I received an e-mail this morning from a person calling himself (I assume it was a he) “Barock Odrama.” The letter concerned his grievances with Adam & Eve’s production manager, a woman named Meredith Christopher.
I like Christopher. She has always been cool to me. But I get along with everybody.
While the letter was better written than most adult business “open letters,” it will fare just as well, which is not at all.
This is because the dirty laundry in letters like this comes as a surprise to no one. The audacity of Mr. Odrama’s hope is that he is writing in a world in which the adult industry is not already thought of as corrupt and incompetent.
When I was at AVN (and prior to this) there were several employees who leaked information to the likes of bloggers named Luke Ford and Gene Ross. the bitterati, who, for their own reasons, were only too happy to print it. Later, after AVN information became scarce, disgruntled employees at Hustler did the same thing. Neither episodes of venting to bloggers resulted in anything other than personal embarrassment for the people targeted. And what is personal embarrassment in a business that produced Dirtpipe Milkshakes?
And the power of the printed word? Seriously.
Think of all the people you know should be fired. Can you think of anyone who actually was terminated due to a letter writing campaign? No, they were only fired when they were recorded trying to trade blowjobs for AVN trophies.
Now and then I’ll get a phone call from someone who starts to tell me juicy information about a porn performer, director, or executive. I will refer them elsewhere. “Do you expect an apology,” I’ll ask. “A cash settlement?”
But I’ll print this letter, because it provides a backstage look at how adult personalities think. You will see that it is not too different from the way anyone thinks who has been thwarted, somehow, by the system.
But first an exchange from The Departed:
Ellerby: Cui Bono, who benefits?
Colin Sullivan: Cui gives a shit? It’s got a freakin’ bow on it.
An Open Letter About Adam & Eve
I wanted to comment regarding the latest news about Adam & Eve. For too long, I have sat somewhat quietly in disbelief at how this company continues to achieve constant embarrassment under Adam & Eve’s head of production, Meredith Christopher. Instead of being our industry’s biggest force with their infinite resources in both the financial and marketing realms, they have instead become a punch line with an ever-growing list of “egg on the face” messes.
Before I even get into this latest “mess,” I wanted to bring up previous avoidable mistakes I have been witness to over the years. Under this administration Adam and Eve have had countless issues with the faces of their company, the contract stars. We all know porn girls aren’t perfect, but Meredith Christopher could have avoided a lot of the more publicized issues all together or at least taken care of them in house if she understood what was required from someone in her position. For starters she helped drive Carmen Luvana into early retirement; signed a girl (Sophia Lynn) who made national news for instability, drug issues, and saying that what she did made her feel dirty but she needed the money. Meredith Christopher signed another promising star (Ava Rose) who battled both weight and drug issues; did not renew Austyn Moore’s contract because she opened up her mouth about their internal problems (Ava did as well); and now Kayden Kross is being brought up on federal charges to add another black spot to the company.
Only Bree Olson has succeeded due to her performances, and the clean sweep she made at all the awards shows last year is due to her work before signing with Adam & Eve. I sincerely hope Meredith Christopher and company do not screw up what is a very promising career for this young star like they have with so many in the past.
The fact of the matter is that over the years anyone who has been under contract with Adam & Eve has been nothing short of disappointed about their time there when all was said and done. Do you think that if Tera, Jesse, or Stormy were under contract there they would be even half the stars they became with their companies?
For their movies, they continue to put out sub-par productions despite spending arguably more money than their peers. Anyone remember the doll that was used as Carmen’s “stunt double” in Tail Gunners? What about the top of the guy’s head in the middle of the shot in Lady Scarface? (People who have seen it refer to it as the “tumble weed.”) What was the last award they won for something they were in direct control of that wasn’t “Best Packaging”? Rawhide, over five years ago?
In the past, Meredith Christopher has produced bomb after bomb. There is no quality control with the movies. For example, Eden was a big budget movie to mimic the success of the Island Fever franchise produced by Digital Playground, yet it was publicly said by those involved that it was a disaster from the get-go. Sure it might have sold some copies, but once again, that’s in spite of itself. Adam & Eve have a loyal customer base with their catalogs and website; imagine if they made quality movies with quality directors, how much they would sell then?
Meredith Christopher’s lack of judgment has not only been apparent in her hires but her non-hires as well. She has passed on quality award winning directors; as well as bankable, professional and high selling talent. Sasha Grey or Eva Angelina ring a bell? If you added the sales and trophies of those passed up by her for what can only be described as personal reasons or preferences, it would make your head spin.
Look, I could spend hours pointing out various other “debacles” under this regime over the years that parallel this latest snafu which was also picked up by the press (i.e. their West Coast office, various other hirings, movies, etc.), but neither time nor space permit. My point is simple; this latest fiasco is nothing short of embarrassing. How could you think that it was even ethically okay for them to work with Eli in this capacity? It would be like them using Paul Thomas, Brad Armstrong, or Robby D. with Vivid, Wicked or Digital Playground’s equipment to “produce” a movie for them. She knew Eli was under contract, and the proper thing to do before proceeding on anything involving him would have been to pick up a phone and call SexZ and ask. It’s not rocket science. It is basic business acumen and ethics. Now, based on Bob Christian’s statements, it seems like nothing short of the old passing of the buck to keep his protégé, Meredith Christopher squeaky clean. And her comments? She claims they’re innocent victims? That’s nothing short of ridiculous.
The bottom line is that the buck stops at Meredith Christopher as their Director of Production. More negative things have been said about the projects she has overseen than any other person in the same position with any other company in adult. Meredith Christopher has shown by her actions and decisions time and time again that she is not qualified to be in the position that she is in; and it’s time they made a change to be the force they should be in this industry. Bob Christian has to have realized this; and if he hasn’t or doesn’t now, then maybe his time is up there too. Way too many problems have occurred under this administration, and it’s time to make a change. Yes you can!
A Concerned Citizen of the United States of Adult,
Barock Odrama
Because the readers of my site are not necessarily the target audience for such an e-mail, I checked around the web (time constraints usually prevent this) and saw the letter posted on the sites of a few usual suspects in the adult blogging community.
Here at the office, we have narrowed down a list of five possible authors, each with his own axe to grind, and one of whom I’ll call a wild card, like the Cubs. The place where the writer takes offense most personally, it seems, is in Paragraph 8. Everything else seems like foundation building.
Are the points about the choices (or non-choices) of contract stars and their handling valid? Porn performers are like delightful butterflies – it is always difficult to herd them. What about movie production? Is it possible there is a porn movie that could have all its sex removed and still not be marked as a porn movie – from as far away as space? No. And as far as poaching people under contract elsewhere else, why do you think people use so many names? It happens all the time.
In other words, even if all these charges are true, a letter never changed anything.
I wrote a letter to the gmail address of Mr. Odrama asking for some clarification of his points but have received no response. They’re good points, sure, but only if there was some embezzling would any heads roll.
Previously on Porn Valley Observed: 8th Day; Kayden Kross, jealous boyfriends, and the pitfalls of real estate tycoonery; Tailgunners; Carmen Luvana – the mosaic is the message; Vicky Vette – when boobs are not enough
See also: Adam & Eve
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