(Hollywood, CA) In what amounts to a prominent adult movie agent still living in yesterday’s booming economic times, LA Direct owner/agent Derek Hay has blasted Jeff Mullen and X-Play for hiring actresses for their award-winning movies for less than the financial rate that he would prefer to charge.
It is no secret that the adult movie industry is in a tremendous financial spiral due to the proliferation of free porn which is causing numerous companies to shut down or drastically reduce their movie production output yet Derek Hay continues to insist on charging what many producers consider impossible talent rates even at the expense of actors who might get passed over for great roles without ever knowing they received an offer for a prospective movie role; sometimes in very high profile blockbuster movies.
“I would normally never comment publicly but Derek Hay recently posted a public blog criticizing me after he read a generic comment I wrote on Lukeford where I didn’t even mention him by name,” stated X-Play producer Jeff Mullen. He and I spoke to set the record straight yesterday but he later went ahead and sent out an email message to his entire talent database blasting X-Play for hiring girls at rates that make financial sense for our company but not for Derek.”
“I understand he is doing what he can to hold the line and keep talent rates high and I can respect that but we are all living in the same collapsing economic world with free porn beating us up and yesterday is gone and it’s not coming back,” Mullen lamented. “I felt compelled to respond, defend my company and tell the story from the producer’s perspective.”
Mullen who directs under the name Will Ryder is the 2010 AVN Director of the Year and is responsible for some of today’s most successful movies that consistently win multiple adult movie awards year-in and year-out and does everything he can to boost the careers of each actor he works with yet that seems to carry very little favor with Hay who sees little value in publicity.
Not the Bradys XXX Marcia Marcia Marcia, Flight Attendants, Not the Cosbys XXX, Not Married with Children XXX, Not Bewitched XXX are only a few of the recent movies that have seen their cast members win numerous individual awards and entire cast ensembles bask in the glory of movie category wins. This year alone, X-Play movies have won AVN Awards for Best Comedy, Best Parody, Best Actor, Best Non Sex Performance, Director of the Year, Best Solo Sex Scene and have seen stars of their movies win Best New Starlet for Kagney Linn Karter who received her break-out role in Not Married with Children XXX and Tori Black who enjoyed a terrific year and appeared in multiple X-Play produced movies including Not the Cosbys XXX and This Ain’t the Partridge Family XXX as she went on to win Female Performer of the Year.
While X-Play is not guaranteeing awards to those that participate in their movies, the chances of being nominated and later walking away a winner are statistically higher for X-Play cast members than any other movie company producing today. Not a boast just a fact.
“I think most actors have enough pride to want to be a part of something special that has a chance to be recognized as one of the great, entertaining movies of the year which usually results in soaring popularity for the individual participants.” Mullen remarked.
“We have dozens of beautiful ladies and great guys asking us to cast them in our movies and never more so than our upcoming spoof of Charlie’s Angels. Even though we have a full cast, I have wonderful girls being very persistent at being placed into the show. I guess today was the straw that broke the camel’s back when a very sweet girl asked once again if I would put her in the movie because she wanted to be in a blockbuster so we changed a regular boy/girl sex scene into a three-way boy/girl/girl sex scene as a favor to her (and to her friend who happens to be one of my buddies) and told her we can only offer $500 since it truly is an extra role that was not needed to complete the movie even though it definitely makes the movie better. We are thrilled to have her join the cast of Not Charlie’s Angels XXX and the girl is now very happy because she knows she will be spotlighted in the press co-starring in a very high profile movie and possibly wind up standing on the awards-stage next year. We immediately contacted her agent but instead her new agent (I didn’t even know she was in the process of changing agents nor did her current agent) sends out this massive email telling all of their porn talent that X-Play is low-balling talent and that actors and actresses should not stand for it any longer,” Mullen said with a concerned smile.
“I have a lot of respect for Derek but calling me out in such a fashion and belittling our PR and marketing created the need to respond and tell the facts at least from our perspective.”
In Hay’s blog he comments that the X-Play producers routinely tell actors they should be in their movies because of the additional media attention and ‘press releases’ they will receive but Hay says that this extra attention only benefits the company’s bottom line and not the actors.
“OK tell that to Eric Swiss, or Misty Stone or Hillary Scott or Jenna Haze or Thomas Ward or Teagan Presley, or Kayden Kross or Eva Angelina or Sunny Lane, or Monica Foster or Kacey Jordan or Sasha Grey or any of the talent that has appeared in our movies that ended up on the victory stage. Of course there is tremendous value for an actor to appear in one of our movies but for Derek to belittle that fact is absurd. I am sort of shocked but I guess people will do anything they can to hold onto something that once had more value. Derek, as king of the agents, might be basing his price expectations on a few companies most notably Brazzers who continue to pay sky-high rates even though history will bear the fact out that they were not really very good for the adult industry in the long run,” Mullen continued. “Most other companies are not in that high financial stratosphere anymore because it is a crap shoot making movies today and financial returns are not what they used to be.”
“I also wonder what some of the girls that had been cast by X-Play might say if they knew that their participation was turned down by the agent before they ever had a chance to realize they were selected. I’m talking about girls who made the effort to come down to our office and audition but never knew they could have been in our next Not the Bradys XXX or Not Charlie’s Angels XXX because their agent rejected our offer because they wanted to hold an out-dated price line that is destined to fall and forego a prestigious project as if we were shooting a five scene gonzo,” Mullen speculated.
It is reported that one girl still doesn’t know that she was offered a starring role in the movie because her agent turned down the offer from X-Play over a $300 total difference in pay over a multiple day shoot. Mullen hopes he doesn’t run into her at a party and has to explain. Mullen did say that if agents can get top dollar for their clients good for them but the reality is that boom times are few and far between and sometimes press clippings and great reviews should be valued like partial currency.
“I guess Derek and I agree to disagree,” Mullen said. “I have much respect for him and even brought a girl to him the other day but if any actor today wonders about our business practice or our integrity at X-Play which he questions or the value of being in one of our movies all they need to do is talk to any and I mean any male or female actor that has ever worked for X-Play and ask them was it a worthwhile and good experience?”
Sometimes it is not always about making the most money each day. Ask anybody standing on that stage when Flight Attendants won the Best Comedy award in Las Vegas if they would trade that experience for $300 or even $500? Or anybody from Not the Cosbys XXX to trade that moment for a few hundred bucks or the numerous moments that continue to come for Not the Cosbys XXX like today when RogReviews.com named the movie the top porn movie of the year and Misty Stone as Best Female Performer in their 2010 Critic’s Choice Awards. Ask Derek if that has any value?
Now in defense of his thought-process where he ‘warns’ his talent in his email that if a performer works for X-Play at less then their normal rate then other companies will expect the same; they can easily comment the job was for a big movie and the talent wanted to take a chance and get recognized come awards time. I think it is better to work with X-Play than to sit at home and turn down jobs especially in this declining market and if I was talent I would want a say in which movies my agent was turning down.
“We run a business and it’s our responsibility to keep our production budgets within reason respective of the current economic climate. Just the same, talent and their agents have the right to turn down any offer they receive. That is called capitalism and I get that. Turning down a starring role in a movie with no conversation with the actress is what might be referred to as a dictatorship” Mullen said with a smile.
Someone asked Mullen and his business partner Scott David if they thought that Derek would organize other agents to blackball X-Play from hiring talent in the future.
“Maybe,” stated David.
“Derek is smart he’s not stupid and our movies and actors will once again be adorned with adult movie award nominations and hopefully a lucky bunch will be standing in the victory circle should we continue to be blessed with funny movies and great performances,” Mullen hoped.
“I love this business but it is a business and we will continue to treat everybody fairly and with respect because I truly adore each and everyone I get the chance to work with. I still like Derek and would rub his bald head just for good luck if he were here right now but I felt compelled to defend myself and my company. I think that talent is quite smart and can see the real story between the lines of discontent and of two industry veterans that agree to disagree. We just want to make great movies at X-Play with happy actors and if the agents are happy that’s a bonus but they certainly should at least pretend to be happy when their actors receive critical acclaim and awards for the hard work they’ve put in,” Mullen concluded.
Not the Cosbys XXX 2 is in stores now and getting rave reviews and Not Married with Children XXX 2 will be in stores everywhere March 23rd from X-Play/LFP Video.
Check out X-Play movie trailers at www.sitcums.com