm not John Stagliano or Rodney Moore, but I know what people want and this is working. I'm smart enough to surround myself with great people. Vince is the best.

You mentioned fan feedback a little bit. One of your recent DVDs had some on screen menus running the entire time. I heard that this feature was scrapped in large part due to fan feedback?

What can I tell you? That was a major mistake on our part. I am always trying to better our DVDs, but they have to stay user friendly. This feature we tried doesn't work on every player and we can't expect everyone to buy a Sony DVD player. Until we can allow people to push a button and remove it, we won't be trying anything like that on our DVDs. They have to remain user friendly.

Have there been any other examples where fan feedback lead you in a certain direction?

I knew going in that simultaneous DVD release was the way to go, but after going to www.adultdvdtalk.com or R.A.M.E. I knew that it was the right choice. I visit forums like that and I listen to the fans. The fans seem to like our behind the scenes stuff, they like the group stuff, and there are certain guys they like better than others. I try to stick to that and listen to them. We listen to what fans say about our stuff.

Did you get a lot of AVN nominations this year?

I believe we got 13 or so. I would love to see Vince and David win awards. They deserve them, but you never know.

It's been a great year for you. Anything else you want to add?

I just want to thank you for taking the time to interview me. I am a big fan of your site, I read it every day, and I love it.

Thanks Dion and good luck.