I’m thinking about venturing out to some local colleges to see if I can find some models. I heard that other producers do this. I was wondering if anyone here has ever tried it and if so, can you offer any tips? For example, what parts of a campus are good for finding and approaching guys?
I was thinking about just walking around with my Canon DSLR so I look like a photographer, then handing out my card to guys who look hot. I wonder if it can be as simple as that.
I’m also not sure if I should tell them right there that I’m casting for a porn site, or just give them my mainstream photography biz card and then talk to them about porn when they come in for a test shoot.
Personally, I would suggest getting someone else to do it for you as a scout. Know any gorgeous girls with big boobs who wouldn’t mind showing a bit of cleavage?
Having someone else do it gives the impression of being very successful. If you can afford to pay someone else, then you must be making money, right? But if you’re out there talking to random guys, it might give them the impression that you’re desperate.
I’m not in the business, but that’s how I would do it if I were.
It might cost a bit more, but if you give a girl some cards with the promise to pay her for every guy who successfully gets his kit off, you could find a lot of great guys turning up for shoots.
I agree, hire somebody else to do this for you. Stick to your strengths, which I assume are not recruiting from what you have said. Here is an example!
I run an emo porn site… I am not emo, but the local colleges/Uni’s are full of Emo boys. We get one model who is “emo” and we use him as a scout. We offer him money to get us models from where he being educated. From what the above said, great, use a big boobed female, if you are recruiting straight boys? If you are after twinks, get a hot twink to do it for you… True that not everyone likes people like themselves, but it’s a good start. Either way it lets you stick to your work and not worry about models recruitment.
Also to add, although not as important. I am not sure how gay scenes work in the rest of the world, however I do in the UK. There is usually a few individuals who are very popular and influential on the gay scenes. Whether they are DJs or Drag queens or just guys who have been there a little to long and shagged to many people. Insults or judgements aside, of which for the record I have none, these people can be very helpful, not to mention great friends and allies. If you are recruiting in local gay scenes, colleges, these people all know each other, and talk to each other (to a degree). It helps when somebody has been approached, they ask a friend or somebody influential on that local gay scene and they get a thumbs up. To know your area, your people and your recruitment ground is a more important step (AT LEAST IN THE UNITED KINGDOM) than actually recruiting…
Something I have learned from my scouts and running my sites.
Good luck!
Sorry, I guess I just assumed you were hiring straight college guys.
If I was hiring gay guys a college wouldn’t be my first location, gay clubs and bars would be. There’s no point wasting your time finding those fifty gay guys somewhere on campus when you could go to a packed club and hand out three hundred cards in half an hour.
I can understand why samebb chooses those methods, because an emo niche would be more tricky. And I have to agree that finding a person in the scene who others idolize would be ideal for promotion.
I’m not a big fan of the old come and do a modelling photo shoot and then when they get there, by the way have you ever thought of doing porn approach.
This is such a cliche. It’s what the rest of the world thinks we are … scumbags.
Try reversing things. If someone approached you and asked you to do a modelling photo shoot, how would you feel? You might start thinking, “Geez … maybe I could be a model.” And then your head starts rushing forward to runways, GQ magazine, etc. Then you arrive at the shoot and the guys takes a few pics and says, “Hey, have you ever thought of posing nude?” Now how do you feel? Totally conned, ripped off, duped, stupid, and disappointed. And even if it doesn’t go as far as the photo session stage, why can’t you just be upfront with what you’re wanting from these people.
Don’t waste peoples’ time … don’t be a part of building up false expectations …
I remember when I was 19 and first moved to Toronto (this was a hundred years ago just as the car was being invented ), I fell into one of these scams. Someone approached me and thought I could be a model. I booked an appointment and got all excited. When I arrived at the interview, aside from being told I was a little chubby and would have to lose a bit of weight, what they were really interested in was selling me modelling classes and a portfolio. They weren’t interested in me as a model, they were looking at me as income. Once they had my money, they didn’t care if I got a modelling job or not. I was disappointed and felt stupid for letting myself be duped.
I agree with dzinerbear, and I want to clarify that I wasn’t implying you use the girl with big boobs to trick the guys lol
I’m just suggesting that sex sells. Look at all the large companies and advertising, they all use attractive people to sell an idea. And if you’re hiring straight guys, an attractive female assistant would be the way to go using that idea.
Definitely be open about the nature of the modelling. After all, you want guys who are genuinely interested in it, not guys who are tricked and then take seven hours to perform for a thirty minute shoot.
If you’re upfront, you’ll get guys who are exhibitionist, adventurous, highly sexual, and in my opinion that creates great material. On the opposite side of the coin, if you’re duping guys into it they’ll feel deflated, unprepared, and will probably be completely turned-off by the whole idea. Apart from wasting your time, the resulting material will be more difficult and less interesting.
There are plenty of guys out there who would be happy to do this, if they’ve given the attention and the opportunity. Especially with the current financial situation.
I actually have a really good friend of mine who has said a couple of times that he’d love to do porn. He would be perfect for it too in my opinion. He’s 25, heavily tattooed, alternative, hung, really good-looking, and works out every day. The only problem is that he’s straight, and he knows gay content is where the money is.
After thinking about it for a couple of years he’s considering approaching the biggest UK based gay site at the moment with a view to doing solo and “hands off” duo’s.
His primary concern is being ripped-off or conned, or being pressured into doing more.
Yeah, I guess that’s good advice about being up front about porn modeling. And to clarify, I am not looking to hire gay models although if they are that would just be a bonus. And I don’t think I want to go the model scout route… I want to see the guys myself before making them an offer.
You want the holy grail and you will not get it. Been there…tried that…and it don’t work. Gay guys will not be outed on a college campus and you will not find str8s who are willing to pose there either. I would advise to forget it all together actually.
I reconsidered my comment about being up-front about the porn work and here’s why: besides my porn work I also do non-nude model photography and I have a nice selection of male models I’ve shot over the years who never got nude. I never even asked any of these guys if they wanted to do porn since at the time I wasn’t into that. So now that I am my feeling is that I can hang around a college campus and hand out my mainstream photo website cards to hot guys and just let them know I specialize in photographing male models and would like to work with them. Then if they respond, at some point during our G rated photo shoot I’ll let it slip that I also do adult video work. If they seem interested in that little tidbit I’ll go further and make an offer, if not, then I just wrap things up and add their shots to my non-nude portfolio. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing this. The model gets some free photos for their portfolio and I get a crack at a potential nude model. In fact, isn’t this how Bryan from Chaos Men got started?
If you also run a legitimate modelling business, then I think your approach is fair. What I was talking about was someone who only works in the porn business misrepresenting themselves as something else.
Hiring models is an art and a full-time job. Its not easy to find and hire models. Hiring models you need to be strong and there are no right or wrong ways of recruiting. Everyone in our business have there own style and ways of getting models. For some going to gay bars and handing out cards work great but for others, you get nothing. I also think it all depends on the area. We are both located in South Florida and many think that we have lots of hot boys down here but the truth be told, we don’t and not everyone wants to film porn and be a porn models and if they are hot, they want lots of money that most of us can’t afford to pay.
You can deal with agents, but I have come to the conclusion dealing with agents is more drama then what its worth. You have to deal with overbearing agents that think the “models” belong to them and the agent think he has the right to dictate to you how to film the model and what the model is willing to do and not do and then on top of that, the agent “whores” the models out to every studio from Miami to Los Angeles and it ends up we see the same models on every website claiming one week there “straight” then the week after claiming there “gay” and the model is no longer unique. I also find that when you hire a model from an agent, they come to your studio with an attitude and they seem to be more arrogant and “drama queens” because they think they have an agent and they worked for all these studios. The bottom line, agents and the models they represent are not worth it.
What I find works is good ole fashion word of mouth, small cheap simple ads on craigslist, and small classifieds ads on local gay rags. Hire your own models, hire models that are fresh and brand new and not been through the “porn machine”…its takes time but before you know it, new hot models will come your way
I have always had the best luck finding models on the hookup sites. I actually filmed Johnny Hazzard before he went to Chi Chi that way. You probably wont get that many straight college boys that way, but some damn good cute gay ones.
[QUOTE=dande01;87429]Hiring models is an art and a full-time job. Its not easy to find and hire models. Hiring models you need to be strong and there are no right or wrong ways of recruiting. Everyone in our business have there own style and ways of getting models. For some going to gay bars and handing out cards work great but for others, you get nothing. I also think it all depends on the area. We are both located in South Florida and many think that we have lots of hot boys down here but the truth be told, we don’t and not everyone wants to film porn and be a porn models and if they are hot, they want lots of money that most of us can’t afford to pay.
You can deal with agents, but I have come to the conclusion dealing with agents is more drama then what its worth. You have to deal with overbearing agents that think the “models” belong to them and the agent think he has the right to dictate to you how to film the model and what the model is willing to do and not do and then on top of that, the agent “whores” the models out to every studio from Miami to Los Angeles and it ends up we see the same models on every website claiming one week there “straight” then the week after claiming there “gay” and the model is no longer unique. I also find that when you hire a model from an agent, they come to your studio with an attitude and they seem to be more arrogant and “drama queens” because they think they have an agent and they worked for all these studios. The bottom line, agents and the models they represent are not worth it.
What I find works is good ole fashion word of mouth, small cheap simple ads on craigslist, and small classifieds ads on local gay rags. Hire your own models, hire models that are fresh and brand new and not been through the “porn machine”…its takes time but before you know it, new hot models will come your way :)[/QUOTE]
This is the most accurate and realistic reply to this ongoing question that I have ever read.
Well stated and it perfectly reflects my experience of over a decade in the business as well.
[QUOTE=MiamiBoyz;87443]This is the most accurate and realistic reply to this ongoing question that I have ever read.
Well stated and it perfectly reflects my experience of over a decade in the business as well.[/QUOTE]
Oh! Being in this business for 10 years now, I’ve seen it all. I think its best to recruit your own models and try different ways of recruiting and then whatever works best for you, keep doing it to get you models. What works for me, may not work for other studios.
I am still a firm believer of recruiting your own models by using small ads, word of mouth, and posting something on your website or blogs a link “to become a model” so you can get direct hits from potential models that are new to the business. There are so many guys out there that want to film porn for one reason or another you just have to go out and be creative and find them.
