Philadelphia- It’s seen by more people than the Liberty Bell.
There’s a multi-billion dollar appetite for it that far surpasses the cheese steak.
But you probably didn’t know that hottest product coming out of Philly is sex.
Area companies sell it and the world buys it: movies, Web sites, phone sex.
“This makes more money than Hollywood does,” said adult entertainment retailer Mike Drake.
Lu Ann Cahn of the NBC 10 Investigators went to Los Angeles to check that out.
But before we go there, we need to explain how we got started.
“Absolutely disgusting,” said Lisa Kelly as she shows messages on her cell phone. “Extremely offensive.”
In February, the South Jersey wife and mother couldn’t stop pornographic text messages coming up on her phone all day long. She called the NBC 10 Investigators because she had to pay for the messages, too.
“I would love to find out who and where they’re coming from,” Kelly said.
The NBC 10 Investigators found out that one of the Web sites that sent her a text message was R.S. Duffy in Philadelphia.
The address for R.S. Duffy on South Eighth Street was actually home of a National Watch & Diamond Exchange jewelry store. It appeared our search had hit a dead end.
Then, computer savvy viewer Noah Webster called us saying, “I saw your story on NBC 10.”
“Within half an hour, I found the actual owners,” Webster said.
He showed the elusive trail he uncovered on the Internet, beginning with R.S. Duffy at the same address as the National Watch & Diamond Exchange. State records showed the National Watch & Diamond Exchange is owned by Richard Cohen, who is also the CEO of a major Philadelphia company right around the corner at Seventh and Chestnut streets called National A1 Advertising.
“They’re the leading provider of phone sex lines, chat lines,” Webster said.
A representative for A1 said the company is one of the largest Internet distributors of adult entertainment in the world. The company owns HotMovies.com, providing X-rated movies to over 5 million customers.
“I don’t know if I’m free to talk about anything,” an employee said on the street.
Employees of A1 wouldn’t talk on camera, and neither would Cohen, but we asked about the text messages.
In an e-mail he wrote: “We never, ever would do something like this… We have nothing to do with it… It is another company that we have no relation to. We do get a commission but it’s not much.”
Regardless, the trail had led us to a significant adult entertainment industry that works discreetly behind closed doors in Philadelphia. None of this is illegal, and local business people cash in big time.
So, to see these closeted Philadelphia companies exposed, we went where these companies reveal themselves — Los Angeles.
At Adult Con, the annual adult entertainment convention held in L.A., fans get to reach out and touch their favorite porn stars or at least take a picture.
If you didn’t know the adult entertainment business was huge, you should see the line to get in. It wraps around the Staples Center. Couples, but mostly men, pay $35 a head to get in.
“I’m not sure what we expected, but it’s not the least bit glamorous. In fact it’s as trashy, and tacky, as you can imagine, but it sells,” said NBC 10’s Cahn. “Some estimate this is now a $12-billion-a-year industry. And what name is on every bag here? HotMovies.com.”
In the heart of Center City Philadelphia, you may not even know the building where HotMovies.com — perhaps the largest distributor of on demand pornographic movies in the world — is located. The company wouldn’t talk to us on camera, and they don’t put any signs on the door.
But at Adult Con, they advertise everywhere.
Ever heard of Girls Gone Wild? That’s a product of Pleasure Productions. It may be the biggest distributor of adult entertainment DVDs. The company quietly does business in a Hightstown, N.J., industrial park. Once again, there’s no sign. It’s discreetly called IVD, but back in L.A., it’s out in the open with a big booth and their newest star.
“We don’t want to be in your face. We’re not there to offend people. We’re there to entertain people who want to be entertained in an adult manner,” said Kenyan Bruckner of Pleasure Productions.
And here’s a Philly new comer, Bar Girls Gone Crazy.
The company said it’s based on South Street, but you won’t see a sign there either.
“Keep it under the rug,” said Jason Guido. Asked why, he said, “I don’t want to answer that right now.”
For two years, Jason Guido and his wife said they’ve been shooting videos in South Philly. They claim there are plenty of girls will do just about anything on camera, and they’re capitalizing on it. How could they?
“That’s where the money is at,” Guido. “I’m an entrepreneur. I tried everything you could possibly think of. This is the easiest and you make the most with the least work.”
You might be surprised how tough this job is in front of the camera, but a South Jersey-born-and-bred porn star said he’s got to do it: “I’m told all the time I have the dream job by every guy that I meet.”
Tuesday at 11 p.m., we go into the studio and behind closed doors for an unusual look at the life of a porn star.