Even with defeat of Prop 60, Las Vegas may profit from LA’s industry restrictions

By Chris Kudialis

Monday, Nov. 28, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Las Vegas has an interest, at least economically, in more porn production companies following Lee Roy Myers’ lead.

Myers moved film operations for woodrocket.com, his parody porn site mocking series like “Game of Thrones” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” from Los Angeles to Las Vegas five years ago because costs in Southern California studios became too high. Not only was it cheaper to operate here, but Las Vegas also had friendlier regulations for shooting (for instance, no mandate for condom use). “If health laws keep coming to the table, you’ll see people move,” Myers said at January’s AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, “or at least threaten to move.”

One such threat to California’s porn industry, Proposition 60, would have required condom use in adult films statewide — even those shot inside private residences. Violators would have been vulnerable to lawsuits from viewers.

The controversial ballot initiative, pushed by nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation president Michael Weinstein, was a response to scattered disease outbreaks in the adult film industry. While infected performers ordinarily keep their infections secret, at least five cases of HIV infections in performers have been brought to light by media outlets since 2013.

Though Weinstein outraised Prop 60 opponents 5-to-1, contributing nearly $5 million of his foundation’s funds to support it, California Democrats and Republicans — and all but one major media source in the state, The Bakersfield Californian — opposed it. The measure lost by more than 981,000 votes.

Most of the porn industry breathed a collective sigh of relief when Prop 60 was rejected. But Las Vegas, a likely winner in a restricted California porn market, may have lost out on some serious new business.

“I think we would definitely have seen more filmmakers moving to Las Vegas had it passed,” said Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani of Prop 60. “With that being turned down, nothing really changes.”

Four years ago, Las Vegas was rumored to be on the radar of many Los Angeles-based companies after voters passed Measure B, a 2012 regulation that mandated condom use within Los Angeles County. Giunchigliani, a supporter of adult filmmakers setting up shop in the Las Vegas Valley as long as they “follow the rules and don’t bring minors into their films,” said the growth of the industry was difficult to track because most adult films are shot on private property, where no permit is needed.

For production companies that request a permit, Clark County film administrator Tia O’Brien said film permits are classified into seven major categories: commercial, corporate industrial, documentary, feature film, music video, reality show and still photo. Permits are needed only if traffic or pedestrian safety is affected, and porn films can fall under any of those categories.

Ditto for Las Vegas, said city spokesman Jace Radke, whose jurisdiction issues film permits for TV episodes, TV movies, motion pictures, commercials, music videos, reality shows, documentaries, still photos and a category framed as “other.”

“They just fill out the form and say, ‘We want a permit to shoot Charleston Boulevard at 3 p.m.’ There’s not a huge vetting process,” Radke said. “Unless it was some well-known adult film company, we wouldn’t really know it was for porn.”

In Los Angeles County, where the Measure B ordinance became the first in the Golden State to require performers to use condoms, the effects have been devastating for the industry. Applications for adult film permits have dropped 95 percent since Measure B became law in 2012, said Adrian McDonald, a research analyst with Film L.A., which issues permits to filmmakers countywide.

Twenty-six permits were issued for adult films in Los Angeles County in 2015, compared with 480 in 2012, McDonald said.

“Had (Prop 60) passed, I don’t think it would have been a stretch to speculate that Las Vegas would have seen a potential increase,” McDonald said.

Christian Sten, manager of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Investigations, has seen a similar decline. While as many as eight major adult film producers completed their applications and had active permits in 2012, Sten’s department has issued only four such permits since 2013, he said.

Among those affected by the regulation is adult performer Rachel Swimmer, who goes by the stage name Tasha Reign. Swimmer, 27, who was born and raised in Los Angeles County, said recording more homemade movies has helped her dodge Measure B restrictions. Passing Prop 60 would have made the laws in her county more strongly enforced, including for people filming at home.

But even with Prop 60’s rejection, Swimmer said she didn’t feel comfortable in California.

“There are lots of laws that aren’t enforced; (certain actions are) technically illegal, but there’s nobody that has the budget to go through adult content and chase down each producer,” Swimmer said. “We’re already tested every 14 days, and we just feel like we continue to be marginalized.”

Swimmer called Las Vegas “more sexually accepting” than Los Angeles, adding that the valley remained a draw for porn performers because there were no specific condom laws and few opposition groups working to suppress the industry. Las Vegas also hosts the AVN Expo, the porn industry’s largest annual convention and awards show, which featured more than 30,000 participants from more than 30 countries in 2016. The expo is held in January at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Swimmer cited Weinstein, whose team did not respond to multiple requests for interviews, as the major player in bringing more regulation to California’s porn industry.

Eric Leue, of the Free Speech Coalition, campaigned to stop Prop 60. He said the failure of the measure wouldn’t block Southern Nevada from becoming a player in the porn industry. A connection to the international entertainment industry and a large tourism base demanding such services “will always make Las Vegas a draw,” while rising costs of living in major California porn cities can drive performers away.

“California, especially San Francisco and Los Angeles, have continually become more expensive,” Leue said. “But the industry has diversified; there are just hundreds and hundreds of small-size companies and large-size companies alike looking to relocate.”