GayVN August 2009 : Page 1

EDITOR’S CHOICE .........................Pg.122 TOP 100.................................Pg.124 REAL URBAN BOYS........................Pg.125 Pacific Sun Entertainment NEW MANAGEMENT, NEW MEDIA, NEW ATTITUDE ARE BRIGHTENING THE HORIZON D uring its first full year under new mana2gement, Pacific Sun Enter- tainment had to focus not only on a smooth business transition — but also on surviving a rocky economy. While that sounds like a recipe for disaster, the estab- lished distributor/producer managed to successfully refocus its energy into new media outlets. “2008 was a rather tough year, and my first year in porn,” notes CEO Pritam Sinha. “Rapidly falling DVD markets were exacer- bated by the economic meltdown around the world. So toward the later part of the year, many of our exclusive studios — as well as us — had to cut down on new pro- duction. On the good side, we were able to gain many exclusive studios, mainly from Europe, as the choice for good distributors in the United States dwindled and we streamlined our operation.” When Sinha arrived at the end of 2007, the company had just one online presence: retail site GayMagix.com. Now they have several, including main site PacificSunEntertainment.com, which links to all of its properties, including VOD sites PacificSun.tv (with pay-per-minute content) and PacificSunVOD.tv (its streaming rental site, with download options coming soon) as well as sites for wholesalers and poten- tial content buyers. “In one year, I believe we transformed Pacific Sun from a primarily brick-and-mor- tar company to a new media superstar. DVDs are dying very fast…rapidly trans- forming into new media is not an option, but a necessity to survive and thrive,” Sinha says. “One big thing missing in our new media plan is membership sites. Instead of building it from scratch, we decided to part- ner up on that with one or more major suc- cessful membership site companies on a rev-share basis. Many of them are mostly straight and know very little about the gay BY BRADY JANSEN 120 | GAYVN AUGUST ‘09 GAYVN.com market. They bring the Internet and mar- keting skills and experience; we bring the content and expertise in the gay area.” He adds that 2008 was a phenomenal year for the company’s new media offer- ings. For VOD alone, Pacific Sun started the year with only two companies — but ended with 24. “With the contacts we made in Venus Berlin and AAE Macau and else- where, we expect that number to almost double in the next couple of months. Our VOD income has almost tripled in the last year and is growing steadily despite the bad economy,” Sinha says. “We have also start- ed licensing to many membership sites as well as mobile phone companies. Licensing to linear and VOD TV channels worldwide is about to take off as well.”

PACIFIC SUN ENTERTAINMENT

BRADY JANSEN

NEW MANAGEMENT, NEW MEDIA, NEW ATTITUDE ARE BRIGHTENING THE HORIZON

“2008 was a rather tough year, and my first year in porn,” notes CEO Pritam Sinha.

“Rapidly falling DVD markets were exacerbated by the economic meltdown around the world. So toward the later part of the year, many of our exclusive studios — as well as us — had to cut down on new production.

On the good side, we were able to gain many exclusive studios, mainly from Europe, as the choice for good distributors in the United States dwindled and we streamlined our operation.” When Sinha arrived at the end of 2007, the company had just one online presence: retail site GayMagix.com. Now they have several, including main site PacificSunEntertainment.com, which links to all of its properties, including VOD sites PacificSun.tv (with pay-per-minute content) and PacificSunVOD.tv (its streaming rental site, with download options coming soon) as well as sites for wholesalers and potential content buyers.

“In one year, I believe we transformed Pacific Sun from a primarily brick-and-mortar company to a new media superstar.

DVDs are dying very fast…rapidly transforming into new media is not an option, but a necessity to survive and thrive,” Sinha says. “One big thing missing in our new media plan is membership sites. Instead of building it from scratch, we decided to partner up on that with one or more major successful membership site companies on a rev-share basis. Many of them are mostly straight and know very little about the gay market. They bring the Internet and marketing skills and experience; we bring the content and expertise in the gay area.” He adds that 2008 was a phenomenal year for the company’s new media offerings.

For VOD alone, Pacific Sun started the year with only two companies — but ended with 24. “With the contacts we made in Venus Berlin and AAE Macau and elsewhere, we expect that number to almost double in the next couple of months. Our VOD income has almost tripled in the last year and is growing steadily despite the bad economy,” Sinha says. “We have also started licensing to many membership sites as well as mobile phone companies. Licensing to linear and VOD TV channels worldwide is about to take off as well.”

But content is still king, and none of those advances would mean anything if there wasn’t scintillating sex to back them up. The Pacific Sun label still leads the pack for original films, with Paul Barresi’s bear-themed efforts (like Muscle Bear Trap and Bear Club Men, with Bear Prowl on the way) and diverse features from Edward James (including all-black efforts like Playa Poker and an upcoming twink release with white models) leading the way. The company also released Fan Base, a “lost” movie from director Joe Gallant, and brought in Roxanne from the straight world to direct fetish features.

Pacific Sun also launched the Phallus line in 2008, an affordably priced option built with the cost-conscious consumer in mind.

“We are restructuring our company and cut down expenses to suit the current market environment, so we plan to have more new releases this year,” notes Sinha, saying the goal is to produce 12 to 15 new movies — with more than one new title a week released through their distribution arm, which continues to grow. Sinha says that for the most part, they now only distribute exclusive lines — including many to come from contacts made at Venus Berlin.

“We have added on many exclusive lines this year both from USA and Europe,” he says. “What I am most excited about are Blue Lagoon and Diamond Pictures by legendary Csaba Borbely. He has made almost 40 percent of Pacific Sun brand movies; now he keeps the movies he makes, but we distribute for him worldwide outside continental Europe. The Pacific Sun brand was built on Csaba — now it is natural that we distribute for him. His gorgeous models and excellent quality don’t hurt either.” Sinha adds that the current economy has lowered prices, and he’s about to purchase an enormous amount of content. Pacific Sun is also working on creating an effective affiliate program and integrating all its sites coherently. Plans for photo books, calendars and novelties also are in place.

“We are branding ourselves as gayowned and -operated, which was not true before. We support gay events worldwide,” he says. “Last year, we were thinking of expanding into other areas of porn, such as straight. Looking at the market, we have abandoned that idea and are looking to focus primarily on gay, which is our key strength.”

Publication List