As is the case with the television and the motion picture industries, the porn business, whether straight- or gay-focused, faces major challenges in the ever-evolving digital world.
As evidence of that, Dan Miller of XBIZ, which covers adult entertainment as a business, has cited a decline in revenue from $13-$14 billion in 2005 to a little more than $5 billion today. Online piracy and the availability of sexually explicit videos online are two major factors.
But another factor may be the quality of the content. Who doesn’t tire of the clumsy and repetitive sex scenes that seem artificial both in the way they are performed and in the look of the performers, who often are groomed to look like a Ken doll?
NakedSword (NSFW), a San Francisco gay adult-film company, is attempting to address the content issue. Last year, it released Travis Mathews’ “I Want Your Love,” the studio’s first foray into independent film. Now it’s following it up with another film by Mathews, “In Their Room: Berlin,” which can be viewed for free online through Monday, March 31.
In the film, Matthews, who also directed “Interior. Leather Bar” (a “docufiction” film that premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival) with James Franco, goes inside the apartments of gay men in Berlin.
“The city itself can be quite harsh, it can be cruel, especially when you’re gay and you’re looking for tenderness and love and what you find is people who dump you after the first date or just want to have sex with you,” says the narrator at the beginning of the film. “I think it’s not unique to Berlin. It’s what you find in any other urban area. …But I think you find tenderness if you’re willing to search for it and you’re willing to give it.”
Over 60 minutes, there are more than a dozen men talking about their gay life. Florian talks about how he enjoyed falling asleep with his ex boyfriend. Jorsten and Micha are in bed, wrestling, kissing, tickling, cuddling and laughing. Luc masturbates. Jorg, standing in the shower, talks about how as he aged he became invisible to younger gay men and then notes that now, for reasons he can’t explain, they have begun to approach him again.
“In Their Room: Berlin” is described as a quasi-documentary. NakedSword founder Tim Valenti says he hopes it will draw attention to “I Want Your Love,” and to NakedSword’s growing role as an independent film producer.
“Ironically, I think it took a porn company to show that an artistically honest film could use sex in a way that wasn’t exploitative or gratuitous,” Valenti said. “You see it all over gay media now, from “Blue Is the Warmest Color” to “Looking.”
“Travis’s follow up film ‘Interior. Leather Bar ‘went to Sundance, got mainstream distribution, and a glowing New York Times review. It’s funny to think that ‘I Want Your Love’ got banned when we were showing it at festivals just last year.”
After Monday, “Berlin” will be available in the members’ section of NakedSword.com. Check out the NSFW-ish trailer below.
IN THEIR ROOM – BERLIN teaser from Travis Mathews on Vimeo.
